And so we arrive at Wesley's third great doctrine : Sanctification. If Justification is the decision to tread the narrow path between order and chaos; between license and morality, then Sanctification is how in practice we tread that path. Sanctification is a lifelong journey; nothing like a life committed to one or the other of those so-called alternatives.
Wesley's theology is future-orientated. For Calvinists, God is the all-powerful creator, who made the world, just so. Everything was determined from the very beginning, down to who will and who will not be saved. Their focus is on the past.
For Wesleyans, the future is more important. From humanity's perspective, creation is incomplete. The invitation is to contribute to the completion of God's creation. This means all people can be saved. Nothing is predestined.
Evolution, like Calvinism, is past-orientated. Unlike Calvinism, it tells its story in terms of random chance and suffering. This is why these two past-orientated ideologies are so often at loggerheads.
The Wesleyan focus is on the future and so they see the possibility of perfection in this life and in time the perfection of all things in God; the reconciliation of all things to God, Oikoumene.
This does not mean evolution has a purpose or grand design. With evolution there is no forward march of progress. The final Oikoumene is an act of God, quite independent of evolution. Consequently there is no contradiction between Wesleyanism and evolution. Just as the human being can be perfected in their lifetime by God, so the whole of creation will in time be perfected by God. This is the Wesleyan reply to Dawkins' argument that it is a cruel God who creates things that kill and eat other things.
A random process such as evolution (and I make no claims here that God influences it in any way - it doesn't matter for my argument) cannot arrive at something perfect. Dawkins illustrates this most persuasively in The Greatest Show on Earth . The challenge to us then is to become perfect despite the (inevitable) mess evolution has made of us.
How do we do this? The path is called humility and it simply means being aware of our limitations. As we learn our limitations, we naturally allow God to act in our lives. Someone perfected in this way seems confident, lives for others, although inside they know their limitations. Dawkins writes of how well designed animals appear on the outside, in contrast to the mess on the inside (illustrated). Spiritually, the same applies to those perfected in Jesus Christ.
In these last 3 or 4 posts I have demonstrated there is no contradiction between the Christian faith and evolution. I've shown Dawkins' objection to a God who allows suffering was dealt with by theologians, hundreds of years ago. If you don't think I've done these things, do let me know.
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