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Perfecting Perfection

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Essays honouring the work of British historian of Methodism Henry D. Rack, offering a varied and erudite introduction to the field of Methodist Studies.Henry D. Rack is one of the most profound his...
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  • 28 July 2016
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Essays honouring the work of British historian of Methodism Henry D. Rack, offering a varied and erudite introduction to the field of Methodist Studies.

Henry D. Rack is one of the most profound historians of the Methodist movement in modern times. He has spent a lifetime researching and writing about the rise and significance of John Wesley and his Methodist followers in the eighteenth century and has also uncovered the historical significance of the Methodist Church in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Collected in Perfecting Perfection are thirteen essays honouring the life and scholarship of Dr. Rack from a host of international scholars in the field. The topics range from Wesley's view of grace in the eighteenth century to the dynamic intersection of the Methodist and Tractarian movements in the nineteenth century. Ultimately, the collection of essays offered here in honour of Dr. Rack will be engaging and provocative to those considering Methodist Studies in the present and future generations.
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Price: $36.95
Pages: 312
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Inc.
Imprint: James Clarke
Publication Date: 28 July 2016
Trim Size: 9.02 X 6.02 in
ISBN: 9780227175880
Format: Paperback
BISACs: RELIGION / History, History of religion
REVIEWS Icon
This is an outstanding collection of essays that is indispensable reading for all students of Methodism and the Wesleyan tradition. Many of the essays break new ground for future research; all of them are a pleasure to ponder.
— William J. Abraham, Outler Professor of Wesley Studies, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University

It is so fitting that the leading British Methodist historian, Henry Rack, is being honoured in this eminently readable volume that includes contributions from such key American voices as Heitzenrater, Campbell, Wigger, and Watson. Broad in scope, and yet remarkably balanced in its overall composition, this collection of essays makes a splendid and engaging contribution to the field.
— Kenneth J. Collins, Professor of Historical Theology and Wesley Studies, Asbury Theological Seminary

Although this book's style is academic, there is, nevertheless, much Gospel warmth within these pages, especially in the references to hearts on fire and deeply rooted in the life of God. Leaving aside the doctrinal controversies that surrounded Wesley, of his abiding love for the Lord and the lost there can be no doubt - including his recognition that a yearning for holiness should be at the heart of every believer. I was glad to have had the opportunity to review this book.
— Peter Murcott

Unlike some Festschriften this is a valuable (and reasonably priced) collection which is considerably more than the sum of its parts, and a suitable tribute to an outstanding scholar.
— G.M. Ditchfield
Abbreviations
Contributors
Introduction - Robert Webster

1 From Arminius (d. 1609) to the Synod of Dort (1618-1619) - W. Stephen Gunter
2 Robert Barnes and John Wesley's Reformation Heritage - David Lowes Watson
3 The Exercise of the Presence of God: Holy Conferencing as a Means of Grace - Richard P. Heitzenrater
4 Perfecting Plain Truth for Plain People: John Wesley's Sermons - Patrick Streiff
5 Mission Spirituality in the Early Methodist Preachers - Philip R. Meadows
6 Medicine on Demand: John Wesley's Enlightened Treatment of the Sick - Deborah Madden
7 Wesley's Invisible World: Witchcraft and the Temperature of Preternatural Belief - Owen Davies
8 John Wesley and Francis Asbury - John Wigger
9 Echoes of Wesley on the US Southwestern Frontier: The Autobiography of William Stevenson - Ted A. Campbell
10 'Did God Do That?': Common and Separating Factors of Eighteenth-Century Methodism and Contemporary Pentecostal and Charismatic Renewal - Robert Webster
11 The Oxford Movement and Evangelicalism: Parallels and Contrasts in Two Nineteenth-Century Movements of Religious Revival - Peter B. Nockles
12 From The Soul of Dominic Wildthorne to the Wesleyan Guild of Divine Service: Some Methodist Responses to Anglo-Catholicism in Victorian and Edwardian England - Martin Wellings
13 Bibliography of the Principal Published Writings of Henry Denman Rack - Clive D. Field

Index