Abstract

John Wesley's compendium on natural philosophy is comparable to a second book of revelation about God; the first book is scripture. In light of this, scripture can only function as a hermeneutic for creation; it is not a textbook for the discovery of creation. Wesley used the language of Thomas Aquinas to explain that there is a revealed cause and effect, which leads to a First Cause. With this understanding, creation reveals a beauty that is derivative from God and this type of beauty is an interconnected relationship within all of creation. Because of humanity's limitation of knowledge, empiricism cannot assume a primary source of knowledge for natural philosophy since it can become a misleading source. Natural philosophy, as a result, remains its own objective source of knowledge.

You do not currently have access to this content.