DOCSLIB.ORG

Wesleyan Theological Journal Publication of the Wesleyan Theological Society WESLEY’S THEOLOGY AS METHODIST PRACTICE: POSTMODERN RETRIEVAL of the WESLEYAN TRADITION

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Wesleyan Theological Journal Publication of the Wesleyan Theological Society WESLEY’S THEOLOGY AS METHODIST PRACTICE: POSTMODERN RETRIEVAL of the WESLEYAN TRADITION Wesleyan Theological Journal Publication of the Wesleyan Theological Society WESLEY’S THEOLOGY AS METHODIST PRACTICE: POSTMODERN RETRIEVAL OF THE WESLEYAN TRADITION .. 7 John W. Wright READING THEORY AND BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION .............. 32 Thomas E. Phillips THE RELEVANCE OF WESLEYAN EVANGELISM IN A POSTMODERN CULTURE John Tyson ............................................................................... 49 JOHN WESLEY’S CRITICAL APPROPRIATION OF TRADITION IN HIS PRACTICAL THEOLOGY ................................ 69 Kenneth J. Collins THE PRACTICAL WAY OF HOLINESS: ISAIAH OF SCETIS AND JOHN WESLEY ...................................... 91 John Chryssavgis THE ENTHUSIASM OF THE REV. JOHN WESLEY ......................... 114 Mathias J. Kürschner THE RADICAL UNITED BRETHREN SECESSION OF 1889: GERMAN-AMERICAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SEARCH FOR AMERICAN EVANGELICALISM .................... 138 J. Steven O’Malley AMERICAN METHODIST SOCIAL GOSPEL: THE PUBLIC/PRIVATE SPLIT REVISITED .................................... 159 Christopher H. Evans CHRISTIAN PERFECTION AMONG NINETEENTH-CENTURY AFRICAN-AMERICAN PREACHING WOMEN ............................... 179 Keith A. Chism FREE METHODIST MISSION IN SOUTH AFRICA, 1891-1960: SOCIAL CONFORMITY OR PROPHETIC CHALLENGE? ............. 194 Sarah Elizabeth Johnson IN HONOR OF DELBERT AND SUSAN (SCHULTZ) ROSE .......... 231 BOOK AWARD: DOUGLAS STRONG, PERFECTIONIST POLITICS ........................................................... 235 BOOK REVIEWS ............................................................................. 237 ADVERTISING ................................................................................. 257 Volume 35, Number 2 Fall, 2000 The Journal of the WESLEYAN THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY A Fellowship of Wesleyan-Holiness Scholars Editor and Chair of the Editorial Committee: Barry L. Callen, 1993 to present All communications concerning editorial matters should be addressed to the Editor, Barry L. Callen, c/o Anderson Univer - sity, 1100 East 5th Street, Anderson, Indiana 46012. Commu - nication about book reviews is to be directed to the Book Review Editor, David Bundy, c/o Christian Theological Semi - nary, 1000 West 42nd Street, P.O. Box 8867, Indianapolis, Indiana 46208. Membership dues and other financial matters should be addressed to the Secretary-Treasurer, William Kostlevy, c/o Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, Ken - tucky 40390. Rate and application form are found at the end of this issue. E-mail addresses for all officers of the Society are also found at the end of this issue. Publication Address: Wesleyan Theological Society, P. O. Box 144, Wilmore, Kentucky 40390. WESLEYAN THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY (Organized 1965) The Society’s mission is to encourage the exchange of ideas among Wesleyan-Holiness theologians; to develop a source of papers for CHP (Christian Holiness Partnership) seminars; to stimulate scholarship among younger theologians and pastors; and to publish a scholarly journal. WESLEYAN THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL ############# Published by the Wesleyan Theological Society P. O. Box 144 Wilmore, Kentucky 40390 © Copyright 2000 by the Wesleyan Theological Society ISSN-0092-4245 This periodical is indexed in the ATLA Religion Database, published by the American Theological Library Association, 250 S. Wacker Dr., 16th Flr., Chicago, IL 60606, E-mail: [email protected], WWW: http://www.atla.com/. Available on-line through BRS (Bibliographic Retrieval Series), Latham, New York, and DIALOG, Palo Alto, California. Available in Microform from University Microfilms International, 300 North Zeek Road, Dept. I.R., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106. Other than the most recent issues, the journal is available electronically at this online address: http://wesley.nnc.edu WTS on the Web: www.holiness.org/WTS.htm Views expressed by writers are not necessarily those of the Wesleyan Theological Society, the Editor, or the Editorial Committee. Printed by Old Paths Tract Society Shoals, Indiana 47581 CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS NUMBER ARTICLE WRITERS: Keith A. Chism Defiance College, Defiance, Ohio Kenneth J. Collins Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, Kentucky John Chryssavgis Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Brookline, Massachusetts Christopher H. Evans Colgate Rochester Divinity School, Rochester, New York Sarah Elizabeth Johnson Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, Washington Mathias J. K ürschner University of T übingen, Germany J. Steven O’Malley Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, Kentucky Thomas E. Phillips Eastern Nazarene College, Quincy, Massachusetts John Tyson Methodist College, Fayetteville, North Carolina John W. Wright Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego, California BOOK REVIEWERS AND TRIBUTE WRITER: David Bundy, Barry L. Callen, Henry H. Knight, William C. Kostlevy, Randy L. Maddox, R. David Rightmire, Henry W. Spaulding — 3— EDITOR’S NOTES This Fall 2000 issue carries a wide range of materials. The first three articles by John W. Wright, Thomas E. Phillips, and John Tyson explore aspects of Christian faith in dialogue with postmodernism. The next two, by Kenneth Collins and John Chryssavgis, address John Wesley’s appropriation of tradition, especially the Eastern tradition of Christian faith and practice. The remaining five articles range among subjects from the United Brethren, United Methodist, and Free Methodist contexts and include consideration of African-American preaching women in the nineteenth-century Holiness movement. In the pivotal 2000 year, an intellectual biography of Clark H. Pinnock, Journey Toward Renewal , was written by Barry L. Callen and published by Evangel Publishing House in cooperation with the Wesleyan Theological Society. Included here is a book review and ad on this project. The year 2000 also saw the Society select its first volume to be honored with the Society’s Smith-Wynkoop Book Award . See the ad by Syracuse University Press highlighting the significant book Perfectionist Politics by Douglas Strong. Further, in 2000 the Society choose to honor Delbert R. and Susan A. (Schultz) Rose with the Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award . The tribute to them, delivered by William Kostlevy at the annual meeting of the Society in March, 2000, is included in this issue. Special thanks goes to David Bundy who oversees the development of book reviews. He ensures consideration of key publications that address many aspects of the history, theology, and practice of the Wes - leyan/Holiness tradition—including a global emphasis on this tradition, represented in this issue by a significant study of the Korean Holiness Church and the English origins of the Salvation Army. I commend the following material for your careful consideration. Contained in this Wesleyan/Holiness tradition are memories, traditions, and prophetic biblical and theological insights that are well-suited for nurturing the church’s life in a new century and millennium. Barry L. Callen, Editor October 2000 — 5— WESLEY’S THEOLOGY AS METHODIST PRACTICE: TOWARD THE POST-MODERN RETRIEVAL OF THE WESLEYAN TRADITION by John W. Wright Recent readings of John Wesley as a theologian have accurately characterized him as a “practical theologian.” 1 For Wesley, theology was not an endeavor to articulate clear and distinct doctrinal propositions nor principles to which one could intellectually assent and thus be identified as “Wesleyan.” Theology, for Wesley, was practical, advocating certain linguistic patterns necessary to sustain practices that formed holy believ - ers in order to keep the church faithful to God. As noted by Randy Mad - dox, not only is this seen particularly in the content of Wesley’s theology, but it is also apparent in the types of documents that Wesley produced. He published sermons, liturgies and prayers, hymns, conference notes, occa - sional essays, medical handbooks, among others. 2 Wesley stands in a the - ological tradition that reaches back into early Christianity when bishops articulated the theology of the church as a crucial aspect of the day-by- day ecclesial care of their congregations. While Wesley’s understanding of theology relates to the theological task as often pursued in early Christianity, it nonetheless stands outside 1See, for instance, Thomas Langford, Practical Divinity: Theology in the Wesleyan Tradition (Nashville: Abingdon, Press, 1983); Randy Maddox, “John Wesley—Practical Theologian?” Wesleyan Theological Journal 23 (1988), 122- 47; Randy Maddox, Responsible Grace: John Wesley’s Practical Theology (Nashville: Kingswood Books, 1994), especially 16-25. 2See Maddox, “John Wesley.” — 7— WRIGHT the mainstream of nineteenth and twentieth-century theology. Nineteenth and twentieth-century theology has largely pursued the related concerns of systematic and apologetic theology. Systematics has tended to see Christian doctrine as an abstract system of thought built on the universal foundation of Scripture or experience. 3 Theology becomes the task of developing the correct method in order to build a coherent, rational super - structure on this universal foundation. One may then discover the implica - tions and interconnections between the various realms of Christian beliefs. In its preoccupation with foundations and theological methodology, this systematic genre relates closely to modern theology’s apologetic con - cern. In modernity, however, the apologetic concern or rational defense of the Christian faith to outsiders has largely followed the route of translat - ing Christian language and concepts into language already accessible to the intellectual
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Form Social Prophets to Soc Princ 1890-1990-K Rowe
    UMHistory/Prof. Rowe/ Social Prophets revised November 29, 2009 FROM SOCIAL PROPHETS TO SOCIAL PRINCIPLES 1890s-1990s Two schools of social thought have been at work, sometimes at war, in UM History 1) the Pietist ―stick to your knitting‖ school which focuses on gathering souls into God’s kingdom and 2) the activist ―we have a broader agenda‖ school which is motivated to help society reform itself. This lecture seeks to document the shift from an ―old social agenda,‖ which emphasized sabbath observance, abstinence from alcohol and ―worldly amusements‖ to a ―new agenda‖ that overlaps a good deal with that of progressives on the political left. O u t l i n e 2 Part One: A CHANGE OF HEART in late Victorian America (1890s) 3 Eight Prophets cry in the wilderness of Methodist Pietism Frances Willard, William Carwardine, Mary McDowell, S. Parkes Cadman, Edgar J. Helms, William Bell, Ida Tarbell and Frank Mason North 10 Two Social Prophets from other Christian traditions make the same pitch at the same time— that one can be a dedicated Christian and a social reformer at the same time: Pope Leo XIII and Walter Rauschenbusch. 11 Part Two: From SOCIAL GOSPEL to SOCIAL CHURCH 1900-1916 12 Formation of the Methodist Federation for Social Service, 1907 16 MFSS presents first Social Creed to MEC General Conference, 1908 18 Toward a ―Socialized‖ Church? 1908-1916 21 The Social Gospel: Many Limitations / Impressive Legacy Part Three: SOCIAL GOSPEL RADICALISM & RETREAT TO PIETISM 1916-1960 22 Back to Abstinence and forward to Prohibition 1910s 24 Methodism
    [Show full text]
  • The Korean-American Methodists' Response to the UMC Debate Over
    religions Article Loving My New Neighbor: The Korean-American Methodists’ Response to the UMC Debate over LGBTQ Individuals in Everyday Life Jeyoul Choi Department of Religion, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA; [email protected] Abstract: The recent nationwide debate of American Protestant churches over the ordination and consecration of LGBTQ clergymen and laypeople has been largely divisive and destructive. While a few studies have paid attention to individual efforts of congregations to negotiate the heated conflicts as their contribution to the denominational debate, no studies have recounted how post-1965 immigrants, often deemed as “ethnic enclaves apart from larger American society”, respond to this religious issue. Drawing on an ethnographic study of a first-generation Korean Methodist church in the Tampa Bay area, Florida, this article attempts to fill this gap in the literature. In brief, I argue that the Tampa Korean-American Methodists’ continual exposure to the Methodist Church’s larger denominational homosexuality debate and their personal relationships with gay and lesbian friends in everyday life together work to facilitate their gradual tolerance toward sexual minorities as a sign of their accommodation of individualistic and democratic values of American society. Keywords: homosexuality and LGBTQ people; United Methodist Church; post-1965 immigrants; Korean-American evangelicals Citation: Choi, Jeyoul. 2021. Loving My New Neighbor: The Korean-American Methodists’ Response to the UMC Debate over 1. Introduction LGBTQ Individuals in Everyday Life. The discourses of homosexuality and LGBTQ individuals in American Protestantism Religions 12: 561. https://doi.org/ are polarized by the research that enunciates each denomination’s theological stance 10.3390/rel12080561 and conflicts over the case studies of individual sexual minorities’ struggle within their congregations.
    [Show full text]
  • 1908 Social Creed Methodist Church and Companion Litany
    1908 Social Creed The Methodist Episcopal Church stands – For equal rights and complete justice for all (people) in all stations of life. For the principle of conciliation and arbitration in industrial dissensions. For the protection of the worker from dangerous machinery, occupational diseases, injuries and mortality. For the abolition of child labor. For such regulation of the conditions of labor for women as shall safe guard the physical and moral health of the community. For the suppression of the “sweating system.” For the gradual and reasonable reduction of hours of labor to the lowest practical point, with work for all; and for that degree of leisure for all which is the condition of the highest human life. For a release from employment one day in seven. For a living wage in every industry. For the highest wage that each industry can afford, and for the most equitable division of the products of industry that can ultimately be devised. For the recognition of the Golden Rule and the mind of Christ as the supreme law of society and the sure remedy for all social ills. CCeelleebbrraattiioonn 1972 Social Creed of We believe in God, Creator of the world; and in Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of creation. We believe in the Holy Spirit, through whom we acknowledge God's gifts, and we repent of our sin in misusing these gifts to idolatrous ends. 110000 YYeeaarrss We affirm the natural world as God's handiwork and dedicate ourselves to its preservation, enhancement, and faithful use by humankind. of the We joyfully receive for ourselves and others the blessings of community, sexuality, marriage, and the family.
    [Show full text]
  • The Wesleyan Enlightenment
    The Wesleyan Enlightenment: Closing the gap between heart religion and reason in Eighteenth Century England by Timothy Wayne Holgerson B.M.E., Oral Roberts University, 1984 M.M.E., Wichita State University, 1986 M.A., Asbury Theological Seminary, 1999 M.A., Kansas State University, 2011 AN ABSTRACT OF A DISSERTATION submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of History College of Arts and Sciences KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2017 Abstract John Wesley (1703-1791) was an Anglican priest who became the leader of Wesleyan Methodism, a renewal movement within the Church of England that began in the late 1730s. Although Wesley was not isolated from his enlightened age, historians of the Enlightenment and theologians of John Wesley have only recently begun to consider Wesley in the historical context of the Enlightenment. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the complex relationship between a man, John Wesley, and an intellectual movement, the Enlightenment. As a comparative history, this study will analyze the juxtaposition of two historiographies, Wesley studies and Enlightenment studies. Surprisingly, Wesley scholars did not study John Wesley as an important theologian until the mid-1960s. Moreover, because social historians in the 1970s began to explore the unique ways people experienced the Enlightenment in different local, regional and national contexts, the plausibility of an English Enlightenment emerged for the first time in the early 1980s. As a result, in the late 1980s, scholars began to integrate the study of John Wesley and the Enlightenment. In other words, historians and theologians began to consider Wesley as a serious thinker in the context of an English Enlightenment that was not hostile to Christianity.
    [Show full text]
  • Wesleyan Spirit-Christology
    Wesleyan Spirit-Christology: inspiration from the theology of Samuel Chadwick Full version of a paper presented at the Oxford Institute of Methodist Theological Studies, August 2018 by George Bailey, [email protected] Lecturer in Mission and Wesleyan Studies, Cliff College, Derbyshire, UK Presbyteral Minister in Leeds North and East Methodist Circuit, UK Introduction This paper explores the theology of Samuel Chadwick (1860-1932) and demonstrates that within it there is a Spirit Christology in a Wesleyan framework. Spirit Christology has been the subject of theological investigation in recent decades, with proposals being made for ways to add to or adapt the more dominant Logos Christologies of the Western theological tradition so that the work of the Holy Spirit in Jesus in the Gospels, and in the experience of Christians, can be better accounted for.1 Chadwick’s theology is brought into debate with this more recent conversation, and is found to be in many ways in line with the Spirit Christology being proposed. This is not an aspect of Chadwick’s theology that has been given attention previously and new suggestions are made as to his place in the tradition of Wesleyan theology. In the process, Chadwick’s sources are considered, including the ways that he draws on a Wesleyan theology of perfection, mid to late nineteenth century language of Pentecost and baptism of the Spirit, early twentieth century liberal Protestant theological work, and his potential relationship with the seventeenth century puritan, John Owen. Most academic interest in Chadwick to date has focused on more practical issues. However, although Chadwick was primarily concerned with holiness and evangelism, it was only by the work of Holy Spirit that he experienced these being effective in his life and the life of churches, and consequently the Holy Spirit constituted the main content of his teaching to prepare people for evangelism.
    [Show full text]
  • W H at Every T E Acher Needs to Know a B O U T
    WETNK UM Church-03r 2/27/06 11:13 AM Page 1 W H AT EVERY T E ACHER NEEDS TO KNOW A B O U T Developed by the Christian Education Staff of The General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church WETNK UM Church-03r 2/27/06 11:13 AM Page 2 This booklet was developed by the Christian Educa- tion Staff of The General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church. It is one in a series of booklets designed to provide essential knowledge for teachers. Members of the staff who helped write and develop this series are Te rry Cart y, Bill Cre n s h a w, Donna Gaither, Contents Rick Gentzler, Mary Alice Gran, Susan Hay, Betsey H e a v n e r, Diana Hynson, Carol Krau, MaryJane Pierc e N o rton, Deb Smith, Julia Wallace, and Linda Whited. Reprinted 2002, 2003 Introduction . 5 Cover and booklet design by Joey McNair History . 7 Edited by Debra D. Smith and Heidi L. Hewitt Mission . 21 ISBN 0-88177-363-8 Quotations from the Book of Discipline are from The Book of Discipline of The Connectional Structure . 27 United Methodist Church—2000. Copyright © 2000 by The United Methodist Some Interesting Details . 35 Publishing House. Used by permission. The Cross and Flame . 35 Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from the New Revised The Circuit Rider . 36 Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Cokesbury . 36 Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA.
    [Show full text]
  • UMC Acronym Guide
    United Methodist Church Acronyms Acronym Meaning Purpose/Definition AGI Agency Group Manages the benefits for all agencies Insurance BMCR Black Methodists for To raise up prophetic and spiritual leaders who will be Church Renewal advocates for the unique needs of Black people in The United Methodist Church BOD Book of Disciplines This is the instrument for setting forth the laws, plan, polity, and process by which United Methodists govern themselves remains constant. It reflects the understanding of the Church and articulates the mission of the UMC (To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. The Discipline defines what is expected of its laity and clergy as they seek to be effective witnesses in the world as a part of the whole body of Christ. COB Council of Bishops According to the Book of Discipline, "The Church expects the Council of Bishops to speak to the Church and from the Church to the world and to give leadership in the quest for Christian unity and interreligious relationships."[Paragraph 427.2] CPPP Committee on Referred to as 'C3P'. This is a committee that decides on Personnel Policies & policies & procedures. All agencies have a voting Procedures representation in this committee. CT Connection Table Facilitates the Church's program life as determined by the General Conference. Its task is to discern and articulate the vision for the Church and to facilitate the stewardship of the mission, ministries and resources of The UMC. The Connectional Table evaluates how effectively the general program-related agencies carry out the mission and ministry of the church as they work with annual conferences and local churches to fulfill the church’s mission to make disciples for the transformation of the world.
    [Show full text]
  • Answers to Questions for Episcopal Candidate
    1. How do you reflect a life and ministry rooted in Wesleyan theology, spirituality and practice? In 1982, during a revival at Asbury UMC, the second church on the Baldwyn FUMC/ Asbury charge, in rural Prentiss County, Mississippi, I gave my heart to the Lord publicly. I was 11 and was singing with the big kids in the youth choir. The preacher was preaching on the rich man and Lazarus and when he gave the invitation I came down to the altar to pray. Later that evening my pastor, W. T. Dexter, led me into a relationship with Jesus Christ as Savior. This was not the first step in my personal via salutis nor was it to be my last, but it did mark my own personal conversion point, my own Aldersgate moment. I often have said that while I became a Christian that night, I truly learned what it meant to live that out in the Wesley Foundation Campus Ministry at Ole Miss. It was there I made Jesus both Savior and Lord. It was there that I became a member of a discipling small group for the first time. It was there I became a part of a leadership team with built in accountability by senior leadership. It was there I became a part of a community of believers that did life together. I became a participant in one of the earliest Disciple Bible Study groups. It was also there that I caught a passionate urgency for evangelism. When I moved into our ministry house on campus, an unoccupied Fraternity House, Wade, the Wesley Director, would come by and leave a list of names on my door for me to call and invite to worship that week or some event we were planning.
    [Show full text]
  • Aspects of Arminian Soteriology in Methodist-Lutheran Ecumenical Dialogues in 20Th and 21St Century
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Helsingin yliopiston digitaalinen arkisto ASPECTS OF ARMINIAN SOTERIOLOGY IN METHODIST-LUTHERAN ECUMENICAL DIALOGUES IN 20TH AND 21ST CENTURY Mikko Satama Master’s Thesis University of Helsinki Faculty of Theology Department of Systematic Theology Ecumenical Studies 18th January 2009 HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO − HELSINGFORS UNIVERSITET Tiedekunta/Osasto − Fakultet/Sektion Laitos − Institution Teologinen tiedekunta Systemaattisen teologian laitos Tekijä − Författare Mikko Satama Työn nimi − Arbetets title Aspects of Arminian Soteriology in Methodist-Lutheran Ecumenical Dialogues in 20th and 21st Century Oppiaine − Läroämne Ekumeniikka Työn laji − Arbetets art Aika − Datum Sivumäärä − Sidoantal Pro Gradu -tutkielma 18.1.2009 94 Tiivistelmä − Referat The aim of this thesis is to analyse the key ecumenical dialogues between Methodists and Lutherans from the perspective of Arminian soteriology and Methodist theology in general. The primary research question is defined as: “To what extent do the dialogues under analysis relate to Arminian soteriology?” By seeking an answer to this question, new knowledge is sought on the current soteriological position of the Methodist-Lutheran dialogues, the contemporary Methodist theology and the commonalities between the Lutheran and Arminian understanding of soteriology. This way the soteriological picture of the Methodist-Lutheran discussions is clarified. The dialogues under analysis were selected on the basis of versatility. Firstly, the sole world organisation level dialogue was chosen: The Church – Community of Grace. Additionally, the document World Methodist Council and the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification is analysed as a supporting document. Secondly, a document concerning the discussions between two main-line churches in the United States of America was selected: Confessing Our Faith Together.
    [Show full text]
  • JOHN WESLEY's CHRISTOLOGY in RECENT LITERATURE by Richard M
    JOHN WESLEY'S CHRISTOLOGY IN RECENT LITERATURE by Richard M. Riss There have been a variety of interpretations of John Wesley's Chris- tology, some claiming that Wesley was well within the boundaries of orthodoxy as defined by the Council of Chalcedon (A.D. 451), others say­ ing that he moved in the direction of monophysitism, and yet others indi­ cating that he may actually have come close to advocating a form of docetism.1 This spectrum of perspectives seems broad enough to be con­ sistent with William J. Abraham's observation that "there are as many Wesleys as there are Wesley scholars."2 Nevertheless, it will be assumed here that it should be possible to determine Wesley's own view on this important theological matter. The following review of some of the relevant literature is in chrono­ logical order and will concern itself primarily with interpretations of Wes­ ley's Christology by Robin Scroggs (1960), William Ragsdale Cannon (1974), Charles R. Wilson (1983), Albert C. Outler (1984), John Deschner (1960, 1985, 1988), Kenneth J. Collins (1993, 2007), Randy L. Maddox (1994), Thomas C. Oden (1994), Timothy L. Boyd (2004), and Matthew Hambrick and Michael Lodahl (2007). There will also be an attempt to assess this literature in light of some of Wesley's own writings. according to docetism, Jesus was not a real man, but only appeared to be. He thus only appeared to have a body. See Randy Maddox, Responsible Grace (Nashville, Tenn.: Kingswood Books), 311, note 128. 2William J. Abraham, "The End of Wesleyan Theology," Wesley an Theolog- icalJournal 40 (spring 2005): 13.
    [Show full text]
  • Two Separate Unions Formed One United Church by David Oberlin, 1979
    Two Separate Unions Formed One United Church by David Oberlin, 1979 The United Methodist Church is the product of two recent church mergers – one in 1946, which brought the Evangelical and United Brethren in Christ denominations together to form the Evangelical United Brethren Church (hereafter called the EUB Church); and one in 1968, which combined the EUB and Methodist denominations to form the United Methodist Church. Each merger created a new denomination, altered church organization, and had an impact on its membership. This paper examines these two mergers and their impact on members of affected congregations in Union County, Pennsylvania. Located in a rural setting in central Pennsylvania, Union County includes many small communities and two major towns – Lewisburg with almost 9,000 residents, and Mifflinburg with a population close to 7,000. Within the county are 17 United Methodist churches – three of which are former Methodist, and fourteen of which are former EUB. While the United Brethren in Christ Church was active in central Pennsylvania, all of the former EUB congregations in Union County were originally Evangelical. Each of the former Methodist congregations has its own pastor, and ten of the fourteen former EUB congregations make up three circuits within the county. Because there were no United Brethren in Christ churches in Union County, the 1946 merger did not have much of an impact on the congregations of the county. The 1968 merger, on the other hand, had a large impact in Union County because EUB and Methodist churches were located throughout the county. In Mifflinburg and Lewisburg, for example, the 1968 merger resulted in two United Methodist churches located within a block of each other.
    [Show full text]
  • And Greetings from Our Bishop
    WELCOME AND GREETINGS FROM OUR BISHOP Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, Welcome to the annual session of the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. We join together during these days as disciples of Jesus Christ and leaders in his mission. This year we will celebrate our calling to be “On Mission Together,” and our vision to cultivate courageous leadership, missional engagement and spirit-led innovation. Our conference will be marked by music and worship, study and prayer, debate and conferencing, fellowship and laughter, business and visioning. We will license, commission and ordain men and women for set apart leadership in the church. We will send clergy into congregational and extension leadership for the coming year. We will elect laity and clergy delegates to the 2020 General Conference. We will celebrate extraordinary faithfulness in response to natural disasters in our region, and we will process the outcomes of the recent Special Session of the 2019 General Conference. And we will return to our local churches, more aware of our connection as Florida United Methodists. Gathering at Florida Southern College in Lakeland, the Annual Conference will begin with the celebration of Holy Communion. Our keynote speakers will be extraordinary: Bishop Will Willimon of Duke Divinity School will be our conference preacher, and Dr. Dana Robert of Boston University will be our teacher. Dr. Gary Spencer will preach the memorial sermon and Dr. Cynthia Weems, dean of the cabinet, will give the cabinet’s report. Inspirational music will be led by Jarvis Wilson and Keith Wilson of Atlanta, Georgia. Our offerings will support the re-development of the Wesley Foundation at Florida A & M University, and the launch of a new church inside Lowell Women’s Prison in Reddick.
    [Show full text]