T&T Clark Companion to Methodism

Abstract

Methodism and Wesleyan studies have been well served in recent years with reference handbooks gathering together articles on many aspects of doctrine, praxis, and history. The paperback edition of the T&T Clark Companion, first published in hardback in 2010, joins a field which includes The Oxford Handbook of Methodist Studies and The Ashgate Research Companion to World Methodism, and makes a valuable contribution at an affordable price.As is the case with the excellent Oxford and Ashgate books, the T&T Companion provides useful articles on many aspects of Methodism. The movement is placed in historical perspective with studies of the two Wesley brothers and pieces on the spread of Methodism in the United Kingdom, the United States, and throughout the world, with particularly helpful coverage of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Methodist doctrine and praxis are addressed with contributions on topics such as evangelism, worship, spirituality, and social ethics among others. As well as providing solid coverage of these familiar areas, the T&T Clark Companion has a number of features which are of especial value.Ted A. Campbell, Professor of Church History at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, contributes an extremely helpful article on the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. His analysis of the relationship between scripture, tradition, and experience—‘interlocking expressions of divine authority—with the ancillary and instrumental’ role of reason, and his historical study of the development of the quadrilateral makes welcome reading at a time when the confused and ahistorical misreading of the four elements as sources of equal theological authority seems to be gaining ground in British Methodism.In a companion piece to his article ‘Material and Cultural Aspects of Methodism: Architecture, Artefacts and Art’ in the Ashgate volume, Peter Forsaith, Research Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Methodism and Church History, explores in more depth the depiction of Methodism in paintings and pictures, offering a survey of Methodist-related art over the time span of the tradition and insights into the cultural context of the movement. A section on Methodist artists with its exploration of the relationship between their faith and art suggests an area ripe for further study!Anyone undertaking such study, and indeed any of the rest of us engaged in the historical research of Methodism, will welcome the article by Gareth Lloyd, Archivist at the John Rylands University Library, Manchester, surveying British and American Methodist archive repositories. Covering connexional archives, local church records, and university holdings, Lloyd's review is a valuable reminder of how much material is available to researchers of Methodism and how much there is still to discover therein.All of the above features make a case enough for the usefulness of the T&T Clark Companion for serious academic students of Methodism, but in addition, the rear section of the volume contains an A-Z of historical and theological topics in pithy but informative articles which are well referenced with essential further reading; this section widens the scope of the book to include any minister, preacher, or church member who would find a ready-to-hand reference book to Methodism useful.T&T Clark are to be commended for making the Companion to Methodism available in paperback form. More affordable than the hardback-only Ashgate volume and less bulky than the Oxford Handbook, it will take its place alongside those on many Methodist academics' shelves, but will also hopefully find a broader welcome from any Methodist or Wesleyan Christian wanting to know more about their tradition of faith.