The Nature of Enthusiasm · §9 · John Wesley

An uncertain sense

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It is not improbable that one reason why this uncouth word has been retained in so many languages was because men were no better agreed concerning the meaning than concerning the derivation of it. They therefore adopted the Greek word because they did not understand it; they did not translate it into their own tongues because they did not know how to translate it, it having always been a word of a loose, uncertain sense, to which no determinate meaning was affixed.

1771 text

7. It is not improbable, that one reason why this uncouth word has been retained in so many languages, was because men were no better agreed, concerning the meaning than concerning the derivation of it. They therefore adopted the Greek word, because they did not understand it: they did not translate it into their own tongues, because they knew not how to translate it: it having been always a word of a loose, uncertain sense, to which no determinate meaning was affixed.

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About this text

On Acts 26:24: what enthusiasm, or religious madness, is, the forms it takes, and how to avoid it without losing true religion.

EditionPrinted in Wesley's 1771 Works, which do not say when he preached it

Wesley's own sermon in updated English wording. The 1771 panel is the text of the Works Wesley himself had printed in 1771. It is public domain.

Reference

Sermon 37 in the 1771 Works. Acts 26:24.

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