Many years ago, a "debate" was held between two renowned Anglican preachers: Charles Simeon (d. 1836) and John Wesley (d. 1791). Simeon was considered by many to be a leading spokesman for Calvinism and Wesley was viewed as a champion of the sort of Arminianism found among English churchmen. Here is a transcript of their first meeting.

Simeon: Sir, I understand that you are called an Arminian; and I have been sometimes called a Calvinist; and therefore I suppose we are to draw daggers. But before I consent to begin the combat, with your permission I will ask you a few questions. Pray, Sir, do you feel yourself a depraved creature, so depraved that you would never have thought of turning to God, if God had not first put it into your heart?

Wesley: Yes, I do indeed.

And do you utterly despair of recommending yourself to God by anything you can do; and look for salvation solely through the blood and righteousness of Christ?

Yes, solely through Christ.

But, Sir, supposing you were at first saved by Christ, are you not somehow or other to save yourself afterwards by your own works?

No, I must be saved by Christ from first to last.

Allowing, then, that you were first turned by the grace of God, are you not in some way or other to keep yourself by your own power?

No.

What then, are you to be upheld every hour and every moment by God, as much as an infant in its mother's arms?

Yes, altogether.

And is all your hope in the grace and mercy of God to preserve you unto His heavenly kingdom?

Yes, I have no hope but in Him.

Then, Sir, with your leave I will put up my dagger again; for this is all my Calvinism; this is my election my justification by faith, my final perseverance: it is in substance all that I hold, and as I hold it; and therefore, if you please, instead of searching out terms and phrases to be a ground of contention between us, we will cordially unite in those things where in we agree.

In summary, here is the common ground between Simeon and Wesley:

• As a result of sin, by nature, commission, and omission, all humans are depraved creatures; so much so that they would never think of turning to God if God had not first put that thought into their hearts.

• Humans cannot commend themselves to God by anything they do; instead, they must look for salvation solely through the blood and righteousness of Christ.

• Christians, after being converted by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ,

Cannot, by any means, add to or cooperate in their salvation by their own works;

Cannot, in some way or other, keep themselves in the faith by their own power;

Are upheld always by God's grace, in complete and total dependence upon him; and

All their hope is in the grace and mercy of God to preserve them unto the coming of his heavenly kingdom.

This was Simeon's and Wesley's common ground concerning the grace of God and, as Evangelical Anglicans, it should be ours as well. While we recognize our differences, and do not pretend that these are inconsequential, nevertheless what we hold in common is far more important and it should unite us in a spirit of mission and love to the greater glory of Jesus Christ, together with his Father and Holy Spirit.

1. H.G.C. Moule, Charles Simeon, 1892, Whitefish Montana: Kessinger Reprints (2008), 79ff. This conversation appears on John Piper's website, Desiring God, September 24, 2009. (https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/a-250-yr-old-model-how-calvinist-simeon-related-to-wesley),

The Rev. Cn. Dr. Mark A. Quay was a rector of five different parishes, an Adjunct Instructor of Anglican Studies at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama, a visiting professor at theological schools in Rwanda and Germany, and the Dean and Professor of Ministry Studies at the Anglican School of Ministry (which merged with Trinity School for Ministry in 2013). He is currently a teacher and writer living in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. His book, A Minister's Manual for Spiritual Warfare (Resource Publications, 2015) is widely considered an Anglican standard for its subject. He recently released a collection of short stories (in the vein of Garrison Keillor and Patrick McManus), The Road to Derry County: An Ozark Love Story (Kamel Press, 2023). Both are available from Amazon.