John Wesley — "I have often thought that the difference between the Church of England and the D…"
I have often thought that the difference between the Church of England and the Dissenters is not so great as some imagine.
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More from John Wesley
"I wish to have no other evidence of the truth of Christianity than the power of God upon my own heart."
"I am as much a High-Churchman as ever I was. And I hope to live and die so."
"I have been writing a sermon on the use of money. Oh, what a flat, unprofitable subject it is!"
"The rich, the honourable, the great, will hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven."
"Though I am an old man, I am but a little child; for I am just beginning to learn the alphabet of salvation."
About John Wesley (1703-1791)
English Anglican cleric and founder of Methodism, whose open-air preaching and class-meeting structure created the largest 18th-century evangelical revival. Closely associated with Charles Wesley (his hymn-writing brother) and George Whitefield (early co-revivalist, later doctrinal opponent). For an intellectual contrast, see George Whitefield, Calvinist evangelical revivalist — Whitefield's predestinarian Calvinism vs Wesley's free-grace Arminian theology split the early Methodist movement permanently in the 1739-41 break. The founding evangelical Calvinist-Arminian schism — the two parallel evangelical traditions American Christianity descends from.
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Understanding this quote
What it means
The quote argues that Anglican and Dissenting Protestant Christians are more alike than their institutional rivalry suggests. Wesley sees their shared faith in Christ, Scripture, and salvation as far more significant than liturgical, governance, and doctrinal disputes dividing them. He's pushing back against sectarian tribalism — urging believers to focus on what unites them rather than magnifying differences that serve institutional pride more than genuine theological conviction.
Relevance to John Wesley
Wesley was ordained Anglican clergy who never formally left the Church of England, yet his Methodist movement — with its lay preachers, field sermons, and band meetings — drew constant accusations of Dissent. He collaborated with Whitefield, Moravians, and Dissenters throughout his ministry. His 'catholic spirit' sermons explicitly argued for unity across traditions. This quote reflects his lifelong navigation between institutional loyalty and his conviction that vital Christianity transcends denominational boundaries.
The era
Wesley wrote when England's religious landscape remained politically charged. The Test and Corporation Acts barred Dissenters from public office, making denominational identity consequential beyond theology. The 1689 Act of Toleration had ended persecution but not social stigma. Meanwhile, Wesley's own revivals were crossing denominational lines, exposing how much ordinary believers shared. His remark challenged an entrenched establishment mindset that weaponized sectarian difference for social control and political advantage.
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