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One of the most surprising developments in contemporary Methodist theology is the degree to which leading Methodist and Wesleyan systematic theologians are reengaging John Wesley, finding his works instructive, provocative, and stimulating for their own theological reflection. Such a broad and purposeful dialogue with Wesley by theologians of the Wesleyan heritage is unprecedented in this century, and much rarer in the previous century than is popularly believed. This volume presents a set of original essays that represent and embody this new engagement allowing the reader to see how several prominent theologians are self-consciously reexamining and reappropriating their theological tradition.
This is a general, comprehensive introduction to John Wesley's life and work, and to his theological and ecclesiastical legacy. Written from various disciplinary perspectives, this volume will be an invaluable aid to scholars and students, including those encountering the work and thought of Wesley for the first time.
Wesley and Methodist Studies (WMS) publishes peer-reviewed essays that examine the life and work of John and Charles Wesley, their contemporaries (proponents or opponents) in the eighteenth-century Evangelical Revival, their historical and theological antecedents, their successors in the Wesleyan tradition, and studies of the Wesleyan and Evangelical traditions today. Its primary historical scope is the eighteenth century to the present; however, WMS will publish essays that explore the historical and theological antecedents of the Wesleys (including work on Samuel and Susanna Wesley), Methodism, and the Evangelical Revival. WMS has a dual and broad focus on both history and theology. Its aim is to present significant scholarly contributions that shed light on historical and theological understandings of Methodism broadly conceived. Essays within the thematic scope of WMS from the disciplinary perspectives of literature, philosophy, education and cognate disciplines are welcome. WMS is a collaborative project of the Manchester Wesley Research Centre and The Oxford Centre for Methodism and Church History, Oxford Brookes University.
Of special focus in this reflective overview of Wesley's theological convictions is highlighting the practical-theological dynamics of Wesley's work and suggesting possible implications for contemporary attempts to recover theology as a practical discipline. Another distinctive focus of this work is a systematic consideration of the integration of theological emphases traditionally divergent in Eastern and Western Christianity. The author also closely examines the consistency of Wesley's thought throughout his career.
Do we act, live, and breathe our faith? What do United Methodists believe? Do people notice a difference between the way United Methodists practice faith in the church and in the world? A Year with John Wesley and Our Methodist Values is an engaging and provocative study of the practices of discipleship that are of "the Methodist way." Brief scholarly reflections on Wesleyan themes are followed by short essays making recurring Wesley tenets timely and relevant to today's world. Covering one aspect of distinctly Wesleyan theology a month, the collection of essays contained in this book provide an in-depth yet easily approachable 12-month survey of the Methodist tradition for clergy and laity alike. "A Year with John Wesley reveals and makes plain the essence of John Wesley's life and witness," writes one reviewer. "A Methodist way of living becomes accessible through these great themes expressed in contemporary language and situations. Those who read and reflect upon these pages will gain understanding of United Methodist theology, polity, and practice, but even more significantly, they will learn what it means to walk with Christ in our contemporary world."
A Plain Account of Christian Perfection by John Wesley is about the theory of perfection according to Christian theology. Excerpt: "1. WHAT I purpose in the following pages is, to give a plain and distinct account of the steps by which I was led, during the course of many years, to embrace the doctrine of Christian Perfection. This I owe to the serious part of mankind; those who desire to know all the truth as it is in Jesus. And these only are concerned with questions of this kind. To these I would nakedly declare the thing as it is, endeavoring all along to show, from one period to another, both what I thought, and why I thought so."
A collection of five essays discussing the origin, meaning, and relevance of the United Methodist Church's "Wesleyan Quadrilateral" which is scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. The authors agree that American Methodism theology should give scripture primary importance over the other areas, without negating them, in order to move past the current debate and into the twenty-first century.
Representing the culmination of years of exhaustive research, it is the purpose of these conclusive volumes to keep alive the growing interest in Wesleyan studies for the entire Christian church. -- Amazon.com.
The theology of John Wesley has proven exceedingly influential in the religious and spiritual lives of Wesley's followers and his critics. However, Wesley did not leave behind a written doctrine on scripture. This collection presents an array of diverse approaches to understanding John Wesley's charge to read and interpret the Bible as scripture. Contributors move beyond the work of Wesley himself to discuss how Wesleyan communities have worked to address the difficult scriptural--and theological--conundrums of their time and place. With contributions from William J. Abraham, Justo L. González, Joel B. Green, Elaine A. Heath, Randy L. Maddox, Karen B. Westerfield Tucker, Jason E. Vickers, Laceye Warner, David F. Watson, Kenneth J. Collins, Robert W. Wall, Reginald Broadnax, Meesaeng Lee Choi, Hunn Choi, Douglas M. Koskela, D. Brent Laytham, Steven J. Koskie, and Michael Pasquarello III, Wesley, Wesleyans, and Reading Bible as Scripture ultimately attempts to underscore what it means to stand in the Wesleyan stream and bring about holiness through--and within--daily occurrences.
A rich articulation of John Wesley's theology that is appreciative of the old and mindful of the new, faithful to the past and attentive to the present. This work carefully displays John Wesley's eighteenth century theology in its own distinct historical and social location, but then transitions to the twenty-first century through the introduction of contemporary issues. So conceived, the book is both historical and constructive demonstrating that the theology of Wesley represents a vibrant tradition. Cognizant of Wesley's own preferred vocabulary, Collins introduces Wesley's theological method beginning with a discussion of the doctrine of God. "In this insightful exposition the leitmotif of holy love arises out of Wesley's reflection on the nature of the divine being as well as other major doctrines." (Douglas Meeks)