Wesley, Whitefield and the 'Free Grace' Controversy: The Crucible of Methodism

by Joel Houston

Overview

When approaching the most public disagreement over predestination in the eighteenth century, the ‘Free Grace’ controversy between John Wesley and George Whitefield, the tendency can be to simply review the event as a row over the same old issues. This assumption pervades much of the scholarly literature that deals with early Methodism. Moreover, much of that same literature addresses the dispute from John Wesley’s vantage point, often harbouring a bias towards his Evangelical Arminianism. Yet the question must be asked: was there more to the ‘Free Grace’ controversy than a simple rehashing of old arguments?

This book answers this complex question by setting out the definitive account of the ‘Free Grace’ controversy in first decade of the Evangelical Revival (1739-49). Centred around the key players in the fracas, John Wesley and George Whitefield, it is a close analysis of the way in which the doctrine of predestination was instrumental in differentiating the early Methodist societies from one another. It recounts the controversy through the lens of doctrinal analysis and from two distinct perspectives: the propositional content of a given doctrine and how that doctrine exerts formative pressure upon the assenting individual(s).

What emerges from this study is a clearer picture of the formative years of early Methodism and the vital role that doctrinal pronouncement played in giving a shape to early Methodist identity. It will, therefore, be of great interest to scholars of Methodism, Evangelicalism, Theology and Church History.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781032086132
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	06/30/2021
Series:	Routledge Methodist Studies Series
Pages:	212
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Joel Houston is Assistant Professor of Theology at Briercrest College and Seminary in Saskatchewan, Canada, and a junior fellow of the Manchester Wesley Research Centre in Manchester, UK.

Table of Contents

Foreword; Acknowledgements; Introduction; Part 1 – Historical Development of the Doctrine of Predestination;1 The 'Location' of the Free Grace Controversy: Historical and Theological Precedents; Excursus: Supra, Infra, and Sub-Lapsarianism; 2 Arminius and British Predestinarianism; Part 2 – Wesley, Whitefield, and the Function of Predestinarian Doctrine; 3 Wesley and Whitefield: Formative Influences; 4 "Beginning a Society of Their Own": The Bristol Division; 5 Analysis of the Sermon, ‘Free Grace’, and Whitefield’s Response. Doctrine and Polemic in Context; 6 An Awkward Armistice: The Cessation of the ‘Free Grace’ Controversy; Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

"The controversy between Whitefield and Wesley over predestination in the early 1740s had a profound effect on the emergence and shape of both Methodism and Evangelicalism. Joel Houston’s detailed study at last explores the controversy over Calvinism in the depth it deserves. One of the virtues of this study is that it does justice to both the Whitefieldian and Wesleyan perspectives - something that has not always been the case in Methodist scholarship. The very different outlooks of Reformed and Arminian evangelicals continues to mark the evangelical movement even in the present and so this work is heartily recommended to all who wish to understand both the ‘Free Grace’ controversy itself, but also the DNA of English–speaking Evangelicalism."

David Ceri Jones, Aberystwyth University, Wales

"Houston offers a fresh exploration of the Free Grace controversy, without doubt one of the most formative events in the rise of the Methodist movement. While not less than a doctrinal disagreement between John Wesley and George Whitefield over the nature of predestination, Houston convincingly demonstrates that it was also much more than that, simultaneously performing an identity-giving role among Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists. This insightful work is an important contribution to our understanding of eighteenth-century transatlantic evangelicalism's social and theological origins."

Ian Maddock, FRHistS, Sydney Missionary & Bible College, Australia

"Dr Joel Houston provides John Wesley and George Whitefield scholars, as well as the broader audience of Methodist scholars, the most exhaustive treatment of the "Free Grace" controversy to-date. Houston argues that this debate was due to a clash between two formidable personalities (Whitefield vs. Wesley) who disagreed on an equally formidable theological battleground (predestination vs. conditional election). Houston determines that this controversy did not end because of theological considerations, but because of organizational considerations due to Whitefield’s resignation as the head of the Calvinistic Methodist societies in 1749. Houston’s systematic and lucid analysis of Wesley’s Free Grace sermon and Whitefield’s response within this volume is a major contribution to the debate all on its own."

Sean McGever, Faculty, College of Theology, Grand Canyon University, USA

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