Wynkoop on Wesley: Why John Wesley's Theology is Difficult to Systematize
"Wynkoop on Wesley" are a series of mini-essays on Wynkoop's "A Theology of Love"
John Wesley's Theology has always fascinated and confused me. The confusion lies in the fact that it is very difficult to get a proper systemic breakdown of his thought.
Most systematic theological systems begin with a central thought which dominates the theological system. For Aquinas it is Being; for Calvin it is Providence. From these central thoughts a sort of staircase can be taken from the simple foundation upwards to ever more complicated and blissful theological realizations.
This is not the case with Wesley.
The problem lies with the presupposition that a systemic treatment of theology must begin with a central idea and then act as a stair case upward. Though Wesley has a central idea, his theology is not structured in as a staircase upward. This accounts for the broad misunderstanding of his theology.
First, Wesley's foundational idea is not holiness, as is often assumed. "Rather than Wesley representing a theology of holiness it would be more faithful to his major emphasis to call it a theology of love."1 This has been a major mistake I have made in wrestling with Wesley. I've always attempted to understand him primarily as building on holiness. It's called the holiness movement, for Pete’s sake!
Second, his reason for choosing love as the foundation of his theology is not for creating a systematic theology, but rather to find a meeting point for theology and real lived life. His theology attempts to answer questions like is "there a principle of interpretation—a hermeneutic—which can explain Christian doctrine and Christian life in the same system without either one undercutting the integrity of the other?" or can "theology and real human existence meet meaningfully?"2
This attempt to merge theology with lived experience through the concept of love causes Wesley's theological system to take an alternate structure to the step by step theological structure found in other systematic theologies. A longer expert from Wynkoop explains:
"...John Wesley has contributed a sound and usable approach to theology which is worthy of consideration in the solutions of the problems relating to the theology/life syndrome. His "hermeneutic" was "love to God and man." This theme runs throughout his works. At least, when each doctrine of the Christian faith is identified and defined by him, the basic meaning invariably comes out "love." Wesley's thought is like a great rotunda with archway entrances all around it. No matter which one is entered, it always leads to the central Hall of Love, where, looking upward toward the dome one gazes into the endless, inviting sky. There is no ceiling to love.
"This "Rotunda Theology," circular in form rather than the "Stairstep" approach, creates a problem for the theological analysis of Wesley. Theology should have a systematic form. Each element should be clearly distinguished from every other element or doctrine. Each should follow logically from the one before it and lead comfortably into the one ahead. But in Wesley such neatness is impossible to capture because it is not there. Wesley's doctrines can't be so sharply separated from each other and from the whole thing that love is. They are not "abstract"... The theological terms are interlinked so tightly that to touch any one is to touch them all. Almost any significant passage could illustrate almost any central doctrine."3
Wesley thinks differently than other theologians, creating an alternative structure to his systematic understanding of theology. He does so for practical reasons rather than theological ones, and thus is often misunderstood and mischaracterized. Any attempt to understand Wesley's thought must reckon with this reality and take on an understanding of both his theology's systematic structure as well the motive behind said structure.
Wynkoop, Mildred Bangs. A Theology of Love: The Dynamic of Wesleyanism. Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 2015, 22.
Wynkoop, Mildred Bangs. A Theology of Love: The Dynamic of Wesleyanism. Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 2015, 15.
Wynkoop, Mildred Bangs. A Theology of Love: The Dynamic of Wesleyanism. Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 2015, 16-17.