Fielding's Latitudinarian Doubt: Faith "versus" Works in Joseph Andrews

This essay challenges the assumption that Henry Fielding hated Methodism by taking an in-depth look at Fielding's treatment of Methodism in his Joseph Andrews. A comparison between Fielding's treatment of the faith "versus" works controversy in Joseph Andrews and coverage of the controversy in contemporary sermons, both Latitudinarian and Methodist, points out the inadequacies of language in these kinds of debates. The emerging genre of the novel, which provided a receptive ear to nuance in language, was thus an ideal vehicle for the expression of Fielding's Latitudinarian doubt. Joseph Andrews allowed Fielding the creation of Parson Adams, a fictional character whose views on Methodism and George Whitefield are not, as is generally alleged, necessarily representative of Fielding's views. In choosing to name Parson Adams after the biblical Abraham, or the Father of the Faithful, Fielding is not only questioning the parson's privileging of works and reason over faith, but also declaring his skepticism of the Latitudinarian privileging of works and reason. Perhaps Parson Adams's polemicist rant against "enthusiasm" is Fielding's attack on a shallow interpretation of justification by faith alone rather than a full-fledged attack upon the doctrine itself. Though it is often treated as Fielding's opportunity to be satirical, the parson's ineffectiveness, which can be seen as representative of the larger ineffectiveness of the Anglican Church, is a serious matter.