John Wesley on the Lord's Supper
Real but spiritual presence, received by faith
"The grace of God given herein confirms to us the pardon of our sins, by enabling us to leave them... as our bodies are strengthened by bread and wine, so are our souls by these tokens of the body and blood of Christ."
THE POSITION
A real means of grace with genuine spiritual effect, received as often as possible — ruling out bare memorialism — but the text used here argues for frequency of communion, not a positive doctrine of how Christ is present in the elements. Tagged to the real-but-spiritual-presence category as the best fit for what is actually argued and the standard account of inherited High Church Anglican eucharistic theology, not a directly stated metaphysical claim.
19 And He took the bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body, given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
8 OTHERS HOLD THIS
ABOUT THIS FIGURE
Anglican priest and founder of the Methodist movement. His Standard Sermons and Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament are Methodism's own doctrinal standards. The map's first researched Arminian figure, set against an otherwise Reformed-heavy list — his signature move is prevenient grace: total depravity by nature, but no one actually left in that bare state, because grace merited for everyone reaches everyone first.
Cite this page
"John Wesley on the Lord's Supper", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/wesley/lords-supper (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/wesley/lords-supper).