From HERE:
John Wesley was an Anglican Priest, and hence his understanding of the Sacraments reflected, closely, what we today call "anglo-catholicism." For Wesley, a Sacrament was the outward sign of God's gift of inward Grace, to which Humans have the responsibility of outward response. Without our response, the Sacrament is not completed. This is, fundamentally, very similar (though not identical) to the Catholic understanding of the Sacraments. To this idea Wesley added the requirement that Jesus have clearly established the Sacrament in Scripture. Since this can only be said with certainty of Baptism and Holy Communion, Wesley -- following his Anglican tradition -- only recognized these two as formal "Sacraments," or as they are often referenced: "Sacraments properly-so-called."
2 comments:
Fr. Wesley's heirs, including the Holiness and Pentecostal folks, are only now rediscovering his Anglo-Catholicism. The following is one of my favorite Wesley quotes:
"Let everyone therefore who has either any desire to please God, or any love of his own soul, obey God and consult the good of his own soul by communicating every time he can; like the first Christians, with whom the CHRISTIAN SACRIFICE was a constant part of the Lord’s day’s service." Sermon 101, written 1787. Emphasis added.
I find this very encouraging. But it is sad to see that anglo-catholicism within the Anglican Communion is in the process of being expurgated (much to my dismay, since I am one), and on the other hand, that tradition in the continuing churches is scandalously fractured and disunited.
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