Wesley and Calvin on Sanctification

Abstract

"For at least four centuries, John Wesley and John Calvin have been at the centre of what some call “the ever-smoldering Calvinist–Arminian controversy.” 1 The divide that began in earnest in the eighteenth century has continued in evangelical Protestant Christianity until today and “promises to continue providing occasion for theological warfare into the indefinite future.”2 In a booklet published by the Presbyterian board of Education in 1909, no less a theological icon than Benjamin B. Warfield is quoted defending Calvinism and rejecting other systems of theology: Calvinism withdraws the eye from the soul and its destiny and fixes it on God and His glory. It has zeal, no doubt, for salvation but its highest zeal is for the honour of God, it is this that quickens its emotions and vitalizes its efforts. It begins, it centres and it ends with the vision of God in His glory and it sets itself; before all things, to render to God His rights in every sphere of life-activity"