Top Ten Wesleyan Books

August 3rd, 2010 / 16 Comments

I’ve been thinking about the influence John Wesley’s theology has on my life. Here is my list of books that have been most influential in shaping my understanding of Wesleyan theology.

I am not listing Wesley’s own writings on this list. I toyed with constructing a list of the top ten pieces of Wesley’s own writing. But I decided I’d set aside the primary material and list those books that have helped me interpret and make sense of Wesley’s often divergent and sometimes scattered thoughts.

I should also say that after the first book listed, the rest are not ranked in order of importance. So, here goes…

  1. Responsible Grace: John Wesley’s Practical Theology, by Randy L. Maddox. This book has been the most influential book of all for helping me to think through Wesleyan theology. I use the book every year in my courses, and I often discover helpful ideas that I missed in previous readings.

  2. Reasonable Enthusiast: John Wesley and the Rise of Methodism, by Henry D. Rack. This book introduced me to the historical elements of Wesley’s life and surroundings. It helped me to see the genius of Wesley’s ministry and how he responded to the culture in which he lived.

  3. John Wesley, edited by Albert C. Outler. This book actually has a great deal of Wesley’s own writings in it.  But I included it on this list, because Outler does a wonderful job of introducing the material and giving readers a sense of the scope of Wesley’s theology.  Besides, it was one of the first books on Wesley’s theology that I read carefully.

  4. A Theology of Love: The Dynamic of Wesleyanism, by Mildred Bangs Wynkoop.  To be honest, the material on John Wesley’s theology in this book is not very well written. But Wynkoop shows the powerful connection between John Wesley’s thought and the centrality of love for Christian theology. For this reason, the book has been influential.

  5. God of Nature and of Grace: Reading the World in Wesleyan Ways, by Michael E. Lodahl. Lodahl weaves together lines from a Wesleyan hymn with his ruminations on issues of creation, science, and theology of nature. The result is inspiring, and the reading is enjoyable.

  6. Grace and Responsibility: A Wesleyan Theology for Today, by John B. Cobb, Jr. I read this book as a doctoral student, and it provided a way to bring together some themes in process theology that I found helpful with themes in Wesley’s theology that I appreciated.

  7. The Theology of John Wesley: Holy Love and the Shape of Grace, by Kenneth J. Collins. Ken’s book presents a strong argument for the superiority of Wesleyan theology in comparison to other theological options. And I like the way he concludes each chapter by relating Wesley’s material to contemporary issues.

  8. Divine Grace and Emerging Creation: Wesleyan Forays in Science and Theology of Creation, edited by Thomas Jay Oord. While editing the chapters (of which I do not have a contribution), I realized how important Wesleyan theology is for the contemporary science and religion dialogue. More needs to be written, however.

  9. Grace, Faith and Holiness: A Wesleyan Systematic Theology, by H. Ray Dunning. I read this book each year with my theology students, and I have been shaped by Dunning’s view of Wesleyan theology.  Over the years, I’ve come to disagree with Ray on some issues. But the book remains a largely persuasive effort to bring Wesleyan ideas into a coherent whole.

  10. The Cambridge Companion to John Wesley, edited by Randy L. Maddox and Jason E. Vickers. I must admit that I haven’t read every entry in this companion.  But I find myself going to it often to peruse its essays on topics pertaining to Wesley’s thought and Wesleyan theology.

 

Add comment

Comments

Doug Milne

A great list Tom, thanks for sharing!


Robert Webster

Thomas:

In the spirit of Monday Night Football all I have to say is

Come on Man!

Robert Webster


Melissa

I keep hearing about this Henry Rack book, though I heard it from Dr. Bud Bence and Dr.Chris Bounds as the definitive biography of Wesley. Apparently this is one to invest in….


Kenton Stiles

Nice list, but I would add “The Idiot’s Guide to Wesley’s Non-Systematic and Occasional Theology: an Investigation in Practical Divinity: in ‘Holy’ King James English.” I hear that it will be published soon…


Hans Deventer

Just a “thanks”, Tom. Much appreciated.


Thomas J Bridges

Thomas:

Thanks for sharing the list. I am curious: if you were to teach a class on wesley (maybe you do?), which ones would you use in addition to Maddox?


Thomas Jay Oord

Thomas—Interesting question.  I suppose I’d use the Rack book for the historical background. If I were teaching undergrads, I might use Ken Collins’s book, A Real Christian, which I don’t list above.  I’d probably have my students read more of Wesley’s own sermons and essays.

Thanks for asking!

Tom


Greg Crofford

Thanks, Tom, for the list. You may be interested in knowing that I’m awaiting final proofs on my own monograph, that will be published soon by Emeth Press:

Streams of Mercy: Prevenient Grace in the Theology of John and Charles Wesley

I hope to have it available for sale at the WTS meeting in March, 2011.


Thomas Jay Oord

Greg,

I look forward to seeing your book in print. I enjoyed reading the electronic version of the dissertation version of this book.

Tom


Carolyn Franklin

Are these books available at the NPH?  Or, is there a place online to order them?  Thank you for the list.

Carolyn


Thomas Jay Oord

Carolyn,

Probably the best way to order them is through amazon.com.

Tom


Rex Matthewsw

Interesting list, Tom, and one that largely matches my own sense of “most valuable” books in the area.  As someone who comes at this business from the framework of historical theology, I’d have to add Dick Heitzenrater’s *Wesley and the People Called Methodists* to my version of your list, and both personal friendship and institutional loyalty require me to mention Ted Runyon’s *The New Creation: John Wesley’s Theology Today.*


Thomas Jay Oord

Thanks to all for your comments!

Rex, I also thought about including Dick’s and Ted’s work.  Their books have been helpful to me. Thanks for adding them…

Tom


Steve Carlisle

Take a look at works by ASA MAHAN.  I think you will like them.  Standard reading at Asbury University


James Chin

Thank you Tom, for the list.


Andy Bennett

Tom, thanks for this. I still think that a list of the top ten of Wesley’s writings would be interesting! My dad had the Complete Works, occupying 2 or 3 shelves in his study. As a boy I would occasionally pull one out randomly and read a few paragraphs. I never got very far!


Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published.

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

Type in all 5 of the digits below to leave a comment. * Time limit is exhausted. Please reload CAPTCHA.