St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology (Nov 2022)
Methodist Theology
Abstract
Methodist theology is elusive. When John Wesley attempted to describe The Character of a Methodist (1742), he began by telling the reader what a Methodist is not. The distinguishing marks of the Methodist, he observed, are not a peculiar set of opinions, notions, doctrines, actions, or customs. Methodists are those, he claims, who have the love of God shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost given unto them: those who love the Lord their God with all their heart, and with all their soul, and with all their mind, and with all their strength. God is the joy of their heart and the desire of their soul. They walk as Christ walked. The Wesleys’ purpose was spiritual renewal – a rediscovery of faith working by love. A theology did undergird their efforts and beliefs, to be sure, and it quickly took on a normative character. Over time, formative expressions of Methodist theology further defined the spiritual heirs of the Wesleys in multiple historical and cultural contexts as the movement expanded, literally, around the globe. This article tells the story of Methodist theology and the various streams that emerged from its Wesleyan headwaters.
