A Study On John Wesley's Theological Thoughts

England went through a social transition and had a number of serious social problems in the 18th century. How to achieve the transition smoothly was an urgent problem to solve at that time. However, Anglican Church and Nonconformists then were unable to do it, needing a new religious form and idea to solve this problem.John Wesley, brought up in a family with good tradition of the Christian faith, pursued pious life and tried to change the status quo and restore the spirit of piety. On the basis of the spiritual traditions, Wesley innovated Christian theology, creatively carried out the four pillars to do the theological research and explanation, and put forward the innovative Christian theology on salvation, sanctification and perfection. He placed God's love at the core of his theological thoughts, and so played a great role in soothing people's spirits. In addition, his views about human free will and God's conditional conservation were propitious to warn the spiritually numb upper class and the Anglican clergies. Wesley's theological thoughts promoted Christian theology to emphasizing sanctification and perfection from emphasizing justification and rebornment. It did not only enrich and improve the system of Christian theology, but also launched a storm of spiritual revival and updated the general mood of society in England. The preface includes the import and research of the issue, this article's originality and research methods.The main text covers four parts:The first chapter introduces the objective backgrounds of the formation of Wesley's theological thoughts. With the expansion of Enclosure Movement and early Industrial Revolution, the majority of middle and lower classes of people were forced to leave their land and usual way of life, taking on a mentally unstable state of emptiness and confusion, thus low moral, alcoholism, gambling were very common then. However, the Anglican Church clergies, occupying the religious domination of the country, were spiritually numb and busy chasing secular affairs, neglecting the spiritual needs of the people. On the other hand, most Nonconformists only focused on their own spiritual world. A great desert of spirits emerged among the people. The second chapter introduces the subjective conditions of the formation of Wesley's theological thoughts. Wesley, who was brought up in a family with good tradition of the Christian faith and seriously educated in religion, pursued his own progress of the spiritual life, and finally achieved the critical transition from the outside religion to inward faith. During his outdoor sermons and social charity activities, Wesley gradually realized the spiritual needs of the poor and then developed some new theological thoughts suitable for social conditions at that time.The third chapter introduces the main contents and features of Wesley's thoughts'. Studying the former spiritual traditions, Wesley carried out the four pillars to do the theological research and explanation, namely the Bible, tradition, reason and experience, and under the guidance of this, he creatively put forward the innovative Christian theology on salvation, sanctification and perfection. Comparing with Luther, Calvin and other Protestant theologians, this article concludes that Wesley's theological thoughts is a combination of Arminianism and Pietism and it is still a Protestant-style theological thought.The fourth part introduces the impact of Wesley's theological thoughts. Methodism expanded rapidly in the British Isles and other countries and areas. Wesley's thoughts therefore had a broad effect. It developed the Protestant theological thinking, appeased the general public, and caused the evangelical movement within Anglican Church, so that England achieved the social transition smoothly.By researching the objective backgrounds, subjective conditions, contents and features and impacts of Wesley's theological thoughts, this article concludes that Wesley's innovative salvation is not humanistic, but optimistic grace and that his Sanctification and Perfection by Faith developed Lutheran doctrine of Justification by Faith. His theological thought was a new development of the Protestant theology in the new situation, and in essence, it still belongs to the orthodox Protestant thought.