Wesleyanism: Christian Definition and Beliefs

The Protestant Reformation in England developed separately and differently from the Reformation that arose in Europe. One reason for this difference was geographical; England was separated from Europe by the English Channel. More significant, though, was the fact that England's "developing national identity centered in large part in their monarchy, would eventually develop a religious establishment that was unabashedly nationalistic, legally centered in the monarchy, and strongly anti-papal" (Heitzenrater 3). The Catholic Church had become corrupt, charging people to marry, to be baptized, or even to bury someone on their land(a necessity if the deceased were to go to heaven (Trueman). Although the same corruption existed in both the English church and that of Europe, the events that precipitated the Reformation differed in each place. In England, Henry VIII had a dilemma that was complicated by the Catholic Church. His wife Catherine was no longer of childbearing age and had given him no sons, only a daughter (Trueman). Henry "desperately needed a male heir" to prevent his daughter from ruling, fearing that "a throne held by a woman would never be secure" (Trueman). Henry wanted to divorce Catherine and marry Anne Boleyn, but the Catholic Church refused to recognize or support divorce, and Henry risked excommunication if he were to declare his own divorce against the Church's doctrine (Trueman). He requested a special Papal Dispensati

and assurance" and that they were "two distinct realities" (Heizenrater 87). This was only one piece of a larger picture, however, as there were ultimately "different 'brands' of Protestantism" all over Europe-"Lutheranism, Calvinism and Zwinglianism, and doctrines and practices associated with Anabaptism, Arminianism, Anglicanism and Puritanism(would ultimately come into conflict with each other" ("Reformation Counter-Reformation Europe 1517-1600"). Nevertheless, Wesley seems to have been profoundly changed by his relationship with the Moravians, and his subsequent relationship with Whitefield added yet another dimension to his stature as a spiritual leader. Whitefield and Wesley "had taken up the reins for" each other in the Wesleyan movement, as Heitzenrater (94) puts it, as they each went to American by turns, and this was spiritually profitable for both men. While Whitefield was "the fiery speaker" who gained converts for the movement, helping it to spread, Wesley was a unifier who "helped consolidate the work of the Methodists and Moravians within the structures provided by the Church of England (Heitzenrater 94). From a doctrinal standpoint, Wesley's ability to see to the heart of doctrine and simplify it promo

Category: History - W