News has just broken that the 300,000-word journals of Charles Wesley, the co-founder of the Methodist movement, have finally been decoded after a nine-year project to unravel the hidden messages within his complex personal shorthand.
Rev Prof Kenneth Newport, pro vice-chancellor of Liverpool Hope University, has deciphered more than 1,000 pages written 250 years ago between 1736 and 1756.
Father Newport, an Anglican priest, uncovered details of Wesley's anxieties over the possibilities of a split from the Church of England, his younger brother's plans to marry and even over the growing influence of Islam in the West.
He used a handwritten transcription of the four gospels made by Wesley as a guide to deciphering the journals themselves.
"He was very much opposed to separation, he saw the Methodist Societies as within the established church and anything that smacked of separation was something he took a very strong view of," Rev Prof Newport said.
According to his journals, the hymn writer, Wesley - who is best known for "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" and "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing" - was vehemently opposed to any move toward a formal break.
"At one point in the journal he is talking to the society at Grimsby and goes into block capitals and says 'I told them I would remain with them as long as they remained with the Church of England but should they ever turn their back on the Church they turn their back on me'."
I think it is interesting to see that what people have always taken for granted...Like the Methodist Movement...What most people believe... in actuality... is simply a modern interpretation of the situation. It amazes me when Methodists come up and quiz me about my "Catholic" leanings. When, in point of fact, the founders of the Methodist faith likely had at least "some" of these same leanings. At the very least Charles Wesley wanted my Methodist friends and I to all be Christians in the Anglican tradition.
One of the reasons I find this so interesting is that we Christians tend to emphasize our differences...When...I'm pretty sure what Jesus really wanted was for us to emphasize our common belief in Him.
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2 comments:
Fr. David,
C. Wesley certainly wanted us and you to be Christians in the Anglican tradition. J. Wesley, too, kept the Methodist Societies in England from leaving the CoE fold while he was alive.
But, the situation in America was not the same as England. Certainly, C.W. did not approve of his brother ordaining (and I'm sure that you, like most Anglicans, would, at the least, call the ordinations irregular, if not simply invalid). J.W., as I'm sure you know, only resorted to such actions having already sought ordinations by an English bishop. Simply, he saw it as an extra-ordinary & emergency situation. (To put it in a clearer setting, remember the CoE didn't accept the American Episcopalian bishops for fifty years!)
Not wanting to get off on a "validity of orders" tangent, let me return to the point. Both Wesley's would have desired the Methodists to remain in the "Anglican tradition." - J.W. provided for the Americans, in their unique situation, his slightly abridged version of the BCP (in a number of ways, closer to the 1662 BCP than the 1928 American book, due to the Americans following the Scottish liturgy - a fact early acknowledged by the Commission on Unity of the Protestant Episcopal Church ). Thus, he understood the American Methodists to still be in the "Anglican tradition," though separated from the CoE.
There are, still, those in the Methodist tradition who "own" the "Anglican tradition." The UMC acknowleges the heritage in their Book of Worship. (While I lament Methodism giving up Wesley's Prayer Book, I have to say, there are some good liturgies found in the UM's Book of Worship).
Still, even J. Wesley's "high-church" Anglicanism of the 17th Century is a far cry from Rome. He certainly argued for weekly + celebration of the Lord's Supper (when the CoE was no place near that), but he had very critical things to say about many "Romish" doctrines/practices.
For my part, as you know, I identify myself as Wesleyan/Anglican and would love to see a version of Wesley's BCP in contemporary English. (Perhaps similar to the AMiA's attempt at contemporizing the 1662 BCP.)
And so, I continue to pray for a closer union of Wesley's children and their Anglican sisters and brothers in Christ.
Your Brother in Christ,
Todd+
Todd+:
Thanks for the input. I hadn't realized you also posted a nice piece on this as well. Readers can find it here:
http://wesleyananglican.blogspot.com/2008/08/charles-wesleys-secret-code-deciphored.html
Your input is great and I actually have a Methodist hymnal with the liturgy for Holy Communion in front. It is obvious where the lineage for it comes from.
I read an article by an ACC priest once who had done a guest service at a UMC and found the very oldest members there in tears because the 1928 Prayer Book service reminded them so much of their "old" liturgy.
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