John Wesley and Apostolic Succession

One of the "controversial" claims made by the Rev'd Dr Peterson at M11 was that only ordained clergy can/should consecrate the elements. This came up today in a conversation I had with a friend of mine who is a student at Neshota House Seminary. His argument goes something like this:

1) Wesley understood that the church, to be the church, must have the sacraments;
2) Wesley understood that to have the sacraments, the church must have ordained priests;
3) Wesley understood that to have priests, the church must have bishops in Apostolic Succession to ordain priests.
4) When the church would not send bishops, Wesley was faced with a dilemma: (a) don't have the sacraments; (b) allow lay-persons to consecrate the elements; (c) appoint Methodist "superintendents" to ordain clergy so their can be a priesthood to consecrate the elements.
5) Wesley chose (c) and engaged in theological/exegetical gymnastics in order to get around Apostolic Succession in order to provide a priesthood in America to celebrate the sacraments.

Follow?

6) The end result of Wesley's breaking of Apostolic Succession is the loss of a Methodist priesthood and ultimately a loss of a truly sacramental church.

Here is his final claim:

7) If Wesley would have been able to foresee the result of his circumventing of Apostolic Succession, he would not have done so.

His argument is quite interesting and could be discussed at a number of points (please feel free to do so). My questions regard his conclusion: Is #6 a fair critique? Did Wesley's move away from Apostolic Succession (in the Traditional Anglican/Catholic/Orthodox understanding) lead ultimately to the present state of sacraments in the Methodist churches? Do you think Wesley would have done things differently at this point if he had it to do over again? Why or why not?

Protestant Crucifix

A few years ago I came across a term that I had never heard before. A 17th century Protestant writer, Daniel Brevint, described the communion table as a 'Protestant Crucifix'. It made me think a lot about the words we use when we describe what we do at the Eucharistic Table. The writer sought to provoke the reader to think of the sacrificial nature of the Eucharist.

In response to this theme of sacrifice and the altar as the Protestant Crucifix, Charles Wesley penned the following hymn:

Would the Saviour of mankind
Without His people die?
No, to Him we all are join'd
As more than standers by.
Freely as the Victim came
To the altar of His cross,
We attend the slaughter'd Lamb,
And suffer for His cause.

2008 Wesleyan Theological Society Annual Meeting

I don't know if any of you ever make it over to my other blog, and I know this is already late (the call for paper proposals' deadline is already up), but thought I'd let those of you know about this in case you hadn't yet. This year's Wesleyan Theological Society meeting will be held at Duke University, with guests including Jurgen Moltmann and James K. A. Smith. The title for this year's conference is, "Sighs, Signs, and Significance: Pentecostal and Wesleyan Explorations of Science and Creation." Here's the poster for the event:



Though this year's conference is dealing with "Science and Creation," there should be a fairly large "Nazarene" presence there (I can think of six or seven papers off the top of my head that will be from Nazarenes), so if you're in the area, or at all interested, you should all make it out to what is usually quite a good time. Peace.

Hymn-of-the-Month (x2): March Madness edition

A long time ago, I proposed to do a Hymn-of-the-Month each month, with a sacramental theme naturally, and really wanted to get others involved in the process of choosing a hymn to highlight. However, after one measly effort, I let it drop, much to my embarrassment - odd, too, since this is an easy way to toss up a new post without major time investment.
So anyway, here's an effort to revive the Hymn-of-the-Month. To welcome back feature that was never even given the chance to become a feature, you get a 2-for-1 deal because it's March, the month of my birth, and my first-born's birth as well (any day now)! If you've got a good hymn, "sacramental" or otherwise - or anything, for that matter: reviews of books, albums, liturgies, worship services you've attended, etc - that you'd like to share in a future month, by all means, post it. "The more, the merrier" around here.
And to be clear, this is in no way to be confused with the "March Gladness" promotional that has recently been brought to my attention. [gags self]
The common theme of "(un)veiling" struck me when considering these two eucharistic hymns: that Christ is somehow simultaneously both concealed and revealed, both hidden and known, in the Church's celebration of the Supper. Rather than go too far with my own exposition of these two texts - and inevitably get caught up in questions about whether it is Christ in the bread and wine, or Christ in the ecclesial, liturgical performance, etc (the correct answer, by the way, is both) - I'll shut-up and let Saints Thomas and Wesley speak for themselves to provoke and inspire you as they might.

Thee we adore, O hidden Savior, thee,
Who in thy sacrament dost deign to be;
Both flesh and spirit at thy presence fail,
Yet here thy presence we devoutly hail.

O blest memorial of our dying Lord,
Who living bread to men doth here afford!
O may our souls for ever feed on thee,
And thou, O Christ, for ever precious be.

Fountain of goodness, Jesus, Lord and God,
Cleanse us, unclean, with thy most cleansing blood;
Increase our faith and love, that we may know
The hope and peace which from thy presence flow.

O Christ, whom now beneath a veil we see,
May what we thirst for soon our portion be,
To gaze on thee unveiled, and see thy face,
The vision of thy glory and thy grace.
St. Thomas Aquinas (13th century); translated by James Woodford (1852)
Meter: 10 10 10 10
Music: Plainsong, Mode v (Adoro te, devote) (Solemnes)
* * * * *

Author of life divine, who hast a table spread,
Furnished with mystic wine and everlasting bread,
Preserve the life thyself hast given,
And feed and train us up for heaven.

Our needy souls sustain with fresh supplies of love,
Till all thy life we gain, and all thy fullness prove,
And, strengthened by thy perfect grace,
Behold without a veil thy face.
John (or Charles?) Wesley (1745)
Meter: 66 66 88
Music: Author of Life (John Stainer, 1875)

Oh, and while we're on the topic of sacred music, as I type this I'm listening to the new Wilco album (due out in May - please don't ask how I came into possession of it...), and it is really good. So's the new Arcade Fire album, Neon Bible, which begs for theological engagement.

Insights on Wesley

"For Wesley, there was no contradiction between sacramental and evangelical religion, as these terms were later formulated. He was both a Catholic sacramentalist - if by that is signified a deep attachment and devotion to the given forms through which God has promised to convey His grace and in which the believer is confirmed in faith and his life sanctified - and a revivalist who saw in the Supper a means not only of sanctification but of preaching unto conversion and justification. Without denying any of the richness of his Anglican eucharistic heritage, he broadened it to include new elements. This is paralleled by the fact that he adhered to the Anglican liturgy while at the same time adding characterist Methodist features, notably hymns and extempore prayer. The Catholic and Protestant features were present also in doctrine, and, as with baptism, Wesley strove for a genuine via media between the extremes of both positions..."

from John R. Parris, John Wesley's Doctrine of the Sacraments. London: The Epworth Press, 1963, pgs 95-96.