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The story of the Wesley brothers doesn't end with their deaths. Their influence continues not only in the Methodist denominations (most prominently the United Methodist, Free Methodist, African Methodist Episcopal, Nazarene, and Wesleyan churches), which total some 25 million adherents worldwide, but in the countless lives touched by the hospitals, schools, orphanages, prison ministries, and other tangible expressions of Methodist holiness.

To trace the Wesleys' legacy in today's sprawling Methodism, Christian History interviewed Tom Oden, a lifelong Methodist and professor of theology at Methodist-founded Drew University in Madison, New Jersey.

In what ways were John and Charles Wesley products of their times?

Both men were deeply rooted in Anglicanism (from their father) and in rigorous Puritan piety (from their mother). They both wanted to experience salvation in its fullness, but the world they lived in did not encourage such a quest for inward and outward holiness. The Anglican Church in the early eighteenth century was self-satisfied and hardly energetic in seeking to live out the gospel.

Oxford University, when they were there, was undergoing something of a revival of interest in ancient Christian sources—patristic writings, the Eastern church fathers, the desert monastics—that centered on the search for holy life. Rather than see this as an academic exercise, the Wesleys took it personally.

In addition, John Wesley read William Law, Jeremy Taylor, and other writers seeking "Christian perfection."

In the Holy Club, he founded what we'd call a support group for those who wanted to pursue holy living—not merely private piety but public acts of charity and service. John Wesley never saw himself as an innovator. He was just taking seriously what the church said it believed. He was just actualizing the tradition.

How did the movement change after the deaths of its founders?

The Methodist movement quickly became identified with the holiness revival tradition and the camp meeting movement, which focused on gospel preaching and a quest for holiness informed by grace. The Holy Spirit was expected to enter a person's heart and transform life in both its private and public aspects.

At the same time, Methodists were ministering to orphans and prisoners, making loans, and in the 1840s, establishing the beginnings of world missions. By 1840 the Methodist Episcopal Church, with 580,098 members, was the largest denomination in America. The emphasis on both inward and outward holiness continued until end of nineteenth century.

At turn of twentieth century, Methodism, like many other denominations, began adapting to a progressive and liberal view of social change. Philosophic idealism and the social gospel movement had a secularizing effect. Many Methodist bishops were trained at Boston University and were influenced by "Boston personalism," which led to a more humanistic outlook among the denomination's leaders, even as the grassroots remained pietistic.

What caused the splits in the U. S. movement?

During the American Revolution, Methodist pastors here identified with the revolution. Many Anglican clergy fled to Canada or England. So the Methodists in the United States clearly broke from the Church of England.

Wesley saw it happening and reluctantly gave his blessing. The Anglican church dissolved in North America, leaving the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Methodist societies in Ireland and England didn't split as quickly, but after Wesley's death, they too eventually broke away.

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