John Wesley never wrote a treatise on the church fathers, but he did make lists of the church fathers whom he admired as teachers and spiritual guides. These lists mainly appear in two of Mr. Wesley’s writings, “A Letter to the Reverend Dr. Conyers Middleton” (1748-1749) and “Address to the Clergy” (1756). Both these writings were published during the prime of Mr. Wesley’s career as the leader of Methodism.
Mr. Wesley also translated selected writings of “St. Clement, St. Ignatius, St. Polycarp; and the Martyrdoms of St. Ignatius and St. Polycarp” and “Macarius the Egyptian” [Pseudo-Macarius] in the first volume of his fifty volumes of the Christian Library published for the spiritual edification of Methodists.
The first list of the church fathers
Mr. Wesley’s first list of church fathers is in “A Letter to the Reverend Dr. Conyers Middleton,” a treatise which was abridged and disseminated by him in 1753 under the title A Plain Account of Genuine Christianity. While he engaged in considerable analysis of Dr. Middleton’s comments about particular church fathers such as Irenaeus, near the end of the essay Mr. Wesley presented a list of church fathers whom he thought represented authentic Christianity. He states, “I mean particularly Clemens Romanus [Clement of Rome], Ignatius [of Antioch], Polycarp [of Smyrna], Justin Martyr, Irenaeus [of Lyons]. Origen [of Alexandria], Clemens Alexandrinus [Clement of Alexandria], Cyprian [of Carthage]; to whom I would add Macarius of Egypt [Pseudo-Macarius] and Ephraim Syrus [Ephrem the Syrian].”
This list is dominated by Greek-speaking Christian writers along with the Latin writer Cyprian and the Syriac writer Ephrem. Syriac was a dialect of Aramaic. Most of them lived much of their lives during the second century, except for Clement of Rome who wrote at the end of the first century around 96 C.E.; Origen who wrote around 200 C.E.; Cyprian who wrote around 250 C.E.; and Pseudo-Macarius and Ephrem the Syrian who wrote during the fourth century. The date of the martyrdom in Rome of Ignatius of Antioch is disputed as being between 107 C.E. and 117 C.E., meaning that more or less Ignatius’ life spans the latter first century and the early second century. They represent much of the geographical extent of the Roman Empire from Gaul in the west to Italy through North Africa and Egypt to Asia Minor and eastern Syria, but there are no representatives from the European part of the empire east of Italy. Justin Martyr migrated and settled in Rome, but he was a native of Samaria, and Irenaeus, who listened to Polycarp as a youth, was a native of Asia Minor who migrated westward and settled in Gaul [France] where there were many Asian migrants.
Mr. Wesley admits that there are “many mistakes, many weak suppostions, and many ill-drawn conclusions” in the writings of these fathers of the church. Nonetheless, he expresses his deep admiration for them. Mr. Wesley writes, “And yet I exceedingly reverence them, as well as their writings, and esteem them very highly in love. I reverence them, because they were Christians as are above described [in his letter to Dr. Middleton]. And I reverence their writings, because they describe true, genuine Christianity, and direct us to the strongest evidence of the Christian doctrine.” In his letter to Dr. Middleton, Wesley emphasizes that Christianity is not mere “assent,” but “faith” which sees into “things invisible and eternal” and is a power at work within the soul: “What Christianity (considered as a doctrine) promised, is accomplished in my soul. And Christianity, considered as an inward principle, is the completion of all those promises. It is holiness and happiness, the image of God impressed on a created spirit; a fountain of peace and love springing up into everlasting life.” This is the faith which is attested and practiced by the fathers of the church whom he admires. Then he adds a not-so-veiled criticism of the rationalistic Dr. Middleton and many of Mr. Wesley’s opponents in the Church of England: “I reverence these ancient Christians (with all their failings) the more, because I see so few Christians now; because I read so little in the writings of later times, and hear so little, of genuine Christianity; and because most of the modern Christians, (so-called,) not content with being wholly ignorant of it, are deeply prejudiced against it, calling it enthusiasm, and I know not what.”
The second list of the church fathers
The second list of selected church fathers appears in Mr. Wesley’s “Address to the Clergy,” written not only to the clergy of the Church of England but also to those of other Christian communions. In this address Mr. Wesley identifies the qualifications which all ministers of the church should manifest, whether they are natural abilities, learnings, or gifts of divine grace. One of the many qualifications he lists is “knowledge of the Fathers.” He calls the fathers “the most authentic commentators on Scripture, as being both nearest the fountain, and eminently endued with that Spirit by whom all Scripture was given. It will be easily perceived, I speak chiefly of those who wrote before the Council of Nice [the Council of Nicaea in 325 C.E.]. But who would not likewise desire to have some acquaintance with those who followed them? with St. Chrysostom [of Antioch and Constantinople], Basil [of Caesarea], Jerome [of Rome and Bethlehem], Austin [Augustine of Hippo]; and, above all, the man of a broken heart, Ephraim Syrus [Ephrem the Syrian].” Later in his address, Mr. Wesley specifically identifies those fathers prior to the Council of Nicaea whom he approved. He writes, “[We clergy should ask ourselves,] Am I acquainted with the Fathers; at least with those venerable men who lived in the earliest ages of the Church? Have I read over and over the golden remains of Clemens Romanus, of Ignatius and Polycarp; and have I given one reading, at least, to the works of Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Origen, Clemens Alexandrius, and Cyprian?” He further adds a warning to every clergyman, “How much more shall I suffer in my usefulness, if I have wasted the opportunities I once had of acquainting myself with the great lights of antiquity, the Ante-Nicene Fathers…!”
This second list of church fathers whom Mr. Wesley commended is interesting because it expands the earlier list in his letter to Dr. Middleton, except that it neglects to mention Irenaeus. He adds to his list of writers in the centuries before the Council of Nicaea the Latin father Tertullian of Carthage in North Africa, who wrote around 200 C.E. More importantly, he includes four major figures, two from the East and two from the West: the Greek writers, Chrysostom and Basil, and the Latin writers, Jerome and Augustine. These latter additions demonstrate that Mr. Wesley did not exclude Christian leaders following the Council of Nicaea from his list of those who represent “genuine Christianity.” Chrysostom’s strong moral exhortations in his sermons and other writings would have appealed to Mr. Wesley. It is not clear which writings of Basil Mr. Wesley had in mind, although he may well have read Basil’s sermons on the six days of creation, his treatise on The Holy Spirit, and perhaps some of his epistles. Basil, one of the most educated bishops in the fourth century who spent years studying at elite academies in Athens, was an influential theologian who advanced the church’s teaching on the doctrine of the Trinity, but he was also a strong administrator who founded monasteries and had a lot of influence on the development of the Christian spiritual tradition. Jerome is a surprise because he had a rather unpleasant personality and he did not usually manifest the “tempers” which Mr. Wesley extolled, but he is probably included because he was the leading Latin scholar in the ancient church and he wrote many biblical commentaries and contributed a history of “illustrious men” of the church. Augustine may also seem to be a surprise since Mr. Wesley understood human free will differently than Augustine and was a fierce opponent of John Calvin’s doctrine of predestination which was derived from Augustine’s teaching, but he quoted from Augustine more than any other church father and obviously approved of many of his teachings, probably especially the profound spiritual messages in his sermons.
John Wesley’s conviction about the identity of Methodism
Mr. Wesley’s lists of the church fathers help to illuminate his deep conviction that the era of the primitive church prior to the time of Emperor Constantine was when genuine Christianity was normally practiced.
Mr. Wesley had a strong opinion that Constantine deeply corrupted the church. In his sermon “Of Former Times,” Mr. Wesley said, “Constantine’s calling himself a Christian, and pouring that flood of wealth and honour on the Christian Church, the Clergy in particular, was productive of more evil to the Church than all the ten persecutions put together.” As a result, he believed, from that time “the Church and State, the kingdoms of Christ and of the world, were so strangely and unnaturally blended together, Christianity and Heathenism were so thoroughly incorporated with each other, that they will hardly ever be divided till Christ comes to reign upon earth.”
This is why Mr. Wesley’s lists of church fathers whom he extols are dominated by those who lived before the fourth century when Constantine altered the relation between the empire and the church. Mr. Wesley tends to designate the time of Constantine by referring to the Council of Nicaea in 325 C.E. which Emperor Constantine summoned and over which he presided. His references to “Nice” or Nicaea are not deprecations of the doctrinal teaching of the first ecumenical council, which Mr. Wesley believed by confessing the Nicene Creed during Eucharistic services on Sunday and by subscribing to the Articles of Religion of the Church of England.
In a sermon in 1777, “On Laying the Foundation of the New Chapel, Near the City-Road, London,” Mr. Wesley reiterated his praise of primitive Christianity and also emphasized a claim which he had been making throughout his career as the leader of Methodism, namely the claim that the true identity of Methodism is a movement to recover primitive Christianity. In doing so, he also referred again to his select list of church fathers.
In “On Laying the Foundation of the New Chapel,” Mr. Wesley briefly recounts the history of the Methodist movement beginning with his years as a student at Oxford University, and then he asks, “What is Methodism?” He answers, “What does this word mean? Is it not a new religion? This is a very common, nay, almost an universal, supposition; but nothing can be more remote from the truth. It is a mistake all over. Methodism, so called, is the old religion, the religion of the Bible, the religion of the primitive Church, the religion of the Church of England.” He goes on to explain this “old religion” by quoting from his treatise, “Earnest Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion,” as being “no other than love, the love of God and of all mankind.”
In this sermon written decades after his letter to Dr. Middleton and his “Address to the Clergy,” Mr. Wesley once more mentions his selection of preferred church fathers. He says, “This is the religion of the primitive Church, of the whole Church in the purest ages. It is clearly expressed, even in the small remains of Clemens Romanus, Ignatius, and Polycarp; it is seen more at large in the writings of Tertullian, Origen, Clemens Alexandrinus, and Cyprian; and, even in the fourth century, it was found in the works of Chrysostom, Basil, Ephrem Syrus, and Macarius.”
In light of Mr. Wesley’s holding up of the model of primitive Christianity, why would he include some fourth century Christian leaders in his various listings of the church fathers he extolled? In “Wesley’s Use of the Church Fathers,” Ted A. Campbell observes that Mr. Wesley believed that “the true faith had persisted beyond Constantine” in “certain circles of fourth-century Christians.” This indicates, Campbell says, how Mr. Wesley saw that “true Christianity could persevere in history.”
A Model for the church today
Now that Christendom, the paradigm of Christianity that began with Emperor Constantine, is dying, Christians have to find a new model for the identity and mission of the church. The old model was being the religion of the culture, the ritualistic and spiritual expression of the ideals of society. Since the church can no longer play this role, except for a little while longer in some pockets of society, what should be its role? The obvious answer is that the church of today and of the future should look to the primitive church as its model. The primitive church, which sought to be faithful to the apostolic tradition, existed within society as a distinctive community of faith with an alternative way of living. What is more, the primitive church maintained its integrity as it existed in each particular geographical area and subculture of the Roman Empire, and it lasted and thrived for centuries, even during the extreme period of brutal imperial persecution between 250 C.E. and the early 300’s C.E.
Making this major adjustment from Christendom to a recovery of the paradigm of primitive Christianity should come naturally to those in the Methodist tradition because such an adjustment can also mean a recovery of the true identity and spirit of Methodism.
Timothy W. Whitaker is a Retired United Methodist Church bishop who served the Florida Area.
A note from Bishop Whitaker: Because I consider the formula B.C./A.D. an artifact of Christendom, once so vital but no longer so, I do not use it in order to avoid to giving an impression, even one ever so slight, that Christian witness is a defense of an ancient regime–an arrangement by which Christianity is reduced to the role of the religion of the culture–rather than the voice of a distinctive community which testifies to the truth of the gospel that Jesus of Nazareth is Lord whether the world realizes it or not.
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