John Wesley's Pneumatology: Perceptible Inspiration

Abstract

With considerable clarity Joseph Cunningham, who teaches philosophy at Saginaw Valley State University, sets about describing and assessing Wesley's concern with the development and articulation of a theology of the Spirit. This he does with a combination of historical, theological, and philosophical insight, paying close attention, albeit with a refreshingly light touch, to the context in which Wesley fashioned his theological understandings. This is no mean feat given that, as Cunningham reminds us, Wesley's pneumatological nomenclature was variegated (vii). The core of Cunningham's argument is that Wesley was anxious to set out with some clarity the relationship between the Holy Spirit, religious knowledge, and the nature of spiritual being. An obvious starting point for this is Wesley's correspondence (1745–8) with John Smith (a pseudonymous figure). Here Wesley was concerned with defending his view that it is possible for men and women to encounter or sense the Holy Spirit. Hence we see the foundation of what we might now call encounter with the divine; for Wesley this was perceptible inspiration. Whereas the accusation that Wesley was guilty of enthusiasm is widely known, his nuanced correspondence on encountering the Holy Spirit may be less well observed. Thankfully, Cunningham's presentation of the correspondence will enable the reader to see it as setting out some of the core principles of the very nature of a Methodist understanding of salvation. In the chapters that follow Cunningham succeeds in setting out how Wesley thought a believer encountered God, how life was transformed (that being more than a one-off event of transformation), and how a conversation then takes place. Taking up (in the Methodist sense of course) classical themes of grace, faith, and witness we begin to see that the concerns articulated in the correspondence remained with Wesley throughout his ministry and this is an area to which he returned, albeit in slightly different contexts, on several occasions. Cunningham makes it clear that for Wesley, to encounter the Spirit meant a very real sense of transformation. He brings the point home, reminding us that for Wesley the Spirit's operation is rooted in the atonement and justification (50). A claim of itself worthy of further consideration, much like the delightful aside that Wesley was relatively uninterested in the question of Trinitarian dynamics (42); there, of course, is an important insight. At numerous points in this work we see again the sense of urgency that Wesley (and early Methodism?) felt about articulating that a personal encounter with the Spirit was vital.All of this raises questions about how Methodism, particularly in the early years, ordered itself, viewed the sacraments, shaped its worship, understood the Bible, and how the believer ordered her life in light of encountering the Spirit. Cunningham makes a reference to the later by citing ‘Wesley's theology of happiness’ (129) and making a link to the use of riches (money). Sadly, this is where the exploration stops, although the reader is left with a clear line of thought that there was a deeply practical application of the discourse of the Oxford don in his letter to the unknown John Smith for the people called Methodist. The consequences of Wesley's views of perceptible inspiration for the early the early Societies is perhaps the next stage in this work.There is a slight quibble, which does not detract from the overall work, but is surprising nonetheless. There is scant attention here to the work of Charles Wesley. The passing references to one of his sermons is a point of interest in itself, but not to mention the hymns seems curious for, after all, not only do they say a great deal about perceptible inspiration and Trinitarian dynamics, but they carry with them some imprimatur of John.Cunningham has produced a detailed exploration of Wesley's thought and in so doing has applied a rigorous theological and philosophical critique to correspondence and sermons. Throughout the work we are reminded of the interconnectedness of much of Wesley's writing and thought, and as such the basis of a Methodist theological (and one may argue here philosophical) method. This work will be of considerable value and may prove to be a definitive text while, it is to be hoped, encouraging the exploration of other areas of Wesley's theology as grounded in encounter with the divine.