Wesley Corpus

Which Rubrics are those We cannot find them, and, till these are produced, all that is so frequently said of parochial unity, &c., is merely gratis dictum Consequently neither is this any just exception against the sincerity of any of our professions. To ‘John Smith’ LONDON, December 30, 1745. SIR, -- I am obliged to you for your speedy and friendly answer [Wesley wrote on Sept. 28, and ‘John Smith’s’ reply was dated Nov. 27 (see Moore’s Wesley, ii. 494-505). A Farther Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion was published early in 1745.]; to which I will reply as clearly as I can. 1. If you have leisure to read the last Appeal, you will easily judge how much I insist on any opinions. 2. In writing practically, I seldom argue concerning the meaning of texts; in writing controversially, I do. 3. In saying, ‘I teach the doctrines of the Church of England,’ I do, and always did, mean (without concerning myself whether others taught them or no, either this year or before the Reformation) I teach the doctrines which are comprised in those Articles and Homilies to which all the clergy of the Church of England solemnly profess to assent, and that in their plain, unforced, grammatical meaning. As to the Seventeenth Article, Mr. Whitefield really believes that it asserts absolute predestination; therefore I can also subscribe to it with sincerity. But the case is quite different with regard to those who subscribe to the Eleventh and following Articles; which are not ambiguously worded, as the Seventeenth (I suppose on purpose) was.