A Living Tradition: Critical Recovery and Reconstruction of Wesleyan Heritage (Kingswood Books) - Softcover

Moore, Mary Elizabeth

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1426777515 ISBN 13: 9781426777516

Publisher: Kingswood Books, 2013

Synopsis

This book engages in a critical recovery and reconstruction of the Wesleyan theological legacy in relation to current theological concepts and Christian practices with the intent to present opportunities for future directions. The contributors address urgent questions from the contexts in which people now live, particularly questions regarding social holiness and Christian practices. To that end, the authors focus on historical figures (John Wesley, Susanna Wesley, Harry Hoosier and Richard Allen); historical developments (such as the ways in which African Americans appropriated Methodism); and theological themes (such as holistic healing, work and vocation, and prophetic grace). The purpose is not to provide a comprehensive historical and theological coverage of the tradition, but to exemplify approaches to historical recovery and reconstruction that follow appropriately the mentorship of John Wesley and the living tradition that has emerged from his witness. Contributors: W. Stephen Gunter, Richard P. Heitzenrater, Diane Leclerc, William B. McClain, Randy L. Maddox, Rebekah L. Miles, Mary Elizabeth Mullino Moore, Amy G. Oden, and Elaine A. Robinson.

About this title

About the Authors

Mary Elizabeth Mullino Moore is Dean and Professor of Theology and Education, Boston University School of Theology.

Richard P. Heitzenrater is William Kellon Quick Professor Emeritus of Church History and Wesleyan Studies at Duke Divinity School in Durham, NC, and general editor emeritus of the Bicentennial Edition of The Works of John Wesley.

Elaine A Robinson is Academic Dean and Associate Professor of United Studies and Theology at Saint Paul School of Theology at Oklahoma City University (the second campus for Saint Paul).

Randy L. Maddox is William Kellon Quick Professor Emeritus of Wesleyan and Methodist Studies at Duke Divinity School in Durham, NC, and general editor of the Bicentennial Edition of The Works of John Wesley.

W. Stephen Gunter is President of Young Harris College - Young Harris, GA.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

A Living Tradition

Critical Recovery and Reconstruction of Wesleyan Heritage

By Mary Elizabeth, Mullino Moore

Abingdon Press

Copyright © 2013 Abingdon Press
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4267-7751-6

Contents

Contributors...............................................................
vii
Preface....................................................................
xi
Chapter 1: Engaging the Past—Engaging the Future Mary Elizabeth Mullino 
Moore......................................................................
1
Chapter 2: The Wesleyan Tradition and the Myths We Love Richard P. 
Heitzenrater...............................................................
13
Chapter 3: African American Methodists and United Methodism: A Peculiar 
Relationship or a Strange Affair? William B. McClain......................
45
Chapter 4: Susanna Annesley Wesley: A Woman of Spirit and Spirituality W. 
Stephen Gunter.............................................................
65
Chapter 5: Hospitality as a Living Wesleyan Tradition Amy G. Oden.........
85
Chapter 6: Reconsidering Sin: Women and the Unwitting Wisdom of John 
Wesley Diane Leclerc......................................................
103
Chapter 7: A Heritage Reclaimed: John Wesley on Holistic Health and 
Healing Randy L. Maddox...................................................
127
Chapter 8: Holy Heart, Holy Life, Holy Work: Work, Vocation, and Calling 
in the Wesleyan Tradition Rebekah L. Miles................................
155
Chapter 9: Recovering los Desaparecidos Elaine A. Robinson................
183
Chapter 10: Prophetic Grace: A Wesleyan Heritage of Repairing the World 
Mary Elizabeth Mullino Moore...............................................
203
Notes......................................................................
225

CHAPTER 1

Engaging the Past—Engagingthe Future

Mary Elizabeth Mullino Moore

The first four decades of the twenty-first century mark many anniversariesfor the Wesleyan movement, posing a critical question. Wheredoes the Wesleyan legacy point its inheritors today, especially as we nearthe end of the movement's third century? The quadricentennial of JohnWesley's birth in 1703 and Charles Wesley's in 1707 were significant, butthey did not mark the birth of a movement. In one sense, it was alreadyborn in its historical and cultural antecedents; in another sense, it was notborn in its unique Wesleyan way until many years later. John Wesley datedthe origins with the founding of the Holy Club in 1729, and another significantmarker is John Wesley's Aldersgate experience (to be celebratedagain in 2038). Anniversaries invite attention to the shared historical rootsand identity of people called Methodist. More profoundly, they invite closeexamination of the Wesleyan-Methodist legacy—its theological substanceand its historical trajectory. One aspect of that legacy—Wesleyan ways ofdoing theology—has been highlighted in recent years but never fully engagedby a community of scholars working together from diverse fieldsof expertise and diverse concerns for the future. The present volume givesopportunity to engage in critical recovery and reconstruction of the Wesleyantheological legacy in relation to theological concepts and Christian practices in thepresent world and with intention to point directions for the future.

The authors are a community of scholars who engage the Wesleyanlegacy with critical scholarship and urgent questions from the contexts inwhich people now live, particularly questions regarding social holinessand Christian practices. To that end, the authors focus on historical figures(John Wesley, Susanna Wesley, Harry Hoosier, and Richard Allen),historical developments (such as the ways in which African Americans appropriatedMethodism), and theological themes (such as holistic healing,work and vocation, and prophetic grace). The purpose is not to provide acomprehensive historical and theological coverage of the tradition, but toexemplify approaches to historical recovery and reconstruction that follow appropriatelythe mentorship of John Wesley and the living tradition that has emergedfrom his witness. What marks this volume as unique and urgent is its focuson recovery and re-visioning. It is not a straightforwardly historical studyof the Wesleys or of Methodism. It is, rather, a record and analysis of theliving quality of the Wesleyan tradition and the ways in which that traditionnow points to the future.

In this book, we consider the fruits and challenges of Wesleyan-Methodistscholarship as we near the close of the third century, pausingto reflect on where we are and where we are going. The goals of this firstchapter are (1) to explore the significance of critical retrieval and reconstructionfor theology, and (2) to identify promises and challenges in apraxeological approach to Wesleyan studies. As to the first, the volume isclearly historical and is continuous with recent scholarship in Methodisttheological studies, though with unique accents. As to the second, the explicitlypraxeological character of this book has been less fully developedin Methodist studies heretofore, though with some stunning examples ina similar genre. To extend this dimension of Wesleyan scholarship, theauthors focus attention on human action and the theological logic thereof.They draw critically upon John Wesley and other leaders of the past asmentors for theological activity (how we do theology); they engage withissues critical to people at the present moment of time; and they projectfutures for Wesleyan scholarship and Christian life. The book is thus historical,theological, contextual, and practical—an effort to embody JohnWesley's practical divinity.

Significance of Critical Retrievaland Reconstruction

The very process of passing on a heritage, or sharing the stories ofJohn and Charles Wesley and the "people called Methodist," is an act ofre-telling, re-interpreting, and re-shaping. The heritage is amplified andreshaped as people live within it, as larger cultural movements shape itand are shaped by it, and as scholars and adherents actively structureand restructure the historical memories. Inevitably, periods of intenseremembering raise questions about historical fact and neglected or distortedtraditions. The act of remembering also raises issues regarding theinterpretation, coherence, practices, and adequacy (or inadequacy) of atradition.

The process of remembering, with its attendant values of criticalretrieval and reconstruction, is shared by most (if not all) religious andcultural traditions of the human family. People rehearse the past for manyreasons, and the reasons have been studied through the lenses of diversedisciplines and religious traditions. The essays in this volume reveal passionsthat motivate and inform historical remembering in the broaderreligious literature and in Wesleyan studies. Five purposes for rememberingare particularly evident in recent work, and this book engages andextends these purposes in distinctive ways.

Define a Unique Tradition

One purpose for remembering is to define or develop the uniqueness ofa community's particular tradition in the encounter with other cultures. Thisdynamic is exemplified in the tradition-defining and tradition-formingprocesses among Jews after the conquests of Alexander the Great releasedpowerful currents of Hellenization in the eastern Mediterranean region.Similar efforts to define identity emerge throughout history, particularlyin chaotic cultural contexts. Anthropologists argue that communities oftenact reflexively to establish a definitive culture as an effort to counteract thefragmentation of cultures.

Such processes of self-definition can be seen as major accents in somechapters of this volume; the accent is present to some extent in every chapter.Consider Amy Oden's writing on hospitality in the Wesleyan tradition.Oden identifies the virtue and values of hospitality within the Wesleyantradition, continuing her studies of hospitality in early Christianity. In sodoing, she establishes a defining perspective on the heritage, which canthen be claimed and expanded by inheritors of that tradition. Given thepresent urgency for the human family to engage more adequately withimmigrant peoples on all continents, and to engage more respectfullywith strangers in a highly mobile world, Oden's recovery of hospitalityin Wesleyan traditions reveals a way to define the tradition in relationto its past and, simultaneously, in relation to challenges of the presentworld. This provides a way for Wesleyan peoples to identify themselvesas people of hospitality and to find clues for their present self-reflectionand public action.

Other authors in this volume have similarly stressed Wesleyan themesas central to Wesleyan identity today. Accents include the theme of evangelisticfervor and social inclusiveness in the chapter by William McClain;the theme of holy work and vocation in the chapter by Rebekah Miles;and the theme of prophetic grace in my chapter. One sees similar effortsin recent Wesleyan scholarship, in which authors seek to define the traditionwith historical thoroughness and conceptual coherence in relation toan identifying mark. One such work is Theodore Runyon's description ofWesley's theology in relation to creation and New Creation, a work thathas been amplified by others. Other efforts focus on love, as in AlbertOutler, Stephen Gunter, and the collection of Bryan Stone and ThomasOord. Still others emphasize the priority of attending to and valuing thelives of people living in poverty—an accent of Richard Heitzenrater, JoséMíguez Bonino, Joerg Rieger, John Vincent, Harold Recinos, and manyothers. These are all efforts to name distinctive, identity-forming emphasesin the Wesleyan traditions, informed by historical remembering.

Rediscover and Reclaim Religious Beliefs, Values, and Practices

A second purpose of historical remembering is to rediscover and reclaimreligious beliefs, values, and practices in a rapidly changing world. Thediscovery process can be seen in explorations of particular aspects of thepast or in the retrieval of historical resources for contemporary practice.It often takes the form of intellectual discovery or rediscovery, as in theretrieval and analysis of underplayed aspects of the sixteenth-centuryLutheran tradition. The discovery process also includes the study of newlyemerging forms of ancient traditions, as exemplified in a recent studyof Sufism in its encounters with global Muslim cultures. Further, the discoveryprocess is generating research and publications on the salutaryeffects of traditional religious practices, such as recent studies of Buddhistcompassion meditation in the treatment of depression and other neuro-endocrinologicalproblems. Finally, an increasingly popular form ofdiscovery is the expanding effort to provide popular, salutary access to religiousvalues and practices, whether from Buddhist, Celtic, Benedictine,or other traditions.

The effort to rediscover and reclaim is evident in this volume. RandyMaddox, for example, highlights Wesley's attention to physical healingas a distinctive accent for recovery. Maddox describes Wesley's approachas having theological integrity, biological wisdom, and ministerial importance.Drawing on Primitive Physick and other works, he argues that JohnWesley valued healing and health as a gift from God and viewed acts ofhealing as a compassionate response to human hurt. Further, Maddox uncoverssocial dimensions of poor health and healing in Wesley, like therole of poverty in obstructing healthy life practices and accessibility tohealthcare. Maddox argues that these Wesleyan accents need to be recoveredduring an era when healthcare needs are crying for more attention byChristian communities.

Other chapters in this volume similarly accent rediscovery andreclaiming of the Wesleyan tradition. Richard Heitzenrater urges a rediscoverythat is more accurate and more accountable to the historicalevidence, counteracting false tales and popular misconceptions. StephenGunter urges rediscovery of proto-feminist strains in the tradition, andRebekah Miles accents Wesley's penetrating perspectives on work and vocation.Miles makes a case that the Wesleyan tradition illumines the roleof work in human life and advocates holistic life patterns. She argues thatWesley's own work habits are a poor model, but "the larger pattern of hislife, particularly his reflections on work, vocation, and calling," provide amore nuanced model. Miles explicates this larger, more nuanced view andpoints to its implications for Christian practice today. Thus, she engages incritical rediscovery and robust reclaiming.

The goal of rediscovery has dominated the field of Wesleyan studiesin recent years. The efforts are not hagiographic, to be sure. They areattempts to recover a more accurate, critical, and illuminating pictureof John and Charles Wesley and the global Wesleyan movement, withits multiple institutional forms. The goal of rediscovery and reclaimingis found in such works as Richard Heitzenrater and Reginald Ward onJohn Wesley's diaries; Randy Maddox on Wesley's practical theology;Ted Jennings, José Míguez Bonino, Joerg Rieger, John Vincent, PamelaCouture, Douglas Meeks, and Heitzenrater on Wesley and the poor;Russell Richey, William Lawrence, Tom Frank, and Mary ElizabethMoore on ecclesiology and ministry; Grant Shockley, Bobby McClain, andWilliam Graveley on Methodism, slavery, and race; Melvin Dieter, DonaldDayton, and Kenneth Rowe on accents of holy living in the Wesleys andin Holiness traditions; Rosemary Skinner Keller, Paul Chilcote, and DianeLeclerc on women in Methodist traditions; Rob Weber, Elaine Robinson,Henry Knight, F. Douglas Powe, and John Sungschul Hong on Wesleyand evangelism; Manfred Marquardt and Ted Weber on Wesleyan ethicsand political order; and Greg Clapper, Paul Chilcote, and Sondra Matthaeion spiritual experience and formation in Wesleyan heritage. This list isa small sample; indeed, a large portion of recent Wesleyan scholarshipfocuses on rediscovery and reclaiming as a major purpose. Naming afew works reveals the breadth of recent research aimed toward reappropriatingWesleyan traditions.

Critique and Reconstruct Religious Beliefs, Values, and Practices

A complementary purpose of historical remembering is to critique andreconstruct religious beliefs, values, and practices. Many authors seek to doboth reclaiming and critique in relation to one another; however, manyworks emphasize one or the other. The purpose of critique and reconstructionis represented by classic liberation theology, beginning with the earlyworks of James Cone, Rosemary Radford Ruether, José Míguez Bonino,Delores Williams, Hyun Kyung Chung, and Mercy Amba Oduyoye, toname a few. This literature has expanded exponentially in the past fourdecades. Even with the growing emphasis on liberation and the radicaltransformation of traditions, however, the purposes of critique and reformhave played a lesser role in Wesleyan studies until more recently. The minimalattention to these purposes may be attributed to the demographicsof people engaged in Wesleyan studies or the lack of public awareness ofthe tradition as an influence in theology and public practice beyond theMethodist and Wesleyan churches. Perhaps, also, the Wesleyan rediscoveryand reclaiming work has not yet been fully done and is a necessaryprecursor to the more critical, reformative work. Whatever the reasons,this work is ripe for present attention and is well represented in thisvolume.

Most chapters in this volume have elements of critique and reform,but I will highlight two here. Bobby McClain raises a critical question tothe tradition as he rehearses the history of African American peoples inMethodist communions in the United States. He asks what was the originalappeal and why have so many African Americans stayed in a traditionthat was oppressive to them, and especially why have so many stayed inwhat is now The United Methodist Church. McClain argues that the evangelisticfervor and anti-slavery stance of early Methodists in the UnitedStates drew many African Americans, slaves and free. Since that time,the road has been filled with overwhelming challenges, but the persistentpresence and witness of African Americans is itself a powerful legacy, asare the critiques they have raised. Their legacy points to the urgency ofinclusiveness in the contemporary church.

Diane Leclerc has similarly seen in the Methodist tradition threadsto celebrate and threads to critique and reform. She finds Wesley's theologyof sin, and his interactions with women, to be more complex thanmost interpreters have recognized. Close investigation reveals a persistentand lingering misogyny. Leclerc chooses to adopt the stance of "strategicessentialism" to critique Wesley's misogynistic view of women's sin as"inordinate affection." She finds Wesley's view of sin to be more nuancedthan often recognized, but inadequate to address the fullness of women'sand men's lives. Thus, she concludes with an argument that feminist theologyis still needed to probe, critique, and reform Wesleyan hamartiology.

These two essays are joined in this volume by chapters by ElaineRobinson on los desaparecidos ("the disappeared") in Latin America andMary Elizabeth Moore on prophetic grace. Together with the larger criticaland liberatory literature in theology, these several chapters represent anewly emerging movement in Wesleyan studies. While such efforts havenot been dominant heretofore, they have not been absent. One exampleof such effort is the collection by Joerg Rieger and John J. Vincent, entitledMethodist and Radical: Rejuvenating a Tradition. The authors represented inthat book are themselves people who have written many other essays andbooks that point to radicality in the Methodist movement and failures inthe theologies and practices of the movement to live fully into its own propheticheritage. Further, some of the liberation theologians who addresstheology more generally, such as James Cone, José Míguez Bonino, andMercy Amba Oduyoye, are themselves part of the Methodist family. Thepurpose of critique and reconstruction is part of the tradition itself and,

(Continues...)

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Edition details

• Publisher: Kingswood Books
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1426777515
• ISBN 13: 9781426777516
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 292