Wesley Corpus

As I have little time, I must beg you to read and consider what I have already spoken upon this subject, in the First Part of the Farther Appeal, at the thirty-eighth and following pages [Works, viii. 76-111]; and then to let me know what kind of proof it is which you expect in a question of this nature, over and above that of Scripture, as interpreted by the writers of the earliest Christian Church. I have not studied the writings of the Quakers enough (having read few of them beside Robert Barclay [See letter of Feb. 10, 1748.]) to say precisely what they mean by perceptible inspiration, and whether their account of it be right or wrong. And I am not curious to know, since between me and them there is a great gulf fixed. The sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper keep us at a wide distance from each other; insomuch that, according to the view of things I have now, I should as soon commence Deist as Quaker. [‘Smith’ had said: ‘The son of a Wesley and an Annesley is in no danger of lukewarmness, but ought to take great care on the side of impetuosity and zeal. The tempter will never make you a saunterer or a sluggard, but, if you are not upon your guard, may possibly, before you are aware, make you a Quaker.’] I would just add that I regard even faith itself not as an end but a means only. The end of the commandment is love, of every command, of the whole Christian dispensation. Let this love be attained, by whatever means, and I am content; I desire no more. All is well, if we love the Lord our God with all our heart and our neighbor as ourselves.