This paper starts with the preposition that John Wesley’s main theological concern was holiness. Recently, there have been studies criticizing the traditional interpretations of Wesley’s theology that were focused on individual piety; the new studies emphasize the social aspects of Wesley’s ideas and practices. At first, this paper basically agrees that the society-oriented interpretation of Wesley’s theology exhibits its comprehensive dimensions well, and suggests various applications such as social activism and social programs. Due to their social concerns, however, the researchers have ignored the contexts of the passages in which Wesley referred to the word “society,” and, in the end, misunderstood its real meaning. According to its own critical reading, this paper reveals that Wesley’s usage of the term “society” strongly implied the religious society, that is, the community of the people called the Methodists.
While Wesley knew religious societies in the late seventeenth century in England, and tried to follow their rules, he pushed forward his own Methodist Society applied to the newer contexts of the Industrial Revolution. The Methodist Society had organized groups and made rules even for the plain, the poor, and the female, all those who were marginalized in English society. Because the Methodist Society gave membership to the people from the whole society, and nourished them spiritually in small groups such as classes and bands, its purpose of reforming the church implied reforming society and the nation.
Considering Wesley’s idea of community of goods, we may search for a clue for reforming Korean churches, and, while doing it, show a more excellent way to live within the whole of society, with the accountability groups in the church. In this sense, Wesley’s theology is still effective not only for Wesleyans, but also for all of society’s members.

• 박창훈(서울신학대학교) | Park, Chang Hoon