John Miley
John Miley | |
---|---|
Born | 25 December 1813 |
Died | 13 December 1895(aged 81) |
Alma mater | |
Occupation | Theologian,university teacher,Minister |
Employer | |
Works | Systematic Theology |
John Miley(25 December 1813–13 December 1895) was an AmericanMethodist Episcopalministerandtheologian,who was one of the major Methodist theological voices of the 19th century.
Biography
[edit]Early life
[edit]Miley was born the 25 December 1813 on a farm nearHamilton,Butler County,Ohio.[1]Miley graduated fromAugusta Collegewhere he received A.B. in 1834 and an A.M. in 1837.[1]During his college life he was influenced by three professors Joseph Tomlinson, Joseph Trimble, andHenry Bascom.[1]
Career
[edit]In 1838, Miley entered the church's ministry through the Ohio Conference.[2]From 1838 to 1852, he served different churches in Ohio.[2]In 1852 he transferred to theNew YorkEast Conference.[2]In 1866 he transferred to the New York Conference.[3]In 1859, theOhio Wesleyan Universityconferred anhonoraryDoctor of Divinitydegree on him.[3]
From 1852 to 1873, he served churches in New York andConnecticut.[2]As a Methodist pastor, he had held nineteen different pastoral appointments.[citation needed]In 1872, he joined a commission organized by the general conference to develop a code of ecclesiastical law for the Methodist Episcopal Church.[4]
Beginning in 1873, he served as chair ofsystematic theologyatDrew UniversityinMadison, NJ,[2]after his brother-in-law,Randolph Sinks Foster,left the seat to become a bishop.[3]Miley was one of "the Great Five" revered professors who led Drew for decades, along with Henry Anson Buttz, George Crooks,James Strong,andSamuel F. Upham.[5]
He was the author ofSystematic Theology(1892), a two-volume work which served as a key text for Methodist seminarians for nearly thirty years.[6]He also authoredThe Atonement in Christ(1879), in which he demonstrated what he believed were severe Biblical and theological problems with commonly held theories on thedoctrineof theatonement of Christsuch as thepenal substitutionand themoral example.[7]
Theology
[edit]Miley was a systematic theologian in theWesleyan tradition.[5]He hadArminiansoteriologicalviews.[5][8][9]He developed a stronggovernmental theory of atonementbased theology heavily reliant on the work ofHugo Grotius.[7][9]Thus, for him, the atonement of Christ is a satisfaction forsinsbysubstitution,but not a satisfaction by penal substitution.[10]The atonement of Christ isuniversal,but the forgiveness of sins is conditional to the faith.[4]Moreover, the substitution of Christ is in suffering, not in penalty.[11]
Death
[edit]Miley died the 13 December 1895.[1]
Works
[edit]- Miley, John (1851).Treatise on class meetings.Cincinnati: Printed at the Methodist concern for the author.
- Miley, John (1866).Francis Asbury.New York: Harper & Brothers.
- Miley, John (1879).The Atonement in Christ.New York: Eaton & Mains.
- Miley, John (1892).Systematic theology.Vol. 1. New York: Eaton & Mains.
- Miley, John (1892).Systematic theology.Vol. 2. New York: Eaton & Mains.
Notes and references
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^abcdYrigoyen 1999.
- ^abcdeYrigoyen 2013,p. 256.
- ^abcTooley 2013,p. 182.
- ^abTooley 2013,p. 183.
- ^abcLewis 1942.
- ^Tooley 2013,p. 181.
- ^abTooley 2013,p. 184.
- ^Olson 2010.
- ^abOlson 2009,p. 237.
- ^Allen 2016,p. 513.
- ^Tooley 2013,p. 187.
Sources
[edit]- Allen, David (2016).The Extent of the Atonement: A Historical and Critical Review.Nashville: B&H Academic.
- Lewis, Edwin (1942)."John Miley".The Teachers of Drew, 1867-942, A Commemorative Volume issued on the occasion of the 75th Anniversary of the Founding of Drew Theological Seminary, October 15, 1942.Madison, NJ: Drew University.
- Olson, Roger E. (2009).Arminian Theology: Myths and Realities.Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press.
- Olson, Roger E. (2010)."Arminian teaching regarding original sin".Roger E. Olson: My evangelical, Arminian theological musings.Patheos.Retrieved2020-08-13.
- Tooley, W. Andrew (2013).Reinventing Redemption: The Methodist Doctrine of Atonement in Britain and America in the Long Nineteenth Century(PDF)(Phd thesis). Stirling: University of Stirling.
- Yrigoyen, Charles (1999)."Miley, John (1813-1895), clergyman and theologian in the Methodist Episcopal church".American national biography.Oxford: Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.0801986.
- Yrigoyen, Charles (2013). "Miley, John".Historical Dictionary of Methodism.Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.
Further reading
[edit]- Colonna, M. S. (1992). "Miley and Raymond, theologians of American Methodism".The theologians of Methodism.Salem, OH: Schmul Publishing.
- Gootblatt, George (1978).John Miley and the status of science at Drew Theological Seminary, 1868-1895(MALS thesis). Drew University.
- Heard, C. M. (1900).Synopsis of Miley's Systematic theology, vols. I and II.Minneapolis, MN: Conference Examiner.
- Hvidding, Paul Gerhardt (1950).A study of two early theologians at Drew Theological Seminary: Randolph S. Foster and John Miley(B.D. thesis). Western Evangelical Seminary.
External links
[edit]- 1813 births
- 1895 deaths
- 19th-century American theologians
- 19th-century American Methodist ministers
- American Christian theologians
- American Methodist clergy
- Arminian ministers
- Arminian theologians
- Drew University faculty
- Methodist theologians
- People from Hamilton, Ohio
- Southern Methodists
- Systematic theologians
- 19th-century American clergy
- Augusta College (Kentucky) alumni