Taylor - John Wesleys Extract of The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living and Dying

The John Wesley Collection
Andrew C. Thompson
Executive Editor

Copyright 2018 by Seedbed Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout prior written permission, except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles.

Scripture quotations throughout are the authors paraphrase.

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Taylor, Jeremy, 1613-1667.

John Wesleys extract of The rule and exercises of holy living and holy dying / by Jeremy Taylor. Frankin, Tennessee : Seedbed Publishing, 2018.

pages ; cm. (John Wesley collection)

Previously published as: The rule and exercises of holy living, and, The rule and exercises of holy dying / by Jeremy Taylor ; edited and abridged by John Wesley in his A Christian library : consisting of extracts from and abridgments of the choicest pieces of practical divinity. Volume 9. Bristol, England : printed by Felix Farley, 1749-1755.

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ISBN 9781628242904 (paperback)

ISBN 9781628242911 (Mobi)

ISBN 9781628242928 (ePub)

ISBN 9781628242935 (uPDF)

1. Christian life--Anglican authors--Early works to 1800. 2. Death--Religious aspects--Christianity--Early works to 1800. I. Title. II. Rule and exercises of holy living and holy dying. III. Rule and exercises of holy living. IV. Rule and exercises of holy dying. V. Wesley, John, 1703-1791,

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John Wesleys profound legacy and impact on world Christianity in his lifetime and since can be viewed through several lenses. The revival that arose under his leadership changed the social and political structure of eighteenth-century England as the poor and lost found hope in the gospel of Jesus Christ rather than in revolution against the crown. The influence of Wesleys Spirit-inspired teaching continued unabated as the Methodist movement spread scriptural holiness across the American continent and lands far beyond.

Wesleys influence as a publisher represents an astonishing record in its own right. Wesley lived in a time when Gutenbergs invention of movable type, which had immediately preceded Luthers Reformation, had coalesced into specialized printing trades in London. Typefounders and printeries offered exciting new pathways for the spread of the gospel through inexpensive printed text.

Perhaps more than any other figure of his day, Wesley embraced this new technology and issued sermons, tracts, commentaries, abridgments, biographies, and a host of other items that he considered relevant to the spiritual growth of maturing Christians.

Wesley was vitally driven by the reality of the inner witness of the Holy Spirit. His teaching on entire sanctification, or Christian perfection, is the capstone of his legacy. He worked tirelessly to abridge and republish seminal works by historical figures of previous generations, reaching as far back as the apostolic fathers of the first-century church. He constantly curated voices that communicated the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing believers into the fullness of salvation and lives of holy love.

These writings resourced the early Methodists in their quest to spread the gospel by providing the intellectual and spiritual moorings for the messengers of the movement. Seedbed believes these writings are as relevant today as they were in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

With great joy we present The John Wesley Collection. In the years ahead, Seedbed will reissue selections from this vast collection, which includes his fifty-volume Christian Library, some 150 sermons, countless items from his journals and letters, as well as innumerable tracts, hymns, poems, and other publications, most of which have been out of circulation for decades, if not centuries. We encourage you to enter these texts with determination. Readers who persevere will soon find themselves accustomed to the winsome tenor and tempo of Wesleys voice and vernacular.

Seedbeds editors are constantly examining the more than 250 years of vital spiritual writing by Wesley and successive generations to find the most relevant and helpful messages that will speak to todays body of believers. We commend this old-new publishing work to you as one ready to be transformed by the latent power of these ancient truths. It is our prayer that these timeless words will add fuel to the fire of an awakening ready to ignite once again across the world.

Sola sancta caritas! Amen.

Andrew Miller

Seedbed Publishing

Bishop Jeremy Taylor was one of the early influences on John Wesleys understanding of holy living. Wesley mentions the impact that reading Taylor had on him as a young man at Oxford University in the opening paragraphs of A Plain Account of Christian Perfection. Taylors meditations on holy living and holy dying left Wesley exceedingly affected, especially in the seventeenth-century bishops view on the purity of intention. In response to reading Taylor, Wesley reports that he resolved to dedicate all my life to God. He became convinced that there could be no middle ground between serving God and living a worldly life. Wesley says that there could be no medium, but that every part of my life... must either be a sacrifice to God, or myself; that is, in effect, to the devil. The mid-1720s marked the beginning of the spiritual journey that would carry John Wesley to the leadership of the Methodist revival in subsequent years. In that sense, the impact of Taylor and other writers of the holy living tradition on Wesleys life was pivotal.

Jeremy Taylors adult life was lived during one of the most tumultuous periods in English history. Taylor was born in the year 1613 and came of age during the early years of the reign of King Charles I (16251649). He did not come from a wealthy

Taylor was ordained to the priesthood of the Church of England in 1633 and soon caught the attention of William Laud, the new archbishop of Canterbury. Taylors theological and ecclesiastical leanings were shared by Laud. With the young priests high churchmanship and devotion to patristic theology, the archbishop likely saw a potential protg whom he could develop and use in his efforts to reform the Church of England in an increasingly High Church direction. Thus, Taylor gained preferment under Lauds influence. He first received a fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford, and subsequently was made chaplain to the archbishop. In 1638, he was appointed as rector of Uppingham parish in the diocese of London. As Taylors career began to take off, he married a woman named Phoebe Langsdale and started a family with her that would produce numerous children.

Time was not on Taylors side with respect to political developments in England, however. The personal rule of Charles I without parliament proved to be deeply unpopular, and Charless chief ministers such as Laud and Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, would bear much of the Long Parliaments anger once it was called into session in the fall of 1640. Wentworth was attainted and beheaded in May of 1641. Laud suffered the same fate in January of 1645.