Wesley and the Anglicans: Political Division in Early Evangelicalism by Ryan Nicholas Danker (review)

In this work, Ryan Danker explores the significant but often contentious relationships between John Wesley and other Anglican clergy involved in the eighteenth-century Evangelical Revival. Danker challenges the standard explanation that the separation of Wesley and Evangelicals within the Church of England toward the end of the 1760s was simply the outcome of theological debate, primarily about predestination and Christian perfection—the Arminianism of the Wesleyan Methodists versus the Calvinism of Anglican Evangelicals. He argues instead that while theology certainly played a role in the Evangelical Revival and in the ultimate separation of these two groups, important social and political pressures also need to be considered.

Chapter One describes the Evangelical clergy within the Church of England in order to begin to delineate their relationship to Wesley. In Chapter Two Danker shows how Wesley fit within the larger picture of English Evangelicalism. He situates Wesley and his evangelical conversion at Aldersgate, where his heart was "strangely warmed," in the overarching context of the trans-Atlantic revival. Use of public tracts by Wesley and his opponents alike is the subject of Chapter Three, which provides a fascinating glimpse into the power of print materials in shaping public perceptions of the broader evangelical movement.

That section is followed by a contextual examination of Methodist structure and its implications for the eventual separation between Wesleyan Methodists and Anglican Evangelicals, an endeavor that spans the next three chapters and covers a range of topics including Methodist society, class, and band meetings; Wesley's use of lay preachers; and eucharistic administration by lay preachers. These distinctive practices espoused by Wesleyan Methodists strained their relationships, and particularly Wesley's relationships, with Evangelical Anglicans, to the point of sometimes arousing suspicion of Methodist rebellion against the Church of England. For example, the work of Methodist lay preachers within parishes with an already established Evangelical Anglican presence raised concerns about Methodist incursions into Anglican Evangelical enclaves and contributed to growing divisions between these two groups. Taken together, these practices critical to the formation of Methodist identity reflected an increasingly distinct ethos and polity for Wesleyan Methodists over against Anglicans, and those social and structural differences contributed in their own right to the later split between Methodists and Anglican Evangelicals.

Chapter Seven highlights political dynamics that further divided these groups. A changing political environment under George III led to a certain imperialistic hegemony and tainted public impressions of evangelicalism. Danker describes the expulsions of six Oxford students in 1768 for "methodistical behaviour" and the ensuing political and ecclesiastical fallout, which exemplified a larger political and cultural trend toward marginalizing Evangelicals and squashing dissent, perceived or actual. These emerging political realities added to the forces pushing Wesley and the Methodist movement to the periphery of Anglican life.

In chapter Eight, Danker proposes a new Anglican historiography, one that views Wesley as a high churchman influenced by traditional elements common to Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox Christianity (such as an emphasis on the centrality of the Eucharist and ancient forms of liturgy) and focused on patristic writings. By contrast, the Evangelical Anglicans of Wesley's day were primarily influenced by renewed interest in the theology of the English Reformers and the Puritans. This paradigm sheds light on the theological controversies that erupted between these groups throughout the eighteenth century. The conclusion brings together salient themes and analyzes Wesley's failed attempts in the 1760s to form an Evangelical union based on shared theological commitments. As Danker concludes, such efforts had little or no chance of effectiveness, given the convergence of various factors—including social, political, and ecclesiastical dynamics, and not simply theological concerns—that together account for the deterioration of Evangelical/Methodist relations.

From beginning to end, Danker effectively locates ecclesiastical and theological differences within their broader context in eighteenth-century England. The result is an engaging and richly detailed account of the development of evangelicalism and early...