Aldersgate Experience

Background

John Wesley (1703–1791) was a priest of the Church of England (today part of the Anglican Communion). Around 1735 he went to the American colony of Georgia as a missionary. He did not achieve the results he had hoped for, however, and returned to London disappointed. The calm faith of the Moravians whom he met on his voyages to and from Georgia is known to have made a deep impression on him.

In London, Wesley became close to the Moravian Peter Böhler. Böhler taught the doctrine of justification, according to which a person is accounted righteous not by works but by faith alone. He also emphasized the assurance of salvation, the teaching that a believer can know inwardly and with certainty that his sins are forgiven. Wesley at first raised many objections, but as he searched the Scriptures he was gradually persuaded. When Wesley, saying that he had no faith, sought to give up his ministry, Böhler reportedly advised him, in effect, to preach faith until he had it. Together the two also organized a society known as the Fetter Lane Society.

Course of Events

• May 21, 1738: On Pentecost (Whitsunday), his younger brother Charles Wesley had already undergone a similar experience. He recorded that on that day his heart was strangely stirred.
• Early morning, May 24, 1738: Wesley wrote in his journal that at about five o'clock in the morning he opened his Bible and read the words of 2 Peter 1:4, "exceeding great and precious promises."
• That evening: Wesley went very unwillingly to a society meeting on Aldersgate Street. The meeting was held within the bounds of the Church of England, and most of those present were Moravians. There someone was reading Martin Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans. At about a quarter before nine, while listening to the passage describing the change that God works in the heart through faith in Christ, Wesley felt his heart strangely warmed. He recorded that at that moment he came to trust in Christ alone and received an assurance that Christ had taken away his sins. He then prayed for those who had mistreated him and publicly testified to the experience before those assembled.

Results and Influence

After this experience, Wesley fervently proclaimed salvation by faith. This work gave rise to the Methodist movement in Britain and America. The Wesley scholar Kenneth Collins has noted that Wesley at times reckoned time from this date, which shows how important the experience was to him.

Methodists commemorate May 24 each year as "Aldersgate Day" or "Wesley Day." The worship book of the United Methodist Church in the United States includes worship resources for use on this day or on a nearby Sunday. Some Korean-language Methodist churches also observe a Sunday around this date as "Wesley Conversion Memorial Sunday." The Wesley Theological Institute of Seoul Theological University, an institution of the Holiness tradition, has held theological lectures commemorating the conversion around this time of year. Near the site in London stands a memorial inscribed with words from Wesley's journal.

Assessment

This event is often counted, together with the conversions of Paul, Augustine, and Luther, among the major conversion events of church history. The nature of the experience, however, was debated within twentieth-century Methodism.

• The view that it was a genuine conversion: On this view, Wesley became a true Christian only on this day. Collins explains that the experience encompassed justification, the new birth (regeneration), and the assurance of salvation. Wesley himself is known to have confessed that before this experience he had not been a true Christian.
• The view that it was an experience of assurance: On this view, Wesley was already a believer, and what he received on this day was the assurance of salvation. Some scholars who hold this view play down the significance of justification by faith (the doctrine that one is accounted righteous through faith) in Wesley's thought at this point.

The relationship between this experience and another experience at Fetter Lane in 1739 has also been a subject of study in Wesleyan theology.