Fletcher of MadeleyMacdonald, Frederic W. (Frederic William)
Religion
Fletcher of Madeley
Macdonald, Frederic W. (Frederic William)
Fletcher, John, 1729-1785
But why did Fletcher so soon withdraw from the presidency of the
college? To use the words of Mr. Benson: "Why did he give up an office
for which he was perfectly well qualified, which he executed so
entirely to the satisfaction of all the parties concerned, and in which
it pleased God to give so manifest a blessing to his labours?" The
answer is, that it was one of the first results of a controversy which,
for intensity, for duration, and for the strifes and divisions to which
it gave rise, is unhappily memorable in the history of the Revival.
Its very name--the Calvinistic controversy--will suggest to the
experienced reader the range of questions involved, and the
improbability of agreement being arrived at, however prolonged might be
the discussion.
It should be borne in mind that, from its very beginning, the Revival
had advanced along two different lines, in connexion with certain
well-marked doctrinal distinctions. Whilst the work and the workers in
the two spheres were, in the best and deepest sense, one, they were
divided upon those questions concerning predestination and free will,
which, since the time of Augustine, have given rise to two distinct
types of doctrine, each susceptible of modifications and developments
of its own. This difference was represented, first in the little band
of Oxford Methodists, and then in the more evangelical and expansive
Methodism that succeeded it. Wesley was an Arminian, and Whitefield a
Calvinist. Harmonious co-operation between them was at times difficult;
but mutual love and largeness of heart prevailed upon the whole.
Under Wesley's leadership, Arminian Methodism developed in organic
form, and is still found in all parts of the world in visible,
organized Churches. Calvinistic Methodism spread with similar, if not
equal, rapidity, but without unity of administration, and failed to
develop any principles of Church life. It revived the Calvinistic
nonconformity of England, and may almost be said to have taken
possession of Wales; but the main current of its strength flowed into
the Church of England, and is to be traced in the rise and progress of
the Evangelical or Low Church party. There may be difference of opinion
as to which development has been on the whole of greater service to the
Christian Church, but few persons will deny to either a high place in
the order of Providence.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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