Letter
To the Rev. William Dodd (Feb 5, 1756)
February 5, 1756
To the
Rev. William Dodd
February 5, 1756
Rev. Sir,
Your affectionate brother and servant,
John Wesley
1
William Dodd ( 1729 - 77 ), ordained deacon in 1751, became a popular preacher in London,
especially from the pulpet of Magdalen House, and in
1763 was appointed chaplain to the king. He
graduated D.D. in 1766 . He
was known as the 'macaroni parson' because of his worldly style of living, became deeply involved in
debt, was arrested for forging a bond, was
convicted and sentenced to death. The execution was carried out on June 27, 1777 . He attacked JW
's views in the
(1760-67) and Wesley defended himself. At
Dodd 's request JW visited
him in prison. See ODNB .
[London]
February 5, 1756
Rev. Sir,
I am favoured with yours of January 26
2This letter does not appear to have survived.
, for
which I return to you my sincere thanks. Your frank and open manner of writing is
far from needing any apology, and I hope I will never occasion your receiving such
treatment from me as I did from Mr. [William] Law, who, after
some very keen expressions in answer to the second private letter I sent him,
plainly told me he desired to 'hear no more on that head' 3 This phrase does not occur in Law
's letter of May 19 or that of [May 22?], 1738, but seems to be
Wesley 's summary of the correspondence, as
expressed in the closing sentence of the second letter: 'Pray sir, be at
peace with me.' See 25:543–46, 548–50 in this edn.
. I do desire to
hear, and am very willing to consider, whatever you have to advance on the head of
'Christian perfection' .
When I began to make the Scriptures my chief study (about the seven and twenty years ago)
4
Wesley consistently dated the origins of the Methodist movement to the year 1729 . In response to the question 'What was the rise of Methodism, so called?' in the Large
Minutes, Wesley wrote, 'In 1729, two young men, reading the Bible, saw they
could not be saved without holiness, followed after
it and incited others so to do' (10:875 in this edn.).
I began to
see that Christians are called to
'love god with all'
their
'heart'
, and to
'serve him with all'
their
'strength'
, which is precisely what I apprehend to be meant by the scriptual term
' perfection '
. After weighing this for some years, I openly declared my sentiments
before the university, in the sermon on 'The Circumcision of the
Heart', now printed in the second volume. 5
I.e., of JW 's
, published in 1748 (1:398–414 in this
edn.).
About six years after, in consequence of an advice I received
from Bishop Gibson, 6
Edmund Gibson ( 1669 - 1748 ), Bishop of London .
'Tell all the world what you mean by perfection ', I published my coolest and latest thoughts in the
sermon on that subject. 7
JW,
, published in 1741 (2:97–124 in this
edn.).
You easily observe, I therein build on no authority, ancient or
modern, but the Scripture. If this supports any doctrine, it will stand; if not, the
sooner it falls the better. Neither the doctrine in question, nor any other, is
anything to me, unless it be the doctrine of Christ and his apostles . If, therefore, you will please to point out to me any passages
in that sermon which are either contrary to Scripture, or not supported by it, and
to show that they are not, I shall be full as willing to oppose as ever I was to
defend them. I search for truth: plain, Bible truth, without
any regard to the praise or dispraise of men.
If you will assist me in this search, more especially by showing me where I
have mistaken my way, it will be gratefully acknowledged by, rev. sir, Your affectionate brother and servant,
John Wesley
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