Eschatology Sources

 

Methodism was born in an age when many Protestants believed they were living on the precipice of human history. While the roots of Protestant eschatology reach back to the Reformation in the 16th century, the Evangelical Revival of the 18th century was bathed with eschatological aspirations and was infused with eschatological significance. The Wesleys and early Methodists saw their movement as having eschatological significance in two ways. First, they linked the Revival to the sacred narrative of Christ and the apostles in the New Testament. Second, they looked to God’s promises about the future and Christ’s millennial kingdom. Both references gave meaning to their current religious context and experience. They believed the end was soon and this hope inspired their faith and revivalism.

For more information on early Methodist eschatology, see the article The Revival and Methodist Self-Understanding.

John Wesley’s Eschatology
Wesley’s viewpoint is expressed in several sermons:

  • Scriptural Christianity (1744) – JW’s post-millennialism
  • The Great Assize (1758) – second coming & final judgment
  • The Mystery of Iniquity (1783) – salvation history & great apostasy
  • The General Spread of the Gospel (1783) –  evangelical revival & millennial reign of Christ
  • The Signs of the Times (1787) – current signs of Christ’s approaching millennial reign
  • The General Deliverance (1781) – effects on created order when Christ returns
  • The New Creation (1785) – the new heavens & earth in the eternal kingdom
  • Of Hell (1788) – future punishment of the unredeemed
  • On Faith, Hebrews 11:1 (1791) – the intermediate state

His writings show that John Wesley adopted a post-millennial viewpoint around 1738 when he became an evangelical (though he could have adopted it earlier). This was the popular position among Protestants at the time. At the time both post and premillennial views held to a historicist reading of Revelation. This was how Wesley interpreted the Books of Revelation and Daniel. This explains that for Wesley the key to understanding what God will do in the future is to look at what he has done in the past (that is, the past is the key to the future). Over the years he embraced the view of a physically restored earth as part of the eternal kingdom. He also adopted the perspective of animal redemption in the new creation. He believed in a literal hell and held that deceased humans continue to be active for good and evil in our present world. To add some context, Charles Wesley held a pre-millennial viewpoint, as did other early Methodists like John Fletcher. However, the pre-millennialism of the 18th century was different than the dispensational premillennialism of James Darby in the 19th century, which was popularized in the 20th century.

To learn more about John Wesley’s eschatology, see the articles: 
From Heaven Above to New Creation Below
John Wesley’s Major Themes on Eschatology
John Wesley’s Order of Eschatological Events

Below are the primary sources that John Wesley and early Methodists read that helped shape their eschatology:

John Wesley Sources
For topical list, click here: John Wesley Eschatology Sources
Below are the major sources and writings that helped shape Wesley’s views on last things:


Johann Albrecht Bengel   1687-1752
Bengel, or better known as Bengelius, was a Lutheran clergyman, a pietist, and one of the most respected Greek-language scholars in the 18th century.  His edition of the Greek New Testament and commentaries on the New Testament were highly regarded and served as the primary source behind John Wesley’s Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament (1755). Wesley relied heavily on Bengal for his commentary on the Book of Revelation. Wesley’s presentation of two future millenniums came from Bengel.
Gnomon of the NT Vol 1
Gnomon of the NT Vol 2
Introduction to Revelation 1757


Joseph Mede   1586-1639
Mede was an English scholar with a wide range of interests. Educated at Cambridge, Mede published very influential works on how to interpret the Book of Revelation. The Clavis Apocalyptia was published in Latin in 1627, English in 1643. The Apostasy was published posthumorously. He was an early premillennialist and advocated the conversion of the Jews as a sign of the approaching end. The Wesleys and early Methodists read Mede. Charles would become a premillennialist, as well as John Fletcher.
Apostasy of the Latter Times 1845 reprint
Clavis Apocalyptica 1643


Thomas Hartley   1709-1784
Hartley was Rector of Winwick in Northhamptonshire. His work Paradise Restored: Or a Testimony to the Doctrine of the Blessed Millennium, with Some Considerations on its Approaching Advent was a vigorous argument for the premillennial position. John Wesley read Hartley’s work in the 1760s and commented his appreciation about the work. From this some scholars have concluded that John adopted the premillennial view at the time, but this is incorrect. His writings are consistently post-millennial over the course of his career from 1738 till his death in 1791.
Paradise Restored 1799


Thomas Burnet   c.1635-1715
Burnet was an English theologian and a writer on cosmogony. He was a premillennialist and was one of the first to use modern science to explain the earth’s creation, fall, and renewal. His primary work was Sacred Theory of the Earth. The first part was published in 1681 in Latin,  and translated into English in 1684. The second part appeared in 1689 (1690 in English). Burnet’s cosmogony was speculative in that in he suggested a hollow earth with most of the water inside until Noah’s Flood, at which time mountains and oceans appeared. He calculated the amount of water on Earth’s surface, stating there was not enough to account for the Flood. Burnet’s system had its novel features, like the use of the four classical elements, an original ovoid Earth, a Paradise before the Flood (always in the spring season), and rivers flowing from the poles to the Equator. John Wesley’s views on the new creation was heavily influenced by Burnet.
Sacred Theory of the Earth 3rd ed Pt 1 1697
Sacred Theory of the Earth 3rd ed Pt 2 1697


John Ray   1627-1705
Ray is widely regarded as one of the earliest of the English parson-naturalists. He published works on botany, zoology, and natural theology. His work on classifying plants helped lead the way to modern taxonomy. Ray’s work on creation influenced John Wesley’s views concerning natural phenomenon at the world’s end:
Wisdom of God in Creation 10th ed 1735

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William Whiston   1667-1752
Whiston was a famous historian, theologian, and mathematician in the late 17th and 18th centuries. He is well-known for his translation of the writings of Josephus (the first century historian) and the Apostolic Constitutions & Canons, which the Wesleys read during their Oxford period. Whiston also wrote influential works related to natural philosophy and eschatology. His New Theory of the Earth advocated creationism and that Noah’s global flood was caused by a comet. It influenced the views of Edmond Halley who predicted cometary destruction in the 1757 by the comet now named after him.
Essay on the Revelation 1744
New Theory of the Earth 1755


James Knight  1672-1735
Knight was a doctor of divinity who wrote on a variety of subjects, including a defense of the doctrine of the Trinity against the Arian views of Samuel Clarke. His short discourse on the eschatological conflagration of the world contributed to the views of John Wesley on the subject.
Discourse on Conflagration of World 1736


John Hildrop   1682-1756
Hildrop was educated at Oxford and in 1742 published Thoughts Upon the Brute-Creation. The book defends the treatment of animals against abuse and seeks to demonstrate their place in Biblical creation. The book rejects the views of French Jesuit Guillaume-Hyacinthe Bougeant that animals have no reason, moral status or souls. John Wesley read Hildrop’s work and adopted the belief that animals will be part of the new creation. See his sermon The General Deliverance.
Free Thoughts Upon Brute Creation 1742


Thomas Deacon   1697-1753
Deacon was a non-juror Bishop a leader among the Manchester sect of Usagers. He advocated returning to the 1549 edition of the BCP and following the ancient work The Apostolic Constitutions for the Eucharist. Deacon’s work influenced John Wesley’s views on sacramental theology. But Deacon also wrote on the intermediate state which contributed to Wesley’s views on the subject.
Compleat Collection Devotions 1734


Archibald Campbell   d. 1744
Campbell was a nonjuror and the Bishop of Aberdeen. His work on the intermediate state supported the notion of prayer for the dead. Campbell’s work influenced Wesley’s views in the sermon On Faith, Hebrews 11:1, written in January 1791.
Doctrine of Middle State 1713


Humphrey Ditton   1675-1715
Ditton was a mathematician and a student of theology. Through Isaac Newton’s influence he was elected mathematical master at Christ’s Hospital. He co-wrote a work with William Whiston about the discovery of longitudes. In 1714 he published his work on the Christ’s resurrection that contributed to John Wesley’s views on the redemption of animals.
Discourse on Resurrection of Christ 3rd ed 1722


Samuel Chandler   1693-1766
Chandler was a Non-Conformist minister and has been called the “uncrowned patriarch of Dissent” in the latter part of King George II’s reign. He wrote on many subjects and was a proponent of civil and religious liberty, advocating freedom of conscience and the appeal to reason in matters of belief. As was most Englishmen, he was a strong opponent of Catholicism. Since the popular interpretation of was the historicist perspective, Chandler’s History of Persecution was an important source for Wesley’s views on persecutions through the centuries in his Commentary on the Book of Revelation. Chandler’s study covered persecutions throughout church history in four parts: Heathen, Christian Emperor, Papacy & Inquisition, and by Protestants.
History of Persecution 1736

Bartolomeo Plantina   1421-1481
Plantina was a Renaissance Humanist writer. At Rome he became a member of the Roman Academy founded by Julius Pomponius Laetus. He became a paper writer but was removed from that position by Pope Paul II. Later, when a new pope was installed, Plantina became the Vatican Librarian. He was granted the post after writing an innovative and influential history of the lives of the popes that gives ample space to Roman history and the themes of Antiquity, and concludes by vilifying Platina’s nemesis, Paul II. John Wesley relied on Plantina’s work for his Commentary for the Book of Revelation and his interpretation of the pope as the anti-Christ.
Abridgment Lives of Popes 1704

Resources on Wesley’s Eschatology

A John Wesley Reader on Eschatology
Edited by Mark K. Olson
Truth in Heart, 2011.
See book’s amazon page
ISBN: 978-1932370256
John Wesley is best known as a leader in the eighteenth-century Evangelical Revival and as the founder of Methodism. Lesser known are his views on eschatology. Like other evangelicals at the time, Wesley saw the revival as an eschatological movement, called to usher in the “latter-day glory.” In this special Reader edition, Wesley’s primary writings on eschatology are brought together for the first time. Included are sermons and commentary notes, plus his commentary on Revelation and Daniel. Wesley’s edition of the New Testament is included, with notes identifying where he altered the King James text. Introductory chapters survey British eschatology from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century and how Wesley’s views evolved over tiem. Charts outline his understanding of eschatological fulfillment. A resource section lists the sources that informed Wesley’s views.

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