was a noted church history professor at Johns Hopkins at that time. Smith asserted that
Wesleyans had no part in the evangelical heritage, which, according to him, is predominantly
Calvinistic. He then listed several evangelical doctrines that Wesleyans do not affirm, the
most important of which was biblical inerrancy. As a lifelong Wesleyan myself who had just
participated in the historic Chicago International Summit on Biblical Inerrancy, I was
surprised. Thus began several years of research on whether inerrancy was a "Wesleyan"
doctrine or not.
To my surprise, I found that Smith was not alone among contemporary Wesleyan
Concomitant with this assertion is the denial that Wesleyans are evangelicals. It is claimed
that inerrancy is a Calvinistic doctrine and is incompatible with Wesleyan-Arminianism.
Larry Shelton in a Wesleyan Theological Journal article entitled, "John Wesley's Approach to
Scripture in Historical Perspective" sets forth the typical argument of Wesleyans who deny
that a high view of Scripture is consistent with Wesleyanism. Shelton advises that Wesley's
eighteenth-century thought, and efforts to super-impose on various proof-
texts the framework of twentieth-century fundamentalist epistemology must
not be considered legitimate explanations of his positions on the
Bible....Although he [Wesley] sometimes speaks in ways which may
resemble Fundamentalism, his total context of thought is broader and more
inclusive....Furthermore, the canons of biblical authority and interpretation of
a rationalistic Fundamentalism had their roots in post-Reformation Protestant
scholasticism, which Wesley does not seem to have known, and nineteenth
century Princeton theology, which Wesley did not survive to encounter.
Dr. Daryl McCarthy has served as executive director of International Institute for Christian Studies, Shawnee
Mission, Kansas since 1988. IICS places Christian professors in secular universities overseas.