Embodying Wesley's Catholic Spirit

To what degree is Wesleyan theology part of the church's catholic witness? This book explores this question from a number of angles and goes on to embody some of these possibilities in conversation with other major traditions and figures within the Christian church. Overall, the volume shows that Wesleyan theology does draw from and can contribute to conversations related to the catholic Christian witness. --Methodists may be better known for their commitment to apostolic mission than to catholic doctrine. Yet, Wesley cared deeply about both, and this book calls those who follow in his steps to do the same. These essays install a wide-angle lens on Wesleyan theological vision, so that the People called Methodist might behold their true location within the Church catholic, serving the renewal of a Wesleyan way, strengthening the connections between theology and practice, doctrine and discipline.-- --Jeffrey Conklin-Miller, ThD, Associate Dean for Academic Programs, E. Stanley Jones Assistant Professor of the Practice of Evangelism and Christian Formation, Royce and Jane Reynolds Teaching Fellow, Duke University Divinity School --Embodying Wesley's Catholic Spirit offers both internal and external insights into Wesleyan catholicity--perspectives on both the Wesleyan tradition itself and the way in which Wesleyan theology intersects with other branches of the Christian family. Its contributors locate John Wesley and Wesleyan thought within the great catholic heritage of the church, providing carefully nuanced accounts of Wesleyan doctrine ranging from sanctification and sacramental theology to Trinity and tradition. This volume is essential reading for those interested in twenty-first-century ecumenical theology and dialogue.-- --Andrew C. Thompson, ThD, Senior Pastor, First United Methodist Church, Springdale, AR; Wesley Scholar to the Arkansas Conference of the UMC Daniel Castelo is Professor of Dogmatic and Constructive Theology at Seattle Pacific University and Seminary.Read less