American Methodism
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The history of Methodism in America begins in 1735 with the efforts of James Edward Oglethorpe to rescue some unfortunate debtors from a debtors' prison in England (Daniels 105). Oglethorpe was grieved that "thousands of men in Great Britain rotted in prison for the misfortune of being poor" and relocated a number of them to the Colony of Georgia in America (Daniels 105). John Wesley was subsequently sent to the colony by a British society as a missionary chaplain, and he expressed his mission thus, "My chief motive is the hope of saving my own soul. I hope to learn the true sense of the Gospel by preaching it to the heathen" (Daniels 106). On the voyage to America to fulfill this mission, Wesley encountered Moravians who displayed fearless courage in the face of a terrible storm (Daniels 109). Their lack of fear impressed Wesley greatly and made a lasting impact on him. He worked diligently in Georgia and gained many followers, but in 1737 sailed off to return to England following much persecution in America (Daniels 120). Wesley's departure did not end the Methodist movement in America, however, because just prior to his leaving, newly ordained George Whitefield, responding to the letters of the Wesleys in Georgia, decided to travel to America to help with the efforts there (Daniels 124). Whitefield, whose preeminent preaching topic was salvation, found a warmer reception in America among "the Dissenters" than the Wesleys had, primarily because he determined
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ace, and finished salvation on the one hand; and on the other hand, the idea that man can set the terms of his own salvation, come to God when he chooses, or by works merit God's righteousness" (Knight). In terms of free will, in particular, Fletcher wanted a via media that would "equally assert that man cannot will the spiritual good unassisted by divine grace, and would simultaneously claim that when man does will it by grace he does so freely," asserting that although man's will is "always free," if it lacks grace it is "free only to evil" and that "freedom to choose the good comes from redeeming grace alone" (Knight). Fletcher's via media was an attempt to reconcile "rigid Calvinists and rigid Arminians, both of whom Fletcher considered to be in error" (Knight).
In essence, Fletcher's use of the via media "as a theological method was an attempt to understand particular religious truths as perspectives which share(along with apparently opposing positions(in a higher synthesis of Truth," a method that has been labeled "dialectical" (Knight). Thus, Fletcher is known as a "mediating" theologian, and his middle way theology had a substantial impact upon American theological thinking.
Fletcher's views notwithsta
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Approximate Word count = 3313
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page)
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