“There is
no holiness but social Holiness”
--John Wesley
As Wesleyans along and other
evangelicals plunge into experimenting with the neo-social gospel, I hear a
quote from John Wesley bandied about often—“There is no holiness but social holiness.”
The quote is used to argue that social action is squarely in the center of what
true holiness is and thus social action is proper for Wesleyans. The argument
may be true but the quote is taken far out of context. Here’s the exact quote
from Wesley:
“Directly opposite to this [the approach of the desert mystics] is
the gospel of Christ. Solitary religion is not to be found there. “Holy solitaries” is a phrase no more
consistent with the gospel than holy adulterers. The gospel of Christ knows no
religion, but social; no holiness but social holiness.” --John
Wesley, The Works of John Wesley
Volume XIV p321 preface to poetical works; Hendrickson Publishers
When these folk quote Wesley
saying, “there is no holiness but social holiness”
they mean social action—things like drilling wells in Africa or opening a food
pantry for the poor. But this is an error. Read in context, Wesley was clearly
condemning a kind of religion that was solitary (in particular that of the
desert mystics) arguing that holiness is always experienced in relationships
with others, primarily in the church. Wesley’s quote is about individualized,
personalizes, separated-from-the-body religion not social action.
Sure, Wesley was active in social action and his
life’s example is a powerful argument for well-drilling or opening food
pantries. But the quote “there is no holiness but social holiness” is the wrong
one to use for supporting social action.
In this quote Wesley condemned personalized, privatized, solitary
religion that was disconnected with other Christians in the church.
Ironically today’s American
Christians may be in more need of hearing the original intent then the
out-of-context use. To Wesley “Holy solitaries” were no more likely to exist
than holy adulterers.
So, what do you
think?
The
discussion of this column is on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=161502633
Keith Drury August 31, 2010