In one of John Wesley’s sermons, ‘The Scripture-way of Salvation’, the Methodist leader sought to sum up the Wesleyan vision of the way of salvation as well as correct certain misunderstandings of this view of the Christian life.
At one point, Wesley was concerned to stress that in the overwhelming experience of conversion it was natural for those who go through it to think that they are done with sin: ‘How easily do they draw that inference, “I feel no sin; therefore I have none”.’ But soon, Wesley stressed, ‘temptations return and sin revives, showing that it was but stunned before, not dead. They now feel two principles in themselves, plainly contrary to each other: “the flesh lusting against the spirit”.’ Wesley then cited an obscure fourth-century monastic author whom he called Macarius to support his point.
John Wesley and Macarius
Wesley had been introduced to a German translation of Macarius’ sermons in the colony of Georgia at the end of July, 1736, by some Moravian friends. The major themes of these sermons nicely dovetailed with Wesley’s own interests, for in them Macarius especially set forth the saving work of the Holy Spirit and explored the experience of the believer, who, though indwelt by the Spirit, nevertheless battles indwelling sin.
In his diary, Wesley said that upon reading Macarius’ sermons, he was moved with deep joy. In fact, Wesley so appreciated these homilies that he would later edit and reprint some of them in the first volume of his A Christian Library, a collection of Christian literature designed for lay preachers.
My own experience of reading Macarius mirrors that of Wesley: these are some of the richest texts of Christian spirituality in the history of the church and need to be better known. So, this month we outline what we know about Macarius, and over the following two months we shall explore what he teaches about conversion and the life of the Christian.
Who was Macarius?
While there is much that is unclear about Macarius, the author of these works, he appears to have been especially active between the 380s and the 420s. He had strong ties to Syrian Christianity, although his mother tongue was most likely Greek. He would thus have been very comfortable with the theological worlds of both Syriac and Greek Christianity. His ministry seems to have been situated on the frontier of the Roman Empire in upper Syria and in southern Asia Minor, where he was the spiritual mentor to a number of monastic communities.
Four collections of his sermons are extant. They have been historically linked to a movement called Messalianism, an ascetic movement that was condemned at various councils. According to those who condemned them, the Messalians argued that there was an indwelling demonic power in each human soul, and that only intense and ceaseless prayer could break the power that this demonic power held over the soul. Consequently, they were said to refuse to work so that they could devote their entire time to prayer. They were also said to affirm physical experiences of the Spirit, and made light of the sacraments of the church as well as the ministry of those in official positions of power. The Messalians seem to have laid too much stress on their experience of the Spirit for the liking of official leaders in the church.
Links to Basil and Gregory
Although there are a number of clear points of contact between the Messalians and Macarius, especially with regard to his deep interest in the Spirit, the burden of current scholarly opinion is that Macarius cannot be regarded as a Messalian. Confirmation of this perspective is found in Macarius’ strong connections to two orthodox theologians, namely Basil of Caesarea and his brother Gregory of Nyssa, both of whom deeply admired Macarius. It was this connection with these two theologians that undoubtedly helped preserve the Macarian sermons.
Like these two theologians, Macarius had a profound concern to defend the deity of the Spirit. Macarius’ sermons are profoundly Trinitarian, with a particular focus on the deity of the Holy Spirit. For Macarius the Spirit is “uncreated” and fully divine, for He is the One who brings us into union with God.
To be continued.
