Methodism

In The Life of John Taylor, Methodism is Taylor’s pre-conversion church and the backdrop for the book’s “seeker” frame. Taylor was a successful Methodist preacher in both England and Canada who “made many converts” — but his stated object was “to teach them what I then considered the leading doctrines of the Christian religion, rather than the peculiar dogmas of Methodism.” His theological investigations left him “very much dissatisfied with existing creeds and churches,” because of the gap between modern and primitive Christianity in doctrine, ordinances, organization, and “above all, in spirit and power.” Kyle annotates the passage simply: Seeker.

The wiki’s Key Takeaways read this arc as evidence for taking seekers seriously — Taylor’s Methodist preaching is treated not as mere preparation-for-the-real-thing but as a genuine truth-seeking path into Mormonism (tied to Conversion and the “Bring all the truth you have” disposition). One scene has a minister telling Taylor he’d have to do “as the venerable founder of Methodism had done — go into the highways and the fields.”

Context: Methodism is a Protestant movement that grew out of John Wesley’s 18th-century revival within the Church of England, marked by emphasis on personal holiness, disciplined (“methodical”) devotional practice, and itinerant field preaching.

Where this appears

• The Life of John Taylor — Taylor’s pre-conversion church; his successful Methodist preaching and dissatisfaction with existing creeds anchor the book’s “seeker” arc.