The life and times of the Rev. John Wesley, M.A., founder of the Methodists. Vol. 2 (of 3)Tyerman, L. (Luke)
History
The life and times of the Rev. John Wesley, M.A., founder of the Methodists. Vol. 2 (of 3)
Tyerman, L. (Luke)
Methodism; Wesley, John, 1703-1791
Addressing the younger clergy, he remarks: “Lay this down as an
infallible principle, that an _entire, absolute renunciation_ of all
worldly interest, is the only possible foundation of that virtue which
your station requires. Without this, all attempts after an exemplary
piety are vain. Detest therefore, with the utmost abhorrence, all
desires of making your fortunes, either by preferments or rich
marriages, and let it be your only ambition to stand at the top of
every virtue, as visible guides and patterns, to all that aspire after
the perfection of holiness.”
The other extract is not of trifling importance. “Human learning is by
no means to be rejected from religion; but if it is considered as a
key, or the key, to the mysteries of our redemption, instead of opening
to us the kingdom of God, it locks us up in our own darkness. God is
an all-speaking, _all-working_, _all-illuminating_ essence, possessing
the depths of every creature according to its nature; and when we turn
from all impediments, this Divine essence becomes as certainly the
true light of our minds here, as it will be hereafter. This is not
enthusiasm, but the words of truth and soberness; and it is the running
away from this enthusiasm, that has made so many great scholars as
useless to the church as tinkling cymbals, and Christendom a mere Babel
of learned confusion.”
11. “The Manners of the Ancient Christians, extracted from a French
Author.” 12mo, 24 pages. The French author, from whose works this was
taken, was the renowned Claude Fleury, the associate of Bossuet and
Fenelon; the preceptor of the Dukes of Burgundy, Anjou, and Berry; the
friend of Louis XIV.; the author of an Ecclesiastical History, the
fruit of thirty years of devoted study; a man of great learning and
simplicity, of high integrity, and ardent piety; who died in 1723, at
the age of 83.
12. “A Roman Catechism, faithfully drawn out of the allowed writings of
the Church of Rome. With a Reply thereto.” 12mo, 79 pages. This was a
republication of a work bearing the following title: “A Catechism truly
representing the Doctrines and Practices of the Church of Rome, with
an Answer thereunto. By a Protestant of the Church of England. London:
1686.” 12mo, 104 pages. On one page is the catechism, and on the
opposite page the answer, throughout. Wesley neglects to acknowledge
that the pamphlet was not an original production; and it has improperly
been placed in the last edition of his collected works.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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