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Andrew C. Thompson

Category Archives: Wesleyan Tradition

John Wesley and Reading the Bible

12 Monday Jun 2017

Posted by Andrew C. Thompson in Bible, John Wesley, Wesleyan Theology, Wesleyan Tradition

≈ 4 Comments

Here’s a passage where John Wesley explains how he goes about reading the Bible:

Is there a doubt concerning the meaning of what I read? Does anything appear dark or intricate? I lift up my heart to the Father of Lights. “Lord, is it not thy Word, if any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God? Thou givest liberally and upbraideth not. Thou has said, ‘If any be willing to do thy will, he shall know.’ I am willing to do. Let me know thy will.” I then search after and consider parallel passages of Scripture, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. I meditate thereon, with all the attention and earnestness of which my mind is capable. If any doubt still remain, I consult those who are experienced in the things of God: And then, the writings whereby being dead, they yet speak. And what I thus learn, that I teach.”

This paragraph comes from the preface to Wesley’s Sermons on Several Occasions, published in 1746. Wesley’s reflections here offer us some insight into how he believed we should read the Holy Scriptures. You might call them Wesley’s principles of biblical interpretation. I’ll list four of them, connected to four statements he makes in the quoted paragraph:

1) I lift up my heart to the Father of Lights. — First and foremost, the reading of Scripture should be undertaken in such a way that it is clothed in prayer. Wesley’s belief in the power of prayer comes through just about everywhere in his writing. “God does nothing but in answer to prayer,” Wesley says in the Plain Account of Christian Perfection. “Every new victory which a soul gains is the effect of a new prayer” (Q.38.5). What this means is that we should not approach reading the Bible as something we are doing simply to learn the content, or as an academic exercise. Instead, we should approach the Scriptures through prayer. We should ask God the Holy Spirit to illuminate our hearts and minds that we might receive God’s word within us.

2) Is there a doubt concerning the meaning of what I read? — Another baseline principle of Wesley’s is that the Bible should be taken at face value unless doing so would make no sense. As Wesley puts it, “[I]t is a stated rule in interpreting Scripture never to depart from the plain, literal sense, unless it implies an absurdity” (“Of the Church,” ¶I.12). We can easily come up with examples of such absurdities—Jesus’ “I am” statements in the Gospel of John, for example. (When Jesus says, “I am the gate,” as he does in John 10:9, he has not literally transformed himself into a gate; he is referring rather to the way of salvation.)

Following Wesley’s counsel on reading the Bible at face value has some wonderful benefits. For one, it helps us to realize that we do not study the Scriptures in order to master them, but rather so that they might master us. It isn’t up to us to tame or domesticate God’s word. Rather, when we come to the Bible we are come in order to receive and be transformed by it.

On the other hand, the “unless it implies an absurdity” clause in this principle of Wesley’s biblical interpretation also keeps us from reading the Bible too woodenly. Going back to that opening sentence from the preface to Sermons on Several Occasions, we will inevitably encounter things in the Bible where we have doubt as to the meaning of what we’ve read. At those times the text must be read spiritually rather than literally. And when we get to those places it is important to have other interpretive principles upon which to rely.

3) I then search after and consider parallel passages of Scripture, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. — The principle this statement points toward is that the best interpreter of Scripture is Scripture. If you want to understand some isolated passage or story in the Bible, then compare it with the whole witness of Scripture as represented in other parts of the Bible that shed light on it.

There are two ways that Wesley tends to express this principle. The first is through his phrase, “the whole scope and tenor of Scripture.” An example: in the sermon “Free Grace,” Wesley argues that the Calvinist doctrine of predestination “is grounded on such an interpretation of some texts…as flatly contradicts all the other texts, and indeed the whole scope and tenor of Scripture” (¶20). What he is pointing out here is that an isolated text (such as Romans 8:29) cannot be read in such a way to overturn the vast number of texts that affirm the steadfast love of God. Individual passages in the Bible must be read with respect to both the scope (meaning the breadth from Genesis to Revelation) and the tenor (meaning the enduring tone throughout) of the whole.

Portrait of John Wesley, by William Hamilton (1787)

The second way that this principle comes through in Wesley’s writing is with his many references to the “analogy of faith” or “rule of faith.” This phrase is drawn from Romans 12:6 (“let us prophesy according to the analogy of faith,” in Wesley’s translation). In the Christian tradition, it is typically taken to mean the whole, unified message of the Bible. The early church often saw the analogy of faith as the content of the creed—the Bible’s witness about God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Since the time of the Reformation, Protestant thinkers have often connected the analogy of faith with the biblical teaching about salvation. This is how Wesley understood it, as we can see from his commentary on Romans 12:6 itself: “St. Peter expresses it, as the oracles of God: according to the general tenor of them; according to that grand scheme of doctrine which is delivered therein, touching original sin, justification by faith, and present, inward salvation. There is a wonderful analogy between all these; and a close and intimate connection between the chief heads of that faith which was once delivered to the saints. Every article therefore, concerning which there is any question, should be determined by this one rule: every doubtful scripture interpreted, according to the grand truths which run through the whole.”

Thus, Wesley advocates a principle of biblical interpretation whereby shorter passages of Scripture always be read in light of the analogy of faith of the scope and tenor of Scripture—that is, according to the “grand truths which run through the whole.”

4) I consult those who are experienced in the things of God: And then, the writings whereby being dead, they yet speak. — Wesley often said that Methodism was nothing other than “the religion of the Bible, the religion of the primitive church, the religion of the Church of England” (e.g., “On Laying the Foundation of the New Chapel,” ¶II.1). That formulation offers us a succinct way of pointing out something that Wesley took for granted: if you want to live faithfully; if you want to read the Bible accurately; and if you want to renew the church, you look backward to those times when the church was at her best. When it came to the faithfulness of the church herself, for Wesley this meant the church before the age of Constantine the Great. He both appealed to the life of the church in this age as well as to the writings of the early church fathers. Thus, when we need help understanding the Bible, we will do well to consult the fathers of the early church whose writings will bring clarity to the writing of Scripture itself.

So by working through that paragraph from the preface to Sermons on Several Occasions, we arrive at these principles of biblical interpretation:

  1. Approach reading the Bible through heartfelt prayer.
  2. Read the Bible with an eye to its literal, plain sense meaning unless such a reading implies an absurdity.
  3. The best interpreter of Scripture is Scripture, so read each individual passage in light of the whole scope and tenor of the Bible.
  4. Use the witness of the early church fathers as an abiding guide to Bible study.

Those were Wesley’s guiding principles to the reading of the Bible, and they can be helpful principles for us to adopt today as well.

Discipleship and the Means of Grace

15 Thursday Oct 2015

Posted by admin in Means of Grace, Practical Theology, Seedbed, Seven Minute Seminary, Wesleyan Theology, Wesleyan Tradition

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The Seven Minute Seminary video series that is produced by Seedbed is one of the best ways to get familiar with Wesleyan thought related to the Bible, theology, and ministry. It features prominent Wesleyan scholars and pastors speaking on topics related to their areas of specialty. I’ve been lucky to record a few of the video presentations myself.

In the following video, I speak on the Wesleyan understanding of the means of grace. The means of grace are those practices of worship, devotion, and discipleship which lie at the very heart of Wesleyan spirituality. Click below to learn more:

For my other Seven Minute Seminary teaching presentations, go to this link.


 

The Means of Grace — a new resource!

25 Friday Sep 2015

Posted by admin in Discipleship, Means of Grace, Practical Theology, Seedbed, United Methodist Church, Wesleyan Theology, Wesleyan Tradition

≈ 2 Comments

Cover Art_The Means of Grace_High ResMy new book, The Means of Grace, hit the digital bookshelves a few days ago. As you can imagine, this is exciting for me personally. I wrote this book because of how strongly I believe in the importance of its subject matter. And I think it could be a real benefit to Christians who are looking for a way to bring a disciplined pattern to their discipleship.

I wanted to do a little writeup on The Means of Grace for anyone who might be interested in it for personal use or for small group study. I’ll do that below in Q&A format. If you have any questions after reading it, please feel free to leave them in the comments section below this post!

What is The Means of Grace about?
This is a book about those practices and habits that bring us closer to Jesus Christ by opening us up to the power of his grace. They are drawn, either directly or indirectly, from the Bible. My own understanding of them is deeply shaped by the way that John Wesley taught about them. That comes through in some significant ways in the book. At times the means of grace are called by other names: spiritual disciplines, practices of discipleship, and the like. Those are good terms, but I  believe that embracing the term means of grace is important because it reminds us that the source of their power is indeed the grace of God.

Who was it written for?
The Means of Grace is geared toward a broad reading audience. My hope is that churches will find it to be a fruitful book for small group or congregational use. It can also be read profitably on an individual basis.

How is it organized?
The book begins with an introductory chapter that lays out a Wesleyan understanding of grace. Thereafter it is divided into three sections: instituted means of grace, prudential means of grace, and general means of grace. While these terms may sound technical, they are explained easily enough in the text. And the individual means of grace ought to be familiar to people with any familiarity with the Christian faith: prayer, searching the Scriptures, fasting, the Lord’s Supper, etc.

Most of the book’s chapters are arranged in similar fashion. Each of the means of grace is explained as it appears in the biblical witness. The way in which they are framed in Wesleyan spirituality follows. Finally, each of the means of grace is described as it can find a place in daily discipleship. The point is to show how the means of grace are grounded in a biblical and Wesleyan framework, while also showing how practical they are for day-to-day use.

Why did you write it?
I wanted to offer Christians a practical guide for how the means of grace can become the “pattern of the Christian life.” I believe this the way that John Wesley envisaged them, and I think it is the way they can be most effective in our lives today.

Does it have a study guide?
Yes it does. There is a “Discussion Starters” section at the back of the book intended to facilitate small group study.

Are there any other resources to go along with it?
The book is put out by Seedbed Publishing. Later this year, Seedbed will be producing a video series that will accompany the book as another tool for small group and congregational use. I’ll update my readers on this blog when those videos have been published.

Where is it available?
Currently, the books is available directly from Seedbed and from Seedbed’s Amazon marketplace store. The Kindle edition can also be ordered direct from Amazon.

That’s all for now. Let me know if I’ve left anything out that would be helpful to share. And if you check it out, let me know what you think!

The John Wesley Collection

25 Tuesday Aug 2015

Posted by admin in Discipleship, Doctrine & Theology, John Wesley, Local Church Ministry, Practical Theology, Seedbed, Spiritual Formation, Wesleyan Theology, Wesleyan Tradition

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John Wesley Collection_From Almost to AltogetherHere’s a development that holds great promise for readers interested in Wesleyan spirituality and ministry: The John Wesley Collection.

The John Wesley Collection (or “JWC”) is a new venture by Seedbed Publishing. Its purpose is to gather together and publish the writings of John Wesley and other early Methodist figures. These writings are collected into volumes aimed at people hungry for solid theological material related to how we should understand God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, grace, discipleship, salvation, and much more.

As the folks at Seedbed put it themselves: “Seedbed believes these writings are as relevant to our context today as they were in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Consequently, we consider it a sacred calling to join with those who are recapturing John Wesley’s publishing vision for the twenty-first century.”

Several months ago I took over as executive editor of the JWC. I’m truly excited about this project! So far, we have published volumes by Wesley that contain his discourses on the Sermon on the Mount and his Plain Account of Christian Perfection. We’ve also published The Tongue of Fire, a work on the Holy Spirit by a 19th century Irish Methodist missionary and pastor named William Arthur. Most recently, we have come out with a volume of nine sermons by Wesley on the nature of faithful discipleship called From Almost to Altogether: Sermons on Christian Discipleship.

Check out this video on the JWC:

 

It’s true that there a number of ways people can access much of John Wesley’s writings these days: student editions of Wesley’s sermons intended for seminary use, Wesley texts offered in online formats, and the scholarly Bicentennial Edition of the Works of John Wesley.

Yet none of these formats is really designed for reading and study with an eye to spiritual formation. Seedbed’s hope is that the volumes of the JWC will be used in churches: by pastors, youth ministers, laypeople in small groups, etc.

I recently gave a copy of From Almost to Altogether to every staff member of my church. Within a few days, two of those staff members had asked if I’d be willing to help guide them through a few of the sermons included in it. As you can imagine, my answer was an enthusiastic yes!

The great thing about the JWC is that it is an ongoing project. Seedbed will be producing new volumes of Wesleyan material in it for years to come. And I’ll do my best to keep you updated on it!

 


 

Wesleyan Accent: The Virtue of Pastoral Leadership

30 Friday Jan 2015

Posted by admin in Leadership, Wesleyan Accent, Wesleyan Theology, Wesleyan Tradition

≈ 2 Comments

I returned recently from a trip to the beautiful hill country of north Alabama. While there I spent a day in conversation with Methodist clergy from there about leadership in the church.

The questions we were grappling with are important for the future of any church in the Methodist family: What does Wesleyan Pastoral Leadership look like? Is there even such a thing? I think we can identify a leadership approach that is distinctively Wesleyan, even if not uniquely so. Click here to continue reading…

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Wesleyan AccentWesleyan Accent provides free and subscription resources for Christian spiritual formation, catechesis, and discipleship in the Wesleyan way. By clearly articulating the Wesleyan understanding of Christian faith, WA seeks to strengthen discipleship, empower mission and evangelism, cultivate ministry gifts of young leaders, and nurture the professional and service life of young theologians.

Andrew C. Thompson joined the writing team of WA upon its launch in the Fall of 2013. For the full catalog of his articles on the WA site, click here.

Evangelism and Discipleship: A Wesleyan Connection

28 Wednesday Jan 2015

Posted by admin in Discipleship, Evangelism & Mission, John Wesley, Means of Grace, Seedbed, Seven Minute Seminary, Wesleyan Theology, Wesleyan Tradition

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One of the more interesting developments in Wesleyan theological education over the past few years has been the advent of Seedbed’s Seven Minute Seminary video series. The series features prominent Wesleyan scholars and pastors speaking on a wide range of topics related to the Bible, theology, and ministry. Here’s the Seven Minute Seminary launch announcement by Seedbed’s Chief Sower J.D. Walt.

I got to record my first Seven Minute Seminary teaching video awhile back. My topic in the video is the connection between evangelism and discipleship in Wesleyan practice. Here’s how it turned out:

For my other Seven Minute Seminary teaching presentations, go to this link.


 

Methodist House of Studies Online

02 Thursday Oct 2014

Posted by admin in Memphis Theological Seminary, Methodist House, Theological Education, Wesleyan Tradition

≈ 3 Comments

One of the ways we’re going to make the Methodist House of Studies visible here at MTS is through a new website that we launched a few days ago. Go ahead and take a look!

My hope is that this website can serve a number of purposes. The primary purpose will be informational. I want the website to provide helpful information for current and prospective students. It will highlight what we’re doing through the Methodist House, and what we’ve got planned for the future.

John Wesley Seal (1)_vectorizedlargetransparentAnother role the website will fulfill is in outreach to the church. Every one of the Methodist professors here at MTS is also an ordained minister with significant pastoral experience. We believe that the academic work that we do ought to be directed at helping to equip the church to fulfill its mission more effectively. Our professors engage in work related to youth ministry, urban ministry, addiction recovery, local church ministry, and Wesleyan approaches to evangelism—all of which are deeply relevant to the day-to-day ministry of the church. As the Methodist House website develops, it will be a resource both to provide churches with helpful resources and to highlight some of the speaking events and workshops that our professors are doing.

Finally, my hope is that our new website will simply serve as a network to further the work of Wesleyan revitalization. We live in a time when the ‘catholic evangelicalism’ of the Wesleyan tradition is needed more than ever. In a world where cynicism and discord often seem to be ascendent, I hope the Methodist House can be a community where the ‘hope that is within us’ can be the primary mark of how we serve God and one another. If the website can contribute to that work in some small way, then it will have served a good purpose.

Methodist House of Studies @ MTS

29 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by admin in Memphis Theological Seminary, Methodist House, Theological Education, United Methodist Church, Wesleyan Tradition

≈ 1 Comment

Good things are happening at Memphis Theological Seminary! I am excited to be able to announce publicly our new initiative known as the Methodist House of Studies. There will be much more to come. In the meantime, see the introductory video below:

 

 


 

MTS to offer two Wesleyan Studies courses this fall

31 Thursday Jul 2014

Posted by admin in Memphis Theological Seminary, Theological Education, Wesleyan Tradition

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Here’s a news release sent out by my seminary that I thought I’d publicize here as well:

MTS Logo_largeAs part of its growing emphasis in Wesleyan Studies and the Methodist tradition, Memphis Theological Seminary (MTS) will offer two courses this fall focusing on John Wesley and the early Methodist revival. The courses are designed for seminary graduates who want a refresher, cradle-to-grave Methodists who yearn to learn more about Wesleyan roots, or new converts to Wesleyan spirituality.

Classes are taught by Dr. Andrew C. Thompson, Assistant Professor of Historical Theology & Wesleyan Studies. Dr. Thompson is also Founder and Director of the Methodist House of Studies at MTS and oversees student participation in the Certificate in Wesleyan Studies program. He is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church and has served pastoral appointments in Tennessee, Arkansas and North Carolina.

MTS offers courses in 3-hour blocks, days and evenings. The deadline for admission to the fall 2014 semester is Aug. 10. New student orientation is Aug. 22, and classes begin Aug. 23. Auditors are welcome, if space permits. To begin the admissions process for degree-seeking students and auditors, contact MTS today.

  • The Practical Theology of John Wesley offers an in-depth study of the life and theology of the founder of Methodism. This course focuses primarily on the study of John Wesley’s own writings – his sermons, journals and theological essays. Particular emphasis is given to themes such as grace, discipleship, sanctification, the means of grace and the Wesleyan view of Jesus Christ. (Tuesdays, 5:30-8:30 p.m.)
  • Early Methodism: History, Doctrine and Polity introduces the core elements of Methodism’s doctrine and organization as seen through the history of the early Methodist movement in 18th-century Britain. The time period covered corresponds roughly to the life and ministry of John Wesley (1703-1791), though some attention is also given both to the pre-18th century historical background of the Church of England and continental Pietism, as well as to the early development of American Methodism in the latter decades of the 18th century. (Wednesdays, 1:00-4:00 p.m.)

MTS is an ecumenical graduate school of theology that serves up to 30 different denominations, including United Methodist students primarily from the Memphis, Arkansas, North Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi Conferences. For more information about MTS, visit www.memphisseminary.edu or call Melissa Malinoski at 901.334.5857.

The news release was originally published here.

Holy Conferencing: A Means of Grace

21 Saturday Jun 2014

Posted by admin in Discipleship, John Wesley, Means of Grace, Sanctification/Holiness, Wesleyan Theology, Wesleyan Tradition

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John Wesley considered some of the means of grace to be formally established by Jesus Christ in the gospels. One of those is the means of grace he called “Christian conference” at some points and “Christian fellowship” at others.

These terms take some explaining, because Wesley used them in technical ways that would not be apparent to us at first glance.

Conference does refer to the formal body of the annual conference for Wesley. But it is also the term that describes any activity where Christians “confer” in a self-conscious way about important matters of faith. So it has a broader meaning than we might ascribe to it in our own usage.

Fellowship, on the other hand, has a narrower use in Wesley’s view than it does with us. We use that term very loosely, but Wesley only uses it when he thinks something spiritually significant is going on amongst Christian believers who are gathered together in community—again, to confer with one another about their faith.

From John Wesley's Instructions for Children

Lesson from John Wesley’s Instructions for Children

In recent years, the term holy conferencing has emerged as a contemporary term that describes the Wesleyan original. Emily Snell wrote about this topic in Interpreter Magazine just recently, in fact.

The video above was produced by the Arkansas Conference of the UMC recently as a teaching session on Christian conference. In it, I share the Wesleyan background on holy conferencing and offer some guidance about how it can be utilized in congregations and small groups today.

I hope this video can be useful as a resource for pastors and congregations—not just in the Arkansas Conference, but anywhere that groups of Christians have reason to gather in serious conversation and discernment about their faith and discipleship.


See also: Wesley (and Watson) on Christian Conference

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