Wesley Corpus

I. 1. This premised, I come to the letter itself. I begin, as before, with the case of the Moravians; of whom you say: ‘I collected together the character which you had given of these men, the errors and vices which you had charged upon them, and the mischiefs . . . they had done among your followers. And I proved that in several respects you had been the occasion of this mischief, and are therefore in some measure accountable for it. Let us see what answer you give to all this. ‘With regard to the denying degrees in faith, you mentioned“that the Moravian Church was cleared from this mistake.” But did you not mention this as one of the tenets of the Moravians Do you not say that you “could not agree with Mr. Spangenberg that none has any faith so long as he is liable to any doubt or fear” Do you not represent Mr. Molther and other Moravians in England as teaching the same In short, I have not charged the Moravian Church with anything, but only repeat after you. And if you have accused them when you knew them to be guiltless, you must bear the blame. ‘“They do use the ordinances of God with reverence and godly fear.” You have charged Mr. Spangenberg and Mr. Molther with teaching that we ought to abstain from them. And the same you say in general of the Moravian Brethren in your letter to them. “But Mr. Molther was quickly after recalled into Germany.” This might be on other accounts. You do not say it was out of any dislike of his doctrines or proceedings. Nor, indeed, can you consistently with your next words: “The great fault of the Moravian Church seems to lie in not openly disclaiming all he had said; which in all probability they would have done had they not leaned to the same opinion.” ‘You “never knew but one of the Moravian Church affirm that a believer does not grow in holiness.” But who was this No less a person than Count Zinzendorf, their great Bishop and patron, whose authority is very high, all in all with them, and to whom you think they pay too much regard.’ (Second Letter, p. 79) 2. This is the whole of your reply to this part of my answer. I will now consider it part by part.