‘Simply resign’d and lost in God’: Resignation and Sanctification in the hymns of Charles Wesley.

Abstract

Sanctification is a central theme in the theology of John and Charles Wesley. Whilst John’s theology of sanctification has received much scholarly attention, much less research has been conducted in relation to Charles. This thesis contributes to redressing the balance, drawing particularly on the evidence of the extensive and theologically rich corpus of Charles’ poetic texts to do so.
In this analysis of Charles’ theology of sanctification, the centrality Charles accorded to resignation is uncovered. Resignation is a positive attribute for Charles involving an act of intention, desire and offering to God. Part I of the thesis addresses three contextual issues: firstly Charles’ frequently overlooked particular theological perspective on sanctification in comparison with that of his brother, also locating the thesis within the context of other scholarly work in the area; secondly an historical and spiritual context for Charles’ understanding of resignation is set; and thirdly, the use of poetic texts to establish theological and spiritual truth claims is examined.
Part II comprises a detailed analysis of Charles’ use of resignation, whether of Jesus or the believer, through an examination of each of its appearances in Charles’ extant poetic corpus. These texts have been collated and form volume two of the thesis, the Resignation Texts.
Part III draws on the foregoing analysis and identifies two fundamental and distinctive ways in which Charles understood the relationship between resignation and sanctification which have not been recognised until now, but, being clearly evident, cannot be dismissed. Resignation is a lens through which Charles views holiness, a lens through which other aspects of his belief and understanding must now be viewed.