The Almost Mystic

John Wesley’s Editing of the Spanish Mystics, Juan de Ávila and Miguel de Molinos, in His Christian Library

Steven P. Tungate

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN:
  9781666781557
  9781666781564
• eBook ISBN:
  9781666781571
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Denominations

John Wesley, eighteenth century Church of England priest and founder of Methodism, was strongly influenced by the works of Roman Catholic mystics early in his ministry. These writings shaped his widely known doctrine of Christian perfection or entire sanctification. The mystics inspired Wesley to advocate for a lofty spiritual goal that he believed to be attainable in this life. In time, however, he developed many contentions with extremes as well as some particulars found in the mystical tradition. Beginning in 1749, Wesley began to publish his Christian Library--a fifty-volume compilation of abridged works that he believed to be among the best writings on practical divinity that had been published in English. Among this vast collection, he incorporated two works originally written in Spanish including a sampling of Letters by Juan de Avila and the Spiritual Guide by Miguel de Molinos. This book examines Wesley's editing of these works as a way of evaluating Wesley's theology in comparison and contrast with Spanish mysticism. In particular, this book serves as a comparative study among these authors on matters of theological authority, self-knowledge and epistemology, soteriology, spiritual growth, suffering and divine withdrawal, prayer, meditation, contemplation, and the spiritual goal.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Abstract
• Preface
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Theological Authority
• Chapter 2: Epistemology and Self-Knowledge
• Chapter 3: Soteriology
• Chapter 4: Spiritual Growth
• Chapter 5: Suffering and Divine Withdrawal
• Chapter 6: Prayer, Meditation, Contemplation, and Mystical Language
• Chapter 7: The Telos
• Chapter 8: Concluding Thoughts
• Appendix
• Bibliography