Wesley Corpus

I see no contradiction here; but if there was, it ought not to have been mentioned. It could not by any generous writer; since Mr. Hill himself testifies, it was expunged before he mentioned it! But suppose it stood as at first, I flatly deny that it is any contradiction at all. These infirmities may be in some sense sins; and yet not properly so; that is, sins in an improper, but not in the proper, sense of the word. 13. But “Mr. W. has not yet determined, whether sins of surprise bring the soul under condemnation or not. However, it were to be wished, that sins of surprise and sins of infirmity too were to be declared mortal at the next Conference; since several persons who pretend to reverence Mr. W., not only fall into outrageous passions, but cozen and overreach their neighbours; and call these things little, innocent infirmities. Reader, weigh well those words of Mr. W., “We cannot say, either that men are or are not condemned for sins of surprise.” And yet immediately before, he calls them transgressions, as here he calls them sins. Strange divinity this, for one who, for near forty years past, has professed to believe and teach that “sin is the transgression of the law,’ and that ‘the. wages of sin is death.’” He then brings three instances of sins of surprise, (over and above cozening and overreaching,) drunkenness, fornication, and flying into a passion and knocking a man down; and concludes, “Mr. W. had better sleep quietly, than rise from his own pillow in order to lull his hearers asleep upon the pillow of false security, by speak ing in so slight a manner of sin, and making the breach of God’s holy law a mere nothing.” (Page 111.) 14. This is a charge indeed! And it is perfectly new : I believe it was never advanced before. It will not, therefore, be improper to give it a thorough examination. It is founded on some passages in the sermon on Romans viii. 1 : “There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” In order to give a clear view of the doctrine therein delivered, I must extract the sum of the Sermon.