Enlightenment and Enthusiasm

Running head: ENLIGHTENMENT AND ENTHUSIASM
Enlightenment and Enthusiasm
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Wesley’s Heart-led Faith and Delusions of Enthusiasm
Wesley’s understanding of religion was influence by the heart-led faith. He was an
ardent advocator that the faith for god lies in the heart. The faith that one has in Christ is the
reason that he strongly believed in the intuition of heart. He spent all his life preaching the
good-will of the heart in which god finds a place. There should be faith in the heart of the
followers who are on the path of religious enlightenment. Wesley, at the time when he was
35, had been preaching religion for thirteen years. He was a well versed individual who
obtained a Master’s degree from Oxford University. In the heart-led faith it was advocated
that reason should be put to rest when the question of faith arises. Faith should completely be
led by the heart and analysis should not be involved. Logical thinking should never be given
priority when one has placed his faith in God. The purpose of heart-led faith is to encourage
in followers the spirit to legitimize the religion that they are following. They should have a
firm belief in the religion and questions should not arise in their minds regarding their faith.
The purpose of heart-led faith is to strongly make the individual believe in the existence of
god and the power of his faith. Convincing the individuals who possessed high intellectual
abilities was a tough task as they posed a question regarding any theory that was projected
before them. Heart-led faith of Wesley advocated that the relationship an individual has with
Jesus is nurtured through the passage of time and the bond grows stronger the more time they
spend in spiritual indulgence (Klein, Eliot and Anthony). Wesley did not believe in moral
reformation but he strongly believed in the heart-led faith. As he advocated that heat-led faith
does not comply that people should be forced to convert themselves into Christianity. There
should be willingness on their part to follow the path of Christ.
Enthusiasm according to Wesley was very different from the orthodox concept that
was prevalent in the society during his era. At that time enthusiasm was considered the most
favorable state of existence that was largely accepted by the society. Enthusiasm was

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considered delusionary by the society as it was considered that practical beliefs are put to rest
and illogical beliefs and predictions that do not have any logic their advent. Anglican
Churches opposed enthusiasm and did not support the progression. According to Wesley,
enthusiasm consists of many forms and the one that is acceptable in the society is the grace
that is found in the individuals. The other kind of enthusiasm that were prevalent in the
society was the possession of a person’s body by spirits. It is fuelled by realities and the faith
we place in God. Enthusiasm was a delusionary state that led people to believe that God is
speaking to them and they are the medium chosen by God to convey his message to the
masses. He tried to form a view that the individuals who do not follow the path of Christ are
disillusioned and are not chosen by God himself (Klein, Eliot and Anthony). The opposing
force of enthusiasm is always considered as superstition. When an individual reaches the state
of ecstatic fanaticism it results into superstition. It is considered as a state of madness where
the individual deceives his own logical thinking and lead a life of disillusionment.
Wesley tried to draw difference between his heart-led faith and enthusiasm by stating
that heart-led faith was favorable whereas enthusiasm tried to promote cruelty in the society.
It led to extreme conditions in the society that led to bloodshed. Those who were obsessed
with enthusiasm tried to promote it at any cost and any opposition that they faced in the
promotion of the concept led to dire consequences. He advocated that the theories he
supported were opposed to bloodshed and cruelty in society. He supported the theory of
heart-led faith as it according to him brought the individual closer to God whereas enthusiasm
leads to the state of disillusion where the individual becomes fanatic and promotes the faith
that has his own vested interests. In enthusiasm, the individual gets distracted from his main
goal and promotes hatred. He came into contact with Methodism that followed more
discipline and austerity with respect to religious beliefs and promotion. Heart-led faith was
the prime focus of Wesley’s propagation of religion. He claimed that the church should never

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be considered as a supreme authority and the individuals should have their own independence
to make their own decisions. He considers that heart-led faith is a more harmonious concept
whereas enthusiasm is the root cause of the evils that prevail in the society. In earlier times,
Wesley himself supported the concept of enthusiasm to a certain extent but with the passage
of time when the evils of enthusiasm were upheld he tried to draw a differentiation between
the two and advocated that he is an ardent follower of heart-led faith (Klein, Eliot and
Anthony).
Hume’s Theory of Religious Enthusiasm and Superstition
Hume considered that religious enthusiasm as a state of mind where the individual
considers himself to be in conversation with God and is termed as mentally ill by him. He
advocated that false religious beliefs leads the individual to apprehend a state of imagination
where he has his own illusions. According to him the corruption of mind occurs due to two
factors. Firstly, if the individual experiences certain bad phases in his life and the other is the
flourishing growth. The bad experiences are related by the individual to the will of God and
leads to superstitious activities whereas when the individual experiences growth in his life it
leads him to believe that it is by the grace of God that he has achieved so much success. In
both the cases, the individual neglects his own efforts and their consequences and relies on
the goodwill of God. The fanatic belief that God is the force behind the rise and decline of the
individual is completely rejected by Hume (Klein, Eliot and Anthony). He says that the state
of weakness, fear, depression collectively with the ignorance leads to superstition in the
human beings. The church promotes these concepts and uses them as a medium to control the
individuals. There are some absurd rituals that are promoted by the church just to infuse
supremacy in the masses. The individuals are always afraid of the consequences of their
actions and this leads to their belief in the superstitions that are promoted by the church.
People blindly follow the instructions of the church and the sense of pride due to religious