Page 7 - TORCH Magazine - Issue #19

Criticism
Wesley developed a view that the Jews he encountered at home had drifted far from the “God of their Fathers, the God
of Israel” and were no longer listening to “Moses and the prophets”. Some might consider this out of place for Wesley, to make such assumptions and perhaps not helpful in a society that already took a negative view of Jews, but defenders note that he never held the Jewish people
to a higher standard than Christians. In
fact overwhelmingly quite the opposite, focusing more on highlighting the shortcomings of Christians, the importance of self-examination and the need for reformation in the Church. Despite language that might not be palatable today, underpinning Wesley’s motives was a sincere and passionate longing for the Jewish people to connect with the God
of their forefathers, perhaps in much the same way as his good Jewish friend Dr Nunez had done against such tremendous persecution. For Wesley firmly understood God’s plan for Israel and never attempted to deny or downplay the special place that Jehovah has for the Jewish people. The heretical themes of replacement theology
so prevalent today were never uttered from Wesley’s pulpit.
Assurance of faith
Even Wesley himself was not exempt from his own self-examination. It was in 1738, upon his return to England, that Wesley, reflecting on his own spiritual condition, had a “conversion experience” at a service at Aldersgate, London about which he recorded, “I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine and saved me from the law of sin and death."
Charles had a similar experience around the same time, and together the Wesley brothers turned a spontaneous movement into a structured body that would later become the Methodist Church, shortly after their deaths. Whilst John preached and organised the movement, Charles famously penned over 6,500 hymns. And it is by sampling the truth imparted through their lyrics that we truly get an insight of the Wesley’s love for Zion and the Jewish people. Let’s take a look at some examples.
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