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Holiness : An International Journal of Wesleyan Theology
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This is an Open Access Journal

Open Access journal
ISSN (Online) 2058-5969
Published by Sciendo

[389 journals]

Book Reviews
- PubDate: Wed, 26 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMT
Perfect Love Restored: The Language of Renewal in the Hymns of Charles
Wesley
- Abstract: This distinctive theological perspective of Charles Wesley (compared with that of his brother, John) is found in his many collections of hymns. In these hymns, words such as ‘renewal‘, ‘restoration,’ and ‘recovery’ are pivotal in describing the effect that God’s work in Christ has on the life of humanity. This language is reinforced by the multiple images (most of them biblical) that Charles Wesley employs in his poetry. The result is an emphasis on salvation as the restoration of God’s perfect kingdom of love, peace, compassion, and justice.
  PubDate: Wed, 26 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMT
Arriving at Emmaus: Reflections on Finding Jesus in the Unexpected
- Abstract: This piece considers the Emmaus Road encounter with Jesus, the arrival at Emmaus and Jesus’ sudden, unexpected disappearance from their midst. I consider various mysteries surrounding the gospels’ presentation of Jesus and his words and actions. I also consider the implications of the recognition of Jesus in the breaking of bread and how Christians today often experience similar brief glimpses of Jesus illuminating our path, then leaving us, encouraging us to make our own free decisions in trust over our future discipleship.
  PubDate: Wed, 26 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMT
Editorial
- PubDate: Wed, 26 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMT
Holiness and Unity
- Abstract: Drawing on the International Methodist – Catholic report on The Call to Holiness, this article identifies holiness as both a divine attribute and as a Christian imperative, inextricably linked with the unity of Christians and of humanity. For humanity to be in the image and likeness of this holy God implies a participation in God’s holiness. Because human life is inescapably social, it implies that this holiness must be expressed in social interaction. For the life of the Christian Church to reflect the holiness of God requires a commitment to unity and actions that echo that commitment. This paper traces the biblical basis of the Judaeo-Christian belief in the holiness of God. It goes on to examine the obstacles and opportunities for Christian unity, particularly between the churches of the Wesleyan tradition and the Church of Rome.
  PubDate: Wed, 26 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMT
Whiteness, Patronage and Bourgeois Respectability in the Methodist Church:
The Fernley-Hartley Lecture, 2021
- Abstract: This article is the fuller version of the 2021 ‘Feanley Hartley Lecture’ that was given on 17 May. This paper is drawn from more current research and a reappraisal of my earliest post-doctoral scholarship, dating back twenty years, in order to assess the theological challenge of systemic racism and the socio-cultural, economic and political challenge of ‘Whiteness’. Utilising the scholarship of Willie James Jennings’ After Whiteness and my 2003 book Nobodies to Somebodies, I seek to reflect on the extent to which the contemporary and historic phenomenon that is the Methodist Church of Great Britain has been enshrined in and defined by ‘Whiteness’.
  PubDate: Wed, 26 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMT
Parallel Lives
- Abstract: A comparative study of William Wadé Harris, 1865–1929, and Apolo Kivebulaya, 1865–1932. The Liberian Harris’s short evangelistic tour of the Ivory Coast and western Gold Coast, 1913–1915, laid the foundations of contemporary Methodism, Catholicism, and the independent Harrist Church in Côte d’Ivoire and Church of the Twelve Apostles and others in Ghana. The Ugandan Anglican priest Kivebulaya ministered in the kingdom of Toro in western Uganda, 1895–1915, and in northeast Congo, 1915–1933, and is acclaimed as the founder of the Anglican Church in the Congo.
  PubDate: Wed, 26 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMT
Changing Religious Affiliations: Factors Affecting Denominational Changes
In Nyambene Synod, Kenya
- Abstract: This paper explores the interaction between the Methodist Church in Kenya (MCK) and the neo-Pentecostal churches in the Nyambene Synod, Kenya, together with the influence of this interaction on the religious landscape. It examines changes in denominational affiliations affecting the Methodist Church, where a substantial number of (particularly young) members have moved to Pentecostal churches and movements in the region. This identifies factors affecting religious affiliation in the Nyambene Synod and the impact that changing affiliation has on the Methodist Church. Through qualitative empirical research, the study identifies three main factors that increasingly influence movements of Christians between churches: the contemporary consumer culture that emphasises personal choice, the understanding of ecclesial identity, and the relevance of the church to contemporary (Kenyan) society. The research challenges the MCK to reassess its offer within the contemporary religious marketplace, not by imitating Pentecostal churches, but by rediscovering its Wesleyan social holiness heritage.
  PubDate: Wed, 26 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMT
The changing face of British Methodism between 1997 and 2008: A study in
empirical theology
- Abstract: This study compares the findings of two population surveys of Methodist ministers (presbyters) serving in Great Britain in 1997 and 2008. The findings identified nine areas of change: the quality of Methodist worship is improving; Methodist worship is becoming less traditional and less distinctively Wesleyan; communion is becoming less prioritised; ministers are learning to implement a better work-life balance; the work-related psychological wellbeing of minsters is improving; there is an increase in conservative religious beliefs; expectations on the practices and values of members is being relaxed; homosexual practice is becoming more acceptable; and welcome for Methodist-Anglican unity is receding.
  PubDate: Wed, 26 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMT
Book Reviews
- PubDate: Fri, 04 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMT
Reflections on Morna Hooker at 90
- Abstract: On 14 May 2021, the Cambridge New Testament Research Seminar was dedicated to a celebration of the life and work of Professor Morna Hooker on the occasion of her ninetieth birthday. What follows is the text of three contributions to that seminar, from James Carleton Paget, John Barclay, and Morna Hooker herself. Taken together, they provide an insight into the development of an outstanding biblical scholar, and the development of that discipline during her long and distinguished career. The papers are presented here in the same format as they were given at the seminar, with only minor corrections. It was decided not to add footnotes and bibliographies, but readers who wish to follow up references to Morna Hooker’s books and articles will find them readily available.
  PubDate: Fri, 04 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMT
Disposal: What Do We Do With A Dead Body'
- Abstract: This article looks at the different ways in which dead human bodies are disposed of in modern society, particularly in Britain, and examines the social, theological, liturgical, and practical issues they raise for the Christian Church. It argues that the churches have failed to reflect theologically on cremation. In particular, it argues that ashes remain part of the body and should be treated with equal respect; the ashes of a Christian should be buried. Finally, it looks at the effect of the COVID pandemic on funeral practices.
  PubDate: Fri, 04 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMT
Discernment or Direction: Dancing with the Spirit as we step out in
Mission The Fernley-Hartley Lecture, 2019
- Abstract: This article draws from the developments in pneumatology, especially in respect to how the Spirit calls God’s people into mission and missional endeavour, in order to offer a critical insight into how the Fresh Expressions movement continues to equip the church to live faithfully. To do this, the article utilises research from ecumenical partners in mission in the UK, before arguing that Fresh Expressions (as an organisation as well as a set of principles and practices), has inherited much from the work of the Holy Spirit, but had not gone far enough to draw further conclusions or to self-resource itself from a strong pneumato-missional perspective.
  PubDate: Fri, 04 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMT
Editorial
- PubDate: Fri, 04 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMT
Reconceiving the Theology of Procreation in Response to Stigmatisation of
Childlessness
- Abstract: This article, based on the author’s doctoral research, offers a theological response to the traditional attitudes towards childlessness within the Bakossi community of South West Cameroon. Research reveals a prevalent negative attitude towards those—both men and women—who do not have children. This stigmatization is often reinforced within Christian communities by a reading of scripture that interprets the command to ‘be fruitful and multiply’ as referring exclusively to biological reproduction. In contrast to this, an African cultural feminist hermeneutic can be used to argue for a more holistic interpretation of scripture, one that draws out God’s concern for family, community and creation.
  PubDate: Fri, 04 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMT
‘Finish Then Thy New Creation’: God's Promise to Inherit the
World
- Abstract: In Romans 4:13, Paul characterizes God's promise to Abraham as the inheritance of the world. This promise, Paul argues, extends to Abraham's descendants, not according to the flesh, but to all who believe in the one who raised Jesus from the dead (Rom 4:25). What does it mean for believers to be heirs of God's promise to ‘inherit the world’' This article considers God's promise in light of the apostle's confidence in the reconciliation of the whole world and the renewal of creation, and also in the context of the hymns and sermons of Charles and John Wesley. The promise to inherit the world indicates that God has not abandoned God's creation, but is actively engaged in redeeming it. This article was originally presented as a paper at the 2018 Oxford Institute of Methodist Theological Studies.
  PubDate: Tue, 16 Jun 2020 00:00:00 GMT
Social Holiness and Social Justice
- Abstract: This article explores the connection between social holiness and social justice. It accepts the view of Andrew C Thompson that ‘social holiness’ in Methodist history has a distinctive meaning which was not linked to, and quite different from, the notion of social justice. However, it argues that encountering grace was not restricted to the gathering of Christians in Wesley's theology or practice and that missional engagement opens another channel or means of grace. Acts of mercy are themselves expressions of and encounters with holiness, so that holiness will lead us to justice and justice to holiness. Social holiness and social justice are, thus, part of a divine ecology where one follows the other in the rhythm of discipleship.
  PubDate: Tue, 16 Jun 2020 00:00:00 GMT
Social Holiness and Social Justice
- Abstract: This article explores the connection between social holiness and social justice. It accepts the view of Andrew C Thompson that ‘social holiness’ in Methodist history has a distinctive meaning which was not linked to, and quite different from, the notion of social justice. However, it argues that encountering grace was not restricted to the gathering of Christians in Wesley's theology or practice and that missional engagement opens another channel or means of grace. Acts of mercy are themselves expressions of and encounters with holiness, so that holiness will lead us to justice and justice to holiness. Social holiness and social justice are, thus, part of a divine ecology where one follows the other in the rhythm of discipleship.
  PubDate: Tue, 16 Jun 2020 00:00:00 GMT
John Wesley and Methodist Responses to Slavery in America
- Abstract: John Wesley considered the slave trade to be a national disgrace. However, while the American Methodist Church had initially made bold declarations concerning the evils of slavery, the practical application of this principled opposition was seriously compromised, obstructed by the leviathan of the plantation economy prominent in this period of American history. This paper surveys a variety of Methodist responses to slavery and race, exploring the dialectical germination of ideas like holiness, liberty and equality within the realities of the Antebellum context.
  PubDate: Tue, 16 Jun 2020 00:00:00 GMT
John Wesley and Methodist Responses to Slavery in America
- Abstract: John Wesley considered the slave trade to be a national disgrace. However, while the American Methodist Church had initially made bold declarations concerning the evils of slavery, the practical application of this principled opposition was seriously compromised, obstructed by the leviathan of the plantation economy prominent in this period of American history. This paper surveys a variety of Methodist responses to slavery and race, exploring the dialectical germination of ideas like holiness, liberty and equality within the realities of the Antebellum context.
  PubDate: Tue, 16 Jun 2020 00:00:00 GMT
Mission-shaped Methodism and Fresh Expressions
- Abstract: The Mission-Shaped Church report by the Church of England prompted the Methodist Church and the Church of England in the UK to respond to the dislocation being felt between the inherited model of church and the missiological challenges of the twenty-first century. The most significant ecumenical development arising from the report was the formation of the Fresh Expressions initiative, whose sole task was to release leaders and communities to found churches for the ‘unchurched’.Examples of Anglican fresh expressions are much researched, but Methodist contributions less so. This essay argues that Methodist people, as people of a holiness movement of mission and ministry, have much to offer to the current ecclesial debate. There is a need for fresh expressions to be denominationally distinctive before they can be distilled into something new.
  PubDate: Sun, 05 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT
Mission in Britain today: some modest reflections and proposals
- Abstract: While ‘Mission in Britain today’ includes many aspects, this article focuses on the witness of the Church within Britain’s contemporary highly secularized culture. Rather than ‘technical change’, the Church is called to work at ‘adaptive change’, and so to concentrate less on strategies and more on internal renewal. Such adaptive change involves freeing people’s imagination from simplistic and abusive images of God, offering a positive image of God that is inspiring and truly challenging, recognizing the kenotic nature of the Church, and realizing that mission is carried out in a world of grace where God is already present and working
  PubDate: Sun, 05 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT