Final answer:
John Wesley had a grasp of Greek and enjoyed secular as well as Latin learning. His involvement in Christian learning balanced the spiritual aspects of Christianity with the intellectual pursuit of Classical knowledge. Latin and Greek were critical components of educated society during Wesley's time.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to John Wesley's journal, he had a grasp of Greek and enjoyed secular and also Latin learning. The subject of Christian learning was complex during Wesley's time, balancing the belief that spiritual salvation was available through basic tenets of Christian doctrine with an intellectual pursuit of ancient Greek and Roman knowledge. Notably, church leaders such as those from the School of Chartres argued that understanding the world around us through study, including that of ancient philosophers like Aristotle and Plato, could lead to an understanding of the divine.
Once Christianity was instituted, classical learning became more accepted by church leaders for its practical value in governance and science, as already established by Greco-Roman literature. Nonetheless, they maintained caution against being led astray by non-Christian teachings embedded in these works. Wesley, beginning as an Anglican before converting under the influence of Martin Luther's writings, would have been part of a religious tradition that valued education and learning in languages such as Latin and Greek.
Moreover, while Latin's spoken use declined, it remained the lingua franca for written communication amongst the educated elite, making it an essential part of learned society, which Wesley was a part of. In Eastern regions, Greek was prevalent, not only as a spoken language but also as an official language, providing access to the New Testament and Old Testament translated from Hebrew, ensuring that an educated person such as Wesley would have had engagement with both secular and religious scholarship in these languages.