Wesley Corpus

Nor did I insinuate anything more than I expressed in as plain a manner as I could. A little digression follows: “A friend of his advises, not to establish the power of working miracles, as the great cri terion of a divine mission; seeing the agreement of doctrines with Scripture is the only infallible rule.” (Page 230.) “But Christ himself establishes the power of working mira cles, as the great criterion of a divine mission.” (Page 231.) True, of a mission to be the Saviour of the world; to put a period to the Jewish, and introduce the Christian, dispensa tion. And whoever pretends to such a mission will stand in need of such credentials. (2) “He shifts and doubles no less” (neither less nor more) “as to the ecstasies of his saints. Sometimes they are of God, sometimes of the devil; but he is constant in this,-- that natural causes have no hand in them.” This is not true: In what are here termed ecstasies, strong joy or grief, attended with various bodily symptoms, I have openly affirmed, again and again, that natural causes have a part: Nor did I ever shift or double on the head. I have steadily and uniformly maintained, that, if the mind be affected to such a degree, the body must be affected by the laws of the vital union. The mind I believe was, in many of those cases, affected by the Spirit of God, in others by the devil, and in some by both; and, in consequence of this, the body was affected also. (3) “Mr. W. says, “I fear we have grieved the Spirit of the jealous God by questioning his work, and by blaspheming it, by imputing it to nature, or even to the devil.’” (Pages 232,233.) True; by imputing the conviction and conversion of sinners, which is the work of God alone, (because of these unusual circumstances attending it,) either to nature or to the devil. This is flat and plain. No prevari cation yet. Let us attend to the next proof of it: “Innume rable cautions were given me, not to regard visions or dreams, or to fancy people had remission of sins because of their cries, or tears, or outward professions. The sum of my answer was, You deny that God does now work these effects; at least that he works them in this manner.