by Haruo » Sat May 19, 2012 11:32 am
Back to the topic: I don't think many Northern Baptists were very strong Calvinists, maybe at most 3-pointers, and then in the early years of the 20th century the NoBC amalgamated with one of the larger Freewill Baptist outfits, so there was a strong dose of doctrinal Arminianism added to the mix. Both Arminianism and Calvinism had adherents in the Baptist movement from the earliest times; sometimes they had separate churches, sometimes they co-existed; sometimes they had separate associations, sometimes they co-existed. As you may know, one of the Wesleys' major preaching associates, George Whitefield, was a Calvinist (and a major mover in the Great Awakening both in the Colonies and in the Kingdoms); he was also the guy responsible for changing Wesley's "Hark, how all the welkin rings/Glory to the King of kings" to our universally sung "Hark! the herald angels sing/Glory to the newborn King". And one of his legacies is the Calvinist Methodists of Wales, once a major church there. Not sure how they're doing these days; now they call themselves Presbyterians (and they had presbyterian polity even when they called themselves Methodists).
Timothy, I guess what I was asking is, how does Heritage Sunday differ from Aldersgate Sunday, or are they synonymous (the GBOD email made it sound like they were two separate calendar entries), and in either case, do they always happen on the same day. I would also point out that Charles Wesley's spiritual awakening came three days before John's; "O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise" is a cento from the 18-stanza hymn Charles wrote to commemorate the first anniversary of his "conversion" (as he called it). The UM Hymnal has 17 of those verses on the page following "O for a thousand tongues"; they left out the one where God "wash[es] the Æthiop white". I toyed with including that in the hymn-sing, but ended up doing without.
Haruo = Leland Bryant Ross
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