John Miley (25 December 1813–13 December 1895) was an American

Methodist Episcopal The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...

minister and

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

, who was one of the major Methodist theological voices of the 19th century.

Biography

Early life

Miley was born the 25 December 1813 on a farm near

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, Butler County,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. Miley graduated from Augusta College where he received A.B. in 1834 and an A.M. in 1837. During his college life he was influenced by three professors Joseph Tomlinson, Joseph Trimble, and Henry Bascom.

Career

In 1838, Miley entered the church's ministry through the Ohio Conference. From 1838 to 1852, he served different churches in Ohio. In 1852 he transferred to the New York East Conference. In 1866 he transferred to the New York Conference. In 1859, the

Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio. It was founded in 1842 by methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five – a consortium ...

conferred an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree on him. From 1852 to 1873, he served churches in New York and

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. As a Methodist pastor, he had held nineteen different pastoral appointments. In 1872, he joined a commission organized by the general conference to develop a code of ecclesiastical law for the Methodist Episcopal Church. Beginning in 1873, he served as chair of

systematic theology Systematic theology, or systematics, is a discipline of Christian theology that formulates an orderly, rational, and coherent account of the doctrines of the Christian faith. It addresses issues such as what the Bible teaches about certain topic ...

Drew University Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three scho ...

in Madison, NJ, after his brother-in-law,

Randolph Sinks Foster Randolph Sinks Foster (February 22, 1820 – May 1, 1903) was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1872. Biography Born on February 22, 1820, at Williamsburg, Ohio, U.S., the son of Israel Foster and Mary "Polly" Ka ...

, left the seat to become a bishop. Miley was one of "the Great Five" revered professors who led Drew for decades, along with Henry Anson Buttz, George Crooks, James Strong, and Samuel F. Upham. He was the author of ''Systematic Theology'' (1892), a two-volume work which served as a key text for Methodist seminarians for nearly thirty years. He also authored ''The Atonement in Christ'' (1879), in which he demonstrated what he believed were severe Biblical and theological problems with commonly held theories on the

doctrine Doctrine (from la, doctrina, meaning "teaching, instruction") is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a belief system ...

of the atonement of Christ such as the

penal substitution Penal substitution (sometimes, esp. in older writings, called forensic theory)D. Smith, The atonement in the light of history and the modern spirit' (London: Hodder and Stoughton), p. 96-7: 'THE FORENSIC THEORY...each successive period of history ...

and the moral example.

Theology

Miley was a systematic theologian in the Wesleyan tradition. He had Arminian

soteriological Soteriology (; el, wikt:σωτηρία, σωτηρία ' "salvation" from wikt:σωτήρ, σωτήρ ' "savior, preserver" and wikt:λόγος, λόγος ' "study" or "word") is the study of Doctrine, religious doctrines of salvation. Salvation ...

views. He developed a strong

governmental theory of atonement The governmental theory of the atonement (also known as the rectoral theory, or the moral government theory) is a doctrine in Christian theology concerning the meaning and effect of the death of Jesus Christ. It teaches that Christ suffered for hum ...

based theology heavily reliant on the work of Hugo Grotius. Thus, for him, the atonement of Christ is a satisfaction for

sin In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...

s by substitution, but not a satisfaction by penal substitution. The atonement of Christ is

universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

, but the forgiveness of sins is conditional to the faith. Moreover, the substitution of Christ is in suffering, not in penalty.

Death

Miley died the 13 December 1895.

Works

* * * * *

Notes and references

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miley, John 1813 births 1895 deaths 19th-century American theologians 19th-century Methodist ministers American Christian theologians American Methodist clergy Arminian ministers Arminian theologians Drew University faculty Miley People from Hamilton, Ohio Southern Methodists Systematic theologians 19th-century American clergy Augusta College (Kentucky) alumni