This week, we continue looking at John Wesley’s little book, A Plain Account of Christian Perfection. Article 5 is titled, “Conformity to the Master.” In it, Wesley describes how his heightened study of the bible led him more clearly to Christ as Master at life. Not only our Master in life (though he certainly is), but the Master at life—the One who really knows what life is really all about and how to live it abundantly, for all it’s worth.
There are two basic reflections I’d like to share from article 5. I’ll share the first, about Wesley and the bible, in this post. I’ll get the second in the next post.
Wesley and the Bible
Wesley begins article 5 this way:
“In the year 1729, I began not only to read, but to study, the Bible as the one, the only standard of truth, and the only model of pure religion.”
First, we note that Wesley differentiates between reading the bible and studying the bible. I would contend that both are important. Studying takes us deep into the meaning of the Scriptures, whether getting into the details of a small passage or paying attention to the significance of over-arching themes. Reading can be many things. For my part, I see it as simple immersion into the Story of the bible itself. Perhaps Wesley is referring a sort of surface engagement here.
Second, we can see that an important part of Wesley’s faith journey entailed submitting himself to reading the bible “as the one, the only standard of truth, and the only model of pure religion.” This sort of posture does not only seek to understand the bible, but to gain understanding by “standing under” it, being instructed by its story and its wisdom. We not only read the bible, but are also read by it! We do not master the Scriptures, but are mastered by them.
Finally, Wesley notes that this posture toward the bible began in 1729. An observation: Wesley began reading guides to the Christian life in Jeremy Taylor, Thomas a Kempis, and William Law. Those guides led him eventually to engaging the text of the bible himself. Sometimes we need the company of others (either face-to-face or through their writings) to help us along the way. But they should lead us to the Scriptures themselves as the “standard of truth’ and “model of pure religion.”
Then we may, like Wesley, see “in a clearer and clearer light…”
What Wesley saw will be the subject of our next post.
Guy M Williams 