Embracing the Past—Forging the Future: A New Generation of Wesleyan Theology

Abstract

This slim volume containing nine essays by junior and senior Wesleyan scholars teaching in the United States (or, in one case, the Philippines) stems from the contributors' shared conviction that the Wesleyan theological tradition has the potential to provide a distinctive contribution to the practice of Christian theology in the twenty-first century. It is their bold claim that the renewal of classical Wesleyan theology with its characteristic theological method offers a fresh approach to articulating core Christian truths in the context of a postmodern, post-colonial, and post-Christian intellectual landscape.Of course, the contributors are aware that the (modernist) theology of John Wesley and his nineteenth-century interpreters in the Wesleyan theological tradition will not provide ready answers to present-day questions. Significant changes in the intellectual (especially epistemological), historical, and socio-cultural landscape over the past 250 years inevitably affect contemporary theological methods, sources, and norms. In fact, these Wesleyan scholars acknowledge ‘that Wesleyan theology has yet to fully adapt to this changing landscape, and that the future of Wesleyan theology requires the bringing together of old and new voices’ (xi). Among the ‘old’ voices deserving to be heard is that of Albert Outler, pioneer of modern Wesleyan studies in the twentieth century, who coined the (often misunderstood) term ‘Wesleyan quadrilateral’ to describe John Wesley's theological method of interpreting scripture in the light of tradition, reason, and Christian experience. Among the ‘new’ voices are those of contemporary biblical and patristic scholars, as well as the growing number engaged in Wesleyan and Methodist studies.In blending old and new voices, the renewal of any theological tradition involves continuity and change, though its resulting shape will look different depending on where the emphasis is placed. Bechtold's introductory essay on ‘Wesleyan Theology beyond the Wesleys: A “Post-modern” Proposal’ places the emphasis firmly on radical change to take account of today's pluralistic context.Just as Wesleyan theology should not be confused with John Wesley's theology (any more than Calvinism should be confused with John Calvin's theology), Ben Boeckel's essay illustrates how ‘The Hermeneutics of Wesley and “Wesleyan Hermeneutics”’ are also different entities because the epistemological and theological suppositions of Christian discourse in the twenty-first century are very different to those that gave rise to the eighteenth-century ideal of Enlightenment rationalism. According to Boeckel, embracing a postmodern Wesleyan theological method does not mean having to accept the inevitability of relativism in a pluralistic context, though it does entail recognition of the communal embodiedness of theological truth.An unanswered question arises from these essays. Given that radical change may lead to discontinuity, in what sense is it possible to speak of the renewal of Wesleyan theology? In particular, what does it mean to continue labelling a theological tradition ‘Wesleyan’ when its ‘renewal’ involves a radical reinterpretation of its classical methods, sources, and norms? For Bechtold, this is its virtue: ‘The beauty of “post-modern” Wesleyanism is that it does not really exist in any meaningful way. It is an idea, a goal, perhaps a practice’ (26).Potential readers should be aware that this volume is a study in theological methodology rather than an introduction to aspects of the Wesleyan theological tradition. As such, it requires some familiarity with the issues under consideration. Though disparate, the essays make for engaging reading, even if the reader does not wholly accept their argument or conclusions. The intended readership comprises ‘Wesleyan-Holiness theologians, students of Wesleyan, Holiness, Methodist, Pietist, and Pentecostal theology, as well as pastors and interested lay persons from across Evangelical Christianity’ (xi). Each essay contains footnote references and concludes with a useful bibliography for further reading.The project to publish a critical edition of the complete works of John Wesley continues apace, making available to a new generation of students the primary sources for a fresh evaluation of his theology and its subsequent development into a Wesleyan theological tradition. This collection of essays reinforces a growing awareness that John Wesley was not merely a ‘folk theologian’ or theological educator for early Methodism but a theologian of considerable stature and enduring importance. That his approach was unsystematic makes his theology less interesting to academic scholars; however, by adopting a soteriological perspective, Wesley was an immensely practical theologian for the Christian community at a particularly energetic and creative juncture in the changing religious and intellectual landscape in the West. If the continuing renaissance of interest in Wesley and Methodist studies extends to the renewal of Wesleyan theology, this volume of essays will have served a useful introductory purpose.