Beacon dictionary of theology

For Further Reading: DeWolf, Responsible Freedom, 330-58; Hostetler, Perfect Love and War.

Richard S. Taylor
WARFARE, SPIRITUAL. See spiritual warfare.

WATER. References to water are abundant in the Bible, not only because it was so essential to the welfare of God's people—indeed of humanity everywhere—but because it spoke of life, refreshing, cleansing, verdure, health, and abundance. The symbolism of water is especially pronounced in the Gospel of John. Without too much strain it is possible to see the miracle at Cana (John 2) as a promise of transformed life, the promise to the woman at the well of living water (John 4) as eternal life, and the "rivers of living water" (John 7) as the promise of the fullness of life through the infilling of the Spirit.

The chief theological problem concerns the meaning of water in John 3:5—"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." The water here has been variously interpreted as the water of natural birth, the water of John's baptism of repentance, the water of the baptismal sacrament, the water as a symbol of the Word of God, and the phrase as a figure of speech called a hendiadys, wherein water is intended to serve as a parallel or equivalent of Spirit. Only the last two carry through the thread of typology in the Gospel, and they alone harmonize with the spiritual nature of the gospel.

The first would imply that the Kingdom is restricted to human beings. The second could be acceptable if the emphasis was on repentance instead of water. The third is an extreme sacra-mentarianism as rigid as Judaistic circumcision, totally incompatible with the free, untrammeled activity of the Spirit in regeneration. Water as the Word has real support, since water as a cleansing agent is sometimes linked with the Word (John 13:10 with 15:3; Eph. 5:26; the spurious 1 John 5:7 placed between vv. 6 and 8 proves that someone in the past associated water with Christ as the Word). The requirement therefore is understandable if Jesus is saying that except a person be quickened into spiritual life both by the word of the gospel and the inner action of the Spirit, he or she cannot enter the Kingdom. Does the


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Spirit ever regenerate apart from the truth about Christ?

Water also is a type of cleansing. It is important to see that the heart may be purified at two levels, the water level and the fire level. The water level is the level of expiation or forgiveness— hence John's baptism, and hence the figurative language of Acts 22:16; 1 Cor. 6:11; and Titus 3:5. But water cannot reach the inner nature as can fire; hence the cleansing accompanying the baptism with the Holy Spirit is linked not with water but with fire (Mai. 3:1-3; Matt. 3:11 and parallels; Acts 2:3). This is why the word ka-tharizo, "to cleanse, make free from admixture," is the most appropriate word for Acts 15:9.

See NEW BIRTH, EMBLEMS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT CLEANSING, ETERNAL LIFE.

For Further Reading: Marsh, Emblems of the Spirit,

220 ff; HDNT, 2:814; CC 5:530 ff; Thomas, The Holy
Spirit of God, 62 ff. RICHARD S. TAYLOR

WEALTH. See Money.

WEDDING GARMENT. The parable concerning the guest who came to a wedding feast with inappropriate attire is found in Matt. 22:1-14. A question is raised as to which party was responsible for providing the wedding garment. Was the guest to obtain the garment for himself, or was the appropriate garment to be supplied by the host? The biblical account appears to avoid the question in order to address a more crucial issue.

The significant theological question is, What did Jesus have in mind when He suggested that a guest had come to a wedding feast without a wedding garment and was therefore to be expelled? The theological discussion centers on whether the wedding garment symbolizes the righteousness of Christ which is imputed to the individual, or if it indicates that man must obtain something for himself in order to stand in the presence of a holy God.

It appears that the wedding garment denotes an element in moral character. Paul has a parallel admonition when he suggests that the Christian is to "put on Christ" (Rom. 13:14; cf. Gal. 3:27). To "put on Christ" is to choose to be in a definite relationship with Christ, which produces personal holiness of character. Likewise, the wedding garment would be neither good works nor the imputation of a cleanness that does not belong to an individual. Rather the availability of the wedding garment suggests the possibility of a holiness of character available to all. If this quality of character is chosen by the moral agent, he will be enabled to stand in the presence of a holy God.

Thus the symbolism of the parable would appear to indicate that while grace is available to all, personal holiness must be personally chosen and "worn."

In his sermon entitled "The Wedding Garment" John Wesley noted that "holiness be-cometh his house forever! This is the wedding garment of all that are called to 'the marriage of the Lamb.' Clothed in this they will not be found naked: 'They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.'"

See holiness, heaven, salvation, imputed righteousness, imparted righteousness.

For Further Reading: Jeremias, The Parables of fesus, 65 ff and 187 ff; Trench, Notes on the Parables of Our lord, 75-83; Wesley, Works, 7:311-17. LARRY FINE

WESLEYAN SYNTHESIS. At the very heart of holiness doctrine are four sets of categories which, when kept together as congenial complements, prevent lopsidedness, but when allowed to polarize into antithetical and competing concepts, result in fragmentation and serious distortion. These are process and crisis, grace and freedom, state and becoming and as subheads under that, being and relation. Other terms which become involved are substance, dynamic, and nature.

Take the first set of terms, process and crisis. At its best, holiness theology has preserved a fine balance, seeing experiential salvation as being an overall process involving many minor but two major crises, the major crises being the new birth and entire sanctification, and the process including all the influences of prevenient grace and all the growing between the major crises and thereafter. Wise Wesleyans pay equal respect to works of grace and the walk of grace.

A similar biblical synthesis is maintained—or should be—between grace and freedom. Grace is seen as the redemptive action of God, freedom is seen as the capacity of man to cooperate with grace or frustrate it. One of the watershed issues of theology is the relation of divine action to human action. An authentic Wesleyanism sees grace as prior and primal, but always as restoring and enabling freedom, never as overpowering it.

Likewise does a biblical holiness doctrine refuse to allow state to become the contradictory of becoming or the idea of becoming to constitute an antithesis to the concept of state. Rather there is possible a state of holiness, knowable and definite; but this state, if genuine, is never static. It is a state which in its very nature is essentially dynamic.

In like manner we must refuse to pit being and relation against each other. Being is not only exis


tence but what a person or thing is in itself—its internal nature; relation is the connection which beings sustain to each other. The state of being will determine the quality of relationships, and equally, poor relationships will alter the quality of being. But the two are not totally identical. We cannot simply define being as the sum total of relationships. There is an entity which is independent of relationships. Yet in the concrete order of things all entities are in relation to all other entities, in such a way that being/relation becomes both causal and reciprocal. Those who think largely in relational terms prefer dynamic and relational kinds of language, while those who emphasize being use substantive kinds of language.

See relational theology. arminianism, wes-

leyanism, synergism, complementarianism. cal-
vinism. Richard S. Taylor

WESLEYANISM. The term Wesleyanism has a broad application, being in some cases used as a synonym for Methodism. In this usage, the connotation of institutional range and of denominational organization is prominent. In a more specific sense, however, Wesleyanism as a term is employed to indicate a theological pattern, based upon the ministries of John and Charles Wesley (1703-91 and 1707-88 respectively). Out of the literary heritage left by the Wesleys and their contemporaries, their successors have produced a theological system which has been normative for those acknowledging themselves to be the heirs of historic Wesleyanism.

John Wesley's own thinking was shaped by the orthodox standard of Anglicanism. This is suggested by his adaptation of the Thirty-nine Articles of the Anglican church to a body of Twenty-five Articles of Methodism, long normative for major Methodist bodies. Basic to Wesley's theological stance was his acceptance of the following tenets: the sovereignty of God, the full authority of Holy Scripture, the full deity and Saviorhood of Jesus Christ, the fall and consequent depravity of man, and mankind's need for supernatural deliverance from sin. He reinterpreted significantly the Reformed understandings of the depravity of man, of grace, of atonement, and of sanctification.

Wesleyanism has traditionally rejected the Genevan interpretations of election and reprobation, of irresistible grace, of unconditional perseverance, and of merely forensic sanctification. On the positive side, there has been an insistence upon personal salvation, and as a particular emphasis, entire sanctification as an instantaneous crisis experience by which the "remains of sin" which survive regeneration are eliminated from the heart.

In the decades following the lives of the Wesleys, this last emphasis was developed, by making explicit that which was implicit in John Wesley's sermons and Charles Wesley's hymns. That is to say, there came to be a frank identification of entire sanctification with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Continued in this elaboration were Wesley's terms for the state of grace to which the sanctifying crisis led, namely, Perfect Love and Full Salvation. Continued also was Wesley's disavowal of flawless perfection in favor of "perfection in love" and of evangelical perfection.

Wesley's solution to man's total depravity, and hence moral inability, was his doctrine of prevenient grace, as a universal and unconditional benefit of the Atonement. While all therefore were born sinful, they were also born in grace. This not only assured salvation for the infant but constituted an influence toward God, and a restoration of sufficient moral ability to turn to God in repentance and faith. This ability was not a residue of the Fall, but a first provision of redemption. Yet it was an influence and an enablement, not a coercive or determinative power.

From the viewpoint of church government, the Wesleys basically followed the pattern of Anglicanism, but were ultimately forced into a free-church mode of organization—but retaining the episcopacy and a connectional system. This model was followed by major Methodistic bodies. In response to special conditions and needs, religious bodies which were Wesleyan in doctrine appeared during the 19th century. Such were the Free Methodist church, the Salvation Army, the Wesleyan Methodist church (now united with the Pilgrim Holiness church to form the Wesleyan church) and the numerically larger Church of the Nazarene.

While the doctrine of Christian perfection became part of standard Wesleyanism, there came a gradual resistance to it upon the part of mainline Methodism, which gathered momentum in the last quarter of the 19th century. From being suspect in many circles, perfectionism came to be regarded officially as unacceptable, the crisis coming in 1893-94. The emphasis upon this aspect of Christian doctrine was maintained by elements within mainline Methodism, who continued to sponsor camp meetings, and when possible, to foster protracted evangelistic meetings within their local churches. There had already (in 1867) been organized the National
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547

Association for the Promotion of Holiness, whose leaders were largely ministers in the Methodist church, and who found means by which the historic emphasis upon Wesleyanism in general, and of Christian perfection teaching in particular, could be implemented within the constituency of general Wesleyanism.

Through the interdenominational outreach of Wesleyanism, a number of other denominations not definitely known as Wesleyan, have been greatly influenced by this form of theology. Among these are the Christian and Missionary Alliance, and Evangelical Friends (Ohio, Kansas, Oregon, and Rocky Mountain yearly meetings).

Wesleyanism today is maintained as an emphasis by both denominational and interdenominational agencies. It is the basic theological stance of at least four graduate theological seminaries, and of several score of liberal arts and Bible colleges. It is also the predominant theological emphasis in the missionary arms of the denominations mentioned above, and in a number of "faith" missionary societies, notably the World Gospel Mission and the Oriental Missionary Society, International.

See christian perfection, holiness, holiness movement (the), perfect love, perfect (perfection), perfectionism, wesleyan synthesis.

For Further Reading: Wesley, A Plain Account of Chris-
tian Perfection; Wesley, Standard Sermons (selections);
Wiley, CI 2:217-517; Cox, John Wesley's Concept of Per-
fection; Turner, The Vision Which Transforms; Geiger, ed.,
The Word and the Doctrine; Wood, John Wesley: The Burn-
ing Heart. harold B. kuhn

WHITSUNDAY. See christian year.

WHOLE, WHOLENESS. This has to do with our becoming redeemed, through grace, and thereby becoming whole in the sense of healed of sin and made adequate for life—physically to some extent, psychologically, and spiritually. It sees a tie-up between our receiving holiness and our being given a "wholeness." The person made holy through grace, then, is the truly well person.

An exaggerated stress on wholeness fails to preserve the sharp distinction between body and soul, hence has no basis for distinguishing between physical health and spiritual health. That there can be sick saints and robust sinners is patently obvious, both in Bible and contemporary times.

See holiness. J. Kenneth Grider

WHOLLY OTHER. This refers to God's being entirely different from us humans. It is the view that God is infinitely different from us, qualitatively. The emphasis was that of Soren Kierkegaard (1813-55), who was reacting to the pantheistic view of Friedrich Hegel in which God and man are thought of as akin to each other. Karl Barth (1886-1968) says that he was helped in a basic way by Kierkegaard, to view God as wholly other than us—in our sinfulness. The view is salutary in that it speaks against pantheistic understandings. But it is so extreme that it hesitates to admit that we are like God in any way—as in our being persons, and as in our being holy (through grace). See transcendence, god. attributes (divine),

immanence.

For Further Reading: Otto, The Idea of the Holy; Hitch-

cock, The Rediscovery of the Sacred; Kraft, The Search for
the Holy. J. kenneth grider

WICKED, WICKEDNESS. See sin.

WILL. See freedom.

WILL OF GOD. See guide, guidance.

WINE. See temperance.

WISDOM. Wisdom literature in the OT distills the insight and experience of the Hebrew people as they reflected upon God's ordered creation and man's position within it. Wisdom is more than knowledge or intelligence. It is the capacity of the mind to understand and the heart to rejoice in the inner meaning, coherence, beauty, and enduring principles upon which existence is established. Wisdom is the God-given ability to deal with life's varied experiences intelligently and with the result of bringing true blessedness to the lives of all who are involved.

Proverbs embodies wisdom's optimism arising from Israel's golden age. Its theme is expressed in the memorable refrain, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (9:10; Ps. 111:10). The wise man knows and obeys God's laws and thus enjoys a long and blessed life. The fool disregards God's order and brings swift destruction upon his head.

Ecclesiastes, however, underscores the futility of a life that has been lived in outward conformity to wisdom's dictates, but has remained self-centered and self-serving. A wisdom devoid of a dynamic relationship to God leads inevitably to despair.

Wisdom literature in the OT achieves its greatest profundity in Job. Here is the saga of a righteous man who lives according to the dictates of Proverbian wisdom and still is overwhelmed by

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catastrophe. The presence of the demonic, the principle of irrationality, and the problem of evil in human existence are faced. Yet, in the midst of inexplicable suffering, Job's faith rises to affirm, "I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth" (Job 19:25-26, nasb).

Surprisingly, OT wisdom literature is never directly quoted or referred to in the NT. This is not because the collective wisdom of the Hebrew people is false, but likely because it is a result of the saving knowledge of God rather than a medium of that knowledge.

In contrast to the sacred wisdom of the OT, man's human, secularistic wisdom is of no value in acquiring a true knowledge of God (1 Cor. 1:21). Human wisdom can no more obtain a knowledge of God than works of righteousness can merit His favor.

There is, however, a "wisdom . . . taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words" (1 Cor. 2:13, nasb). The wisdom greatly to be desired is not that derived by human reflection but by divine revelation. This wisdom is incarnate in Jesus Christ, "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2:3, nasb). In His followers, the marks of wisdom are humility, holiness, and Christlikeness (Jas. 3:13-18).

See discernment, fool (foolishness, folly), prudence.

For Further Reading: GMS, 107-9, 152-53, 332-33; Eerdman's Handbook to the Bible, 317-18, 463.

C. S. Cowles

WITCHCRAFT. See sorcery.

WITNESS. See testimony, witness.

WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. The witness of the Spirit, as understood by Wesleyans, is the direct, inward communication to the believer of the fact of his acceptance with God. It is not just an emotional release or a special enablement to act or speak in a certain way. It is not the same thing as the Spirit's witness to the truthfulness of Scripture (as in Ramm, The Witness of the Spirit, 65, etc.) or the confidence (claimed by many Calvinist and neoorthodox believers) that one is of the elect. It is a direct witness to a conscious relationship with God.

In Rom. 8:15-16, there are two distinct witnesses. One's own spirit is aware of the new life from God and of the fruit of the Spirit. (First John enumerates evidences by which one can take inventory and arrive at the certain knowledge reflected in 5:13.) To the human witness is added the divine. The Holy Spirit testifies that one is a child of God. As in home owning, to the conscious blessings of possession is added the clear title of a warranty deed. Certainty is of inestimable value in the matter of destiny.

In practical matters the witness of the Spirit cannot be separated from the fruit of the Spirit. Wesley says, "Let none ever presume to rest in any supposed testimony of the Spirit which is separate from the fruit of it," and "let none rest in any supposed fruit of the Spirit without the witness" (Works, 5:133). Otherwise, one might exalt human experience above the Word of God. The twofold witness assures that the human experience is shaped by the Word and the work of God.

Sanctification is attested by a similar witness "both as clear and as steady" as of justification, and this witness is "necessary in the highest degree" (Works, 11:420). In both instances, variations are admitted as to the clarity of the witness. Wesley says, "I know that I am accepted: And yet that knowledge is sometimes shaken, though not destroyed, by doubt or fear. If that knowledge were destroyed, or wholly withdrawn, I could not then say I had a Christian faith" (Works, 12:468). This agrees with the understanding that both salvation (in any degree) and its witness can be threatened or lost by sin or by preoccupation with the world. Likewise, these may be recovered upon repentance and faith.

See experience, justification, adoption, doubt,

fruit of the spirit.

For Further Reading: Wesley, Sermons 10-12 on the "Witness of the Spirit" and "Witness of Our Own Spirit"; also Works, 5:111-44; GMS, 459-61; Ralston, Elements of Divinity, 435-43; Wiley, CT, 2:431-39.

WlLBER T. dayton

WOMAN. Scripture portrays woman as man's equal companion in all areas. Both creation accounts stress the unity of the human race. Gen. 1:27 reads, "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them" (nasb). Together they were given the tasks of being fruitful, multiplying, and having dominion over the earth and its creatures (vv. 26, 28). Genesis shows God's creation of woman to be a companion corresponding to man in all ways, "bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh" (2:23), that the two might be "one flesh" (v. 24).

Their harmony, however, with one another and with nature was broken by sin. Together in the garden (3:6), both ate of the forbidden tree. While the man tried to blame the woman and

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549

God for his disobedience (v. 12) and the woman blamed the serpent (v. 13), God punished all by driving them from the garden. The consequences of their sin are toil and pain in childbearing and food production. While the woman yearns for the lost oneness, the man in sin becomes dominant (3:16).

In Christ unity is renewed (Gal. 3:28). The Bible presupposes basic biological functional differences but stresses mutuality of responsibility. Both parents are responsible for their children, and both are to be honored (Exod. 20:12). Both women and men are to display the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) and to be strong in the faith, ready to defend it. All Christians are to submit to each other as Christ modeled for us in His life and death (John 13:14-16; Rom. 12:10; Phil. 2:3-4; 1 Thess. 5:15; 1 Pet. 5:5). In marriage Paul teaches mutual submission and mutual nurture toward wholeness (1 Cor. 7:3-4; Eph. 5:21-33).

Jesus, contrary to the customs of His culture, taught, touched, and healed women. Many followed as His disciples (Luke 8:1-3) and were last at His cross and first at the tomb. To women was entrusted the message of the Resurrection.

Peter, quoting the prophet Joel, saw the Holy Spirit's empowering of women for ministry as a sign of the Kingdom's arrival (Acts 2:17-18). Women like Priscilla taught in the Early Church (18:26); Phoebe was a deacon (Rom. 16:1-2); many others are listed as Paul's co-workers. While Paul recognized women's right to pray and prophesy (1 Cor. 11:5), he warned against disorder, idle chatter, and interruptive questioning in services (1 Corinthians 14). The ban in 1 Timothy against women teaching at that time could have been prompted by the danger of false teaching by uneducated women. The added concern that a woman not "usurp authority" does not prohibit a woman's exercising legitimate authority given her by the Church through normal processes of leadership designation, for in this same Epistle we read of women deacons (3:11) and possibly women elders (5:1-22).

When seen in contrast to the cultures from which it sprang and in which it has taken root through the centuries, Christianity has been a source of woman's elevation. While the equality displayed in creation and redemption has rarely been actualized in society, woman's role has been steadily expanded under the gospel's encouragement.

See ORDINATION OF WOMEN, WOMEN'S LIBERATION, MARRIAGE, FAMILY, FATHERS, PARENTS AND CHILDREN, CHAIN OF COMMAND.