Charles Simeon recalls a conversation with John Wesley:
Sir, I understand that you are called an Arminian; and I have been sometimes called a Calvinist; and therefore I suppose we are to draw daggers. But before I consent to begin the combat, with your permission I will ask you a few questions. Pray, Sir, do you feel yourself a depraved creature, so depraved that you would never have thought of turning to God, if God had not first put it into your heart?…
Q: I’ve read that John Wesley said that he was a “hair’s breadth” from Calvinism. What did Wesley mean by, and what was the context of, that statement?
A: The phrase, “a hair’s breadth,” was a common 18th century English idiom that is scattered throughout the writings of John Wesley. While this particular idiom was used in different circumstances, the specific context in question does contain a few dominant threads that make clear what Wesley meant when he declared that he came within a “‘hair’s breadth’ of Calvinism.”…
Here’s a fine comment from John Wesley on Christian unity. By ‘catholic spirit’, Wesley meant what we today would call an ‘inclusive’ attitude towards Christians of other ‘traditions’. By ‘speculative latitudinarianism’, he meant doctrinal indifference. So to the quote:-
…‘A catholic spirit is not speculative latitudinarianism. It is not an indifference to all opinions: this is the spawn of hell, not the offspring of heaven. This unsettledness of thought, this being “driven to and fro, and tossed about with every wind of doctrine,” is a great curse, not a blessing; an irreconcilable enemy, not a friend, to true catholicism.
