John Wesley is best known for his sermons, but in addition to journals,
letters, and Biblical commentary, he also wrote material in other fields such
as medicine and the natural world. One
publication could even be considered an environmental textbook entitled, “A
Survey of the Wisdom of God in Creation.”
Given that John Wesley (1703-1791) was a life-long student and read of
scientific discoveries, it is an interesting question to consider is whether he
would have been an evolutionist had he been a contemporary of Charles Darwin
(1809-1882)?
A recent example of someone describing Wesley as an evolutionist is
found in the book God of Nature and Of
Grace. Author Michael Lodhal acknowledges that John Wesley claimed the
earth was 6 000 years old, yet he raises the question of whether Wesley would
still make the same claim today.
Lodhal’s suggests: “He would have no good reason to do so. Astronomical evidence clearly teaches us that
our universe is many billions of years old; geology’s evidence is that our
planet is at least several billions years old; biology and genetics offer
abundant evidence that living things have evolved in amazingly complex and
painstaking routes over many millions of years.” Since Wesley’s understanding of anatomy
included the four basic elements, “It is quite obvious that Wesley did not
glean this concept from the Bible; rather, it was part and parcel of his
experience of the world, culturally mediated, as the ‘popular science’ of his
day.” This Lodhal uses to say that
Wesley’s experience informs theology and reading of Scripture. As such, were Wesley to have the knowledge of
today’s science, he would be led to conclude that the earth is billions of
years old.
Michael Lodhal is not the first, however, to describe John Wesley as an
evolutionist. Laura Bartels Felleman’s
article “John Wesley’s Survey of the Wisdom of God in Creation: A
Methodological Inquiry ” lists the various historical suggestions of Wesley as
an evolutionist. The first such claim
began with William H Mill’s “John Wesley an Evolutionist” in 1893. A similar claim occurred in 1924 by Frank
Collier, in a pamphlet entitled “Back to Wesley” A third claim happened a year
later with the title John Wesley the Evolutionist and suggested this theory was
cordially accepted. In an article in the
1927 Methodist Review by William C.S. Pelloew there is reasoning to explain why
Wesley would have studied the claims for evolution based on his interest in
science and the natural world. But this
work does not claim Wesley would have agreed, only that he would give the
theory a thorough and serious consideration.
Felleman points out that, “In this letter to the editor of the London
Magazine, Wesley is criticized for rejecting the latest theories in astronomy. Wesley’s response was that he did not find
these theories convincing and could not subscribe to them with full
confidence. This correspondence shows
that Wesley was not as receptive to every scientific theory proposed during his
lifetime….”
As far as the Bible is concerned, Wesley never questions the Biblical
account of creation, the condition of pre-fall humanity, or the flood
narrative. One would be right to suggest
Wesley would give a fair and thorough consideration of the scientific
discoveries of the later 1800s, or what is known today, but his conclusion on
the matter of creation versus evolution must remain mere speculation. It would be inappropriate for either side of
the debate to claim John Wesley as their champion.
Many Christians today are concerned with the ongoing debate about the
origin of species, but what also requires special attention today is the
extinction of species. Of course there
is not much sense in caring for penguins or polar bears if one’s end-time
theology is such that humanity is going to be raptured into heavenly bliss
while this old earth is destined to burn to a crisp. While Wesley the evolutionist might be
unresolved, John Wesley’s eschatology is very clear. Turning to one of his sermons (“The New
Creation”) we hear him say that there is hope for this earth because of a glorious
expectation that one day, “all the earth shall then be a more beautiful
paradise than Adam ever saw.” It would
be hard, if not impossible to make the case for Wesley the evolutionist, but
reading his sermons such as “The New Creation” or “The General Deliverance” or
reading his “Survey of the Wisdom of God in Creation,” those who do want to
claim John Wesley as their champion are those who would call him Wesley the
environmentalist.
* Survey of the Wisdom of God in Creation is available here:
http://wesley.nnu.edu/john-wesley/a-compendium-of-natural-philosophy
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