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| Standing at Aldersgate Flame, London |
By Michael J. Christensen, Ph.D.
On Wednesday, May 24, 1738, John Wesley records in his
journal a profound religious experience he had at a group meeting in the
Moravian chapel on Aldersgate Street, London:
In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in
Aldersgate Street [in London], where one was reading Luther’s preface to the
Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the
change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart
strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation;
and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and
saved me from the law of sin and death.
Earlier that day, before his heart was strangely warmed,
Wesley was meditating on a particular verse of scripture—2 Peter 1:4. “I think it was about five this morning
that I opened my Testament on those words… ‘There are given unto us exceeding
great and precious promises, even that ye should be partakers of the divine
nature’.” The phrase
and promise in 2 Peter 1:4 to become “partakers of the divine nature” is the
biblical grounding for a bold doctrine conceived in the Patristic era and
developed in the various Christian traditions. “God became man so that man
might become God”—is how Athanasius (293-373) interpreted this verse in
relation to the Incarnation. His
famous line has been repeated and developed through the centuries as a doctrine
of deification or theosis (lit. becoming divine). The idea is that through a process of spiritual
participation (communing with God, partaking of the divine nature), the
children of God can grow up to become God-like, as far as possible, in how we
live our lives and love each other.
Inspired
by this compelling patristic notion of theosis, John Wesley sought to live a
holy life, worthy of his calling as a divinity student at Oxford University and
as a parish priest in the Anglican Church. Well-read and informed by the Church Fathers about the
promise and possibility of perfection and even deification, he led the “Holy
Club” at Oxford in seeking God’s blessing as they tried to live morally and
spiritually perfect lives according to their vision of primitive Christianity.
Years later, and after professional and personal failures in his mission to
America, he felt spiritually bankrupt and open to new direction and light. After his heart-warming experience at
Aldersgate, Wesley came to believe that what had happened to him that day was
part of God’s sanctifying work in redemption, offering him the gift of
assurance of salvation.
Instead of perpetual striving after God’s favor, he felt like he did
trust in Christ alone for salvation. Rather than viewing the promise of
deification as a static notion of “becoming gods” resulting in some kind of
absolute perfection, he came to understand God’s promise of “Christian
perfection” in more relational and dynamic terms of becoming more and more like
God in perfect love.
Theologically,
how similar are these two ideas—deification and perfection—and what is the
relationship of Wesley’s so-called doctrine of Christian perfection to the
older, patristic conception of theosis?
Are all these terms more or less synonymous or critically
distinctive? Is Wesley’s 18th
century understanding of perfection in continuity with more ancient views of
theosis, or does the difference constitute a new doctrine of Christian
Perfection?
In
another theological essay on the topic, I make the case that Wesley’s
understanding of perfection is not only similar to, but also in continuity
with, older ideas of theosis in selected patristic writers of the East. This chapter assumes that
Wesley’s promotion of Christian perfection depends on and is an outgrowth of
the broader Christian tradition of deification, and aims simply to articulate
the Wesleyan version of perfection as a derivative doctrine. It also seeks to contribute
distinctively Wesleyan theological resources and spiritual practices to the
growing ecumenical discussion of human deification and perfection in Christ.
[NOTE: This is an introduction to new chapter on Wesley I'm working on for forthcoming book on Theosis in the Christian Tradition.]
[NOTE: This is an introduction to new chapter on Wesley I'm working on for forthcoming book on Theosis in the Christian Tradition.]
[
So you have already answered my dissertation proposal question? Is my question still a valid one to ask to write a dissertation about?
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