Wesley Corpus

“< ], First, as to stillness: the thing meant hereby is, that man cannot attain to salvation by his own wisdom, strength, righteousness, goodness, merits, or works; that therefore when he applies to God for it, he is to cast away all dependence upon every thing of his own, and trusting only to the mercy of God, through the merits of Christ, in true poverty of spirit, to resign himself up to the will of God, and thus quietly wait for his salvation.’ I conceive this to be the first mistake. Ihave nothing to object to this stillness. I never did oppose this in word or deed. But this is not ‘ the thing meant thereby,’ either by Molther, or the Moravians, or the English Brethren, at the time that I (and you, at Mr. Bowers’s,) opposed them. «¢2. That the Brethren teach, that people who are seeking aiter salvation, are all the while to sit still and do nothing; that they are no* to read, hear, or pray, is altogether false.’ This I apprehend to be a second mistake. Whatever the Brethren do now, they did teach thus, and that explicitly, in the years 1739 anda 1740. In particular Mr. Brown, Mr. Bowers, Mr. Bell, Mr. Bray, and Mr. Simpson, then with the Moravians. Many of their words I heard with my own ears: many more I received from those whe did so. And Mr. Molther himself, on December 31, 1739, said to me, in many and plain words, that the way to attain faith is, ‘ To be still ; that is, ** Not to use (what we term) the means of grace; not to go to church; not to communicate; not to fast; not to use so much private prayer; not to read the Scriptures; not to do temporal good, and not to attempt to do spiritual good.’ “These things I myself heard him speak; as I am ready to give upon oath whenever required. You ought not, therefore, to say, ‘ This is altogether false,’ on the bare denial of Mr. Molther or any other. “<3. Some of Fetter-lane society, when the difference broke out, spoke and a+ted very imprudently. But then to lay the blame on the Moravian ‘ i Be -- we ee ae ee pee ld 378 REV. J. WESLEY’S JOURNAL. ; [Sept. 1746.