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Sensing The Spirit: Wesley's Empiricism And His Use Of The Language Of Spiritual Sensation, James E. Pedlar

The Asbury Journal

This paper examines the relationship betweenJohn Wesley's empiricism and his use of the language of "spiritual sensation." Through a close reading of Wesley's own espousal of empiricism, as well as his use of the language of the spiritual senses, it will be argued that Wesley, while committed to empiricism as a natural epistemology, views the experience of the Spirit as something which is known intuitively. H is references to the spiritual senses are therefore best understood as an analogy for this intuitively known experience of the Spirit. While Wesley's discussions of spiritual sensation are not simply an extension of his …