Articles
The Stillness Controversy of 1740: Tradition Shaping Scripture Reading
By Mark K. Olson. Abstract: The influence of our Christian traditions upon our reading of scripture is deep and profound, even working at a subconscious level. This article demonstrates this...
Opening Salvation’s Door: Acts 10:35 and John Wesley’s Inclusivism
By Mark K. Olson. Abstract: This article explores John Wesley’s inclusivism regarding the future salvation of non-Christians, like Jews, Moslems, and other religious people. Reflecting on Acts 10:35, Wesley became...
John Wesley’s Doctrine of the Holy Spirit
By Mark K. Olson Abstract: This article outlines Wesley’s theology of the Holy Spirit. It is shown that Wesley’s pneumatology was trinitarian in structure and included soteriological, epistemological, and eschatological...
Theme of Real Christianity in John Wesley’s Commentary on the Book of Revelation
By Mark K. Olson Abstract: This is the final installment of a six-part series on John Wesley’s eschatology. The theme of real Christianity is shown to have guided Wesley in...
John Wesley’s Order of Eschatological Events
By Mark K. Olson Abstract: As a postmillennialist Wesley understood the books of Daniel and Revelation to spell out salvation history from the 6th century BCE to the final consummation....
Major Themes in John Wesley’s Eschatology
By Mark K. Olson Abstract: This fourth installment of a six-part series highlights the central themes in Wesley’s eschatology. First, he believed the Evangelical Revival was preparing the way for...
From Heaven Above to New Creation Below
By Mark K. Olson Abstract: In this third installment, John Wesley’s eschatology is surveyed from his Oxford period in the 1720s to his mature thoughts in the 1780s. It is...
The Revival and Methodist Self-Understanding
By Mark K. Olson Abstract: This second installment in a six-part series examines how early Methodists understood Methodism as an eschatological movement, called to help usher in the millennium through...
Millennial Aspirations and the Problem of Religious Nominalism
By Mark K. Olson Abstract: This is part one of a six-part study on John Wesley’s eschatology. This opening article recounts the development of eschatology in England from the Protestant...