Wesley Corpus

p. 283.) Do I say here, that “we ought not in the strongest pain once to desire to have a moment's ease?” What a frightful distortion of my words is this ! What I say is, “A serious person affirmed to me, that God kept her for two days in such a state.” And why not? Where is the absurdity? “At the end of one of your hymns, you seem to carry this notion to the very height of extravagancy and presumption. You say, “Doom, if thou canst, to endless pains, And drive me from thy face.” If thou canst; that is, if thou canst deny thyself, if thou canst forget to be gracious, if thou canst cease to be truth and love. So the lines both preceding and following fix the sense. I see nothing of stoical insensibility, neither of extravagancy or presumption, in this. 5. Your last charge is, that I am guilty of enthusiasm to the highest degree. “Enthusiasm,” you say, “is a false persuasion of an extraordinary divine assistance, which leads men on to such conduct as is only to be justified by the supposition of such assistance. An enthusiast is, then, sincere, but mistaken. His intentions are good, but his actions most abominable. Instead of making the word of God the rule of his actions, he follows only that secret impulse which is owing to a warm imagination. Instead of judging of his spiritual estate by the improvement of his heart, he rests only on ecstasies, &c. He is very liable to err, as not considering things coolly and carefully. He is very difficult to be convinced by reason and argument, as he acts upon a supposed principle superior to it, the directions of God’s Spirit. Whoever opposes him is charged with resist ing the Spirit. His own dreams must be regarded as oracles. Whatever he does is to be accounted the work of God. Hence he talks in the style of inspired persons; and applies Scripture phrases to himself, without attending to their original mean ing, or once considering the difference of times and circum stances.” (Remarks, pp. 60, 61.) You have drawn, Sir, (in the main,) a true picture of an enthusiast. But it is no more like me, than I am like a centaur.