Dr Herbert McGonigle, Chairman of the Wesley Fellowship, reviews some of the Fellowship’s Publications.

Since it’s beginning in 1985, the Wesley Fellowship has been very active in promoting the serious study of Wesleyan history, theology and experience. John and Charles Wesley were prodigious publishers of Christian literature in their times. With their own original writings and their many extracted and edited works, they published more than four hundred separate titles. These were made up of sermons, letters, hymns, journals, Biblical commentaries, theological treatises, and, in particular, the 50-volume set of the Christian Library. The Wesley Fellowship cannot yet compare its published outflow with that of the Wesley brothers but it has been disseminating Newsletters, Occasional Papers and more substantial works for the past eighteen years. What follows is a brief description, in approximate date order of publication, of most of the Fellowship’s more important publications.

Paul Taylor & Howard Mellor (Editors), Travelling Man: A Tribute to the Life and Ministry of the Reverend Dr Arthur Skevington Wood. Moorley’s Print & Publishing, Ilkeston, 1994. ISBN 1 898362 05 X. p/b. pp.126. £1.00.

Dr Skevington Wood (1917- 1993) was a Methodist minister, preacher and scholar. For seven years he was Principal of Cliff College in Derbyshire and he was the Wesley Fellowship’s first President. This is the only substantial account of his life, work and scholarship that has been published to date. The work is well done and it introduces us to one of the most significant evangelical voices in British Methodism in the second half of the 20th century. As well as the interesting and very readable account of Dr Wood’s life and ministry, the book also contains two of his important theological writings. The first is his fine analysis of Martin Luther’s hermeneutics, ‘Luther’s Principles of Biblical Interpretation.’ The second is his, ‘Love Excluding Sin: John Wesley’s Teaching on Sanctification.’ The latter paper was the Wesley Fellowship’s first publication and a fine example of Dr Wood’s Biblical and theological scholarship. Running to some ten thousand words, and with one hundred and thirty-one references to John Wesley’s writings and important secondary authorities, ‘Love Excluding Sin’ is, quite simply, the best and most convincing short exposition of Wesley’s ‘grand depositum’ that has been written. At the very special low price of just £1, this biography of Dr Skevington Wood is a remarkable bargain.

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John Lawson, The Conversion of the Wesleys: 1738 Reconsidered. Moorley’s Print & Publishing, Ilkeston, 1987, pp.37. £2.50.

A former President of the Wesley Fellowship, John Lawson (1909-2003) was a life-long student of the writings of John and Charles Wesley and this brief discussion of what happened to the Wesley brothers in 1738 is a fine example of his internationally recognised scholarship. Much has been published on the evangelical ‘heart-warmings’ experienced by Charles Wesley on May 21st 1738 and by his brother John on May 24th. In what sense can their experiences be labelled ‘conversions’ or would it be more accurate to describe their spiritual discoveries during that 1738 Pentecost season as new certainties of the witness of the Spirit? Mr Lawson examines the evidence very carefully and in the process looks at how the events of 1738 influenced the Wesleys’ subsequent teaching on Christian experience in general and Christian holiness in particular.

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Herbert McGonigle, The Arminianism of John Wesley. Moorley’s Print & Publishing, Ilkeston, 1988. pp.36. £2.50.

Church historians, biographers and theologians in the last two centuries have labelled John Wesley an ‘Arminian’ in his doctrine. In 1778 Wesley launched a monthly magazine entitled the Arminian Magazine, with its emphatic emphasis on Christ’s atonement for the sins of all mankind and the possibility of salvation for all. This study summaries the rise of 16th century Dutch Arminianism and its spread to England in the next century. John Wesley is shown to have imbibed Arminian teaching from his parents, Samuel and Susanna Wesley and he went on to make it the vehicle of his impassioned evangelism for half a century. He removed from it the various humanistic accretions it had acquired in the seventeen century and transformed it into what might accurately be called ‘Wesleyan Arminianism.’ This evaluation of John Wesley’s doctrines gives special attention to his many anti-Calvinist publications. This small book has sold more copies worldwide than almost any other Wesley Fellowship sponsored publication.

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William M Greathouse, John Wesley’s Theology of Christian Perfection. Moorley’s, Print & Publishing, Ilkeston, 1989. pp.24. £2.00.

In this short study Dr William Greathouse, a former General Superintendent of the Church of the Nazarene, argues very convincingly that the height and depth of John Wesley’s often-controverted doctrine of Christian perfection is the love of God and neighbour in the heart of the Christian believer. He demonstrates that the Greek term teleios, translated ‘perfect’ in the King James New Testament, carries the meanings of ‘full-grown,’ ‘mature,’ or ‘adult.’ When employed to describe Christian sanctification it means ‘heart purity or singleness of intention; it is blamelessness before God, wholeness or completeness of devotion to him’ (p.6). With sixty-one references, mostly to John Wesley's writings, this is a very valuable contribution toward understanding what Wesley called Methodism’s ‘grand depositum.’

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Oliver A Beckerlegge, Charles Wesley: Poet. Moorley’s Print & Publishing, Ilkeston, 1990. pp.29. £1.00.

The late Dr Beckerlegge (1913-2003) was an acknowledged expert in the hymnody of Charles Wesley and this is a study of Charles as a poet. The author is not attempting to examine the theology or the infinite number of scriptural allusions in Charles’ verses or the wide range of Christian experiences he deals with but concentrates on his gifts as a great poet. He points out that Charles Wesley’s 9000 poems (a generic term for all his poetical writings) makes him the most prolific poet in the English language. With many appropriate illustrations from the hymns, he discusses metre and rhyme in Charles’ verse. The second half of this fine analysis deals with the sources of Charles’ verses, his vocabulary, his literary allusions and his rhetoric. What a little treasure house is here of Charles Wesley’s poetry – and all for the special price of £1!

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Sydney Martin, John Wesley and The Witness of the Spirit. Moorley’s Print & Publishing, Ilkeston, 1990. pp.37. £2.50.

As well as the doctrine of Christian holiness, John Wesley’s emphasis on the witness of he Spirit was a distinctive part of his evangel. He was convinced that it is the privilege of every believer to know the Holy Spirit giving witness in his heart that he is born of God. This was his understanding of Romans 8:16, ‘The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.’ In Dr Martin’s carefully researched paper, this doctrine is outlined in the earlier centuries of the Church. John Wesley’s own spiritual experiences is analysed with reference to assurance and then Dr Martin proceeds to show how Wesley made this doctrine an essential part of what he often called ‘the great salvation.’ This study examines what John Wesley taught about the direct witness of the Spirit, the indirect witness, degrees of assurance and how the Spirit bears witness to both justification by faith and sanctification by faith. With its 133 references to Wesley’s writings and important secondary sources, this is a fine study of a doctrine that is not only biblically defensible but is equally pastorally relevant.

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Barry Bryant, John Wesley on the Origins of Evil. Moorley’s Print & Publishing, Ilkeston. 1992. pp.26. £1.00.

From as early as his Oxford days, John Wesley was deeply interested in the origin of moral evil. He discussed this problem in letters to his father, Samuel Wesley, in 1730. In addition, later, in 1757, he wrote his single longest theological treatise on this subject. Dr Bryant examines Wesley’s interest in man’s free will and how evil entered the good world that God had made. With some very important quotations from Wesley’ sermons, Dr Bryant argues that Wesley saw evil as the direct consequence of man’s abuse of his God-given liberty. God did not decree the inevitable fall of Adam but He did create him capable of making moral choices. Human sinfulness is not located in the physical body but has its origins in our rebellion against the will of God. This is a subject of profound importance for Christian theology and this Paper is a good summary of John Wesley’s teaching on it.

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Edward Houghton, Handmaid of Piety and other papers on Charles Wesley’s Hymns. Quacks Books, York, in Association with the Wesley Fellowship. 1992. pp.125. £4.50.

This is a study of Charles Wesley’s hymns and it is both a delightful read and very, very informative. It is delightful for almost every page has quotations from Charles’ prodigious output of hymns and the late Mr Houghton knows them well. Here are extracts from Charles’ best know hymns, including ‘Arise, my soul, arise,’ ‘Spirit of faith come down,’ ‘O love divine, what hast thou done?’ - and many more. But there are also citations from many of Charles’ lesser-known hymns and our delight in his poetic genius is thereby deepened. In addition, this book is so very informative. Here are some of the chapter titles: ‘What we have felt’, ‘Lo! He comes’, ‘In all the Scriptures’, ‘Wrestling Jacob’, and ‘To serve the present age’. One particularly engaging chapter is: ‘With Wesley through the Church’s year’. The late Dr Skevington Wood wrote that this book illustrated Mr Houghton’s ‘effervescent enthusiasm for his subject’ - and this is clear on every page. In a study of just 125 pages, this can be fairly described as the best short introduction and guide to Charles Wesley’s hymns that has been published to date.

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Arthur Skevington Wood, Revelation and Reason: Wesleyan Responses to Eighteenth-Century Rationalism. The Wesley Fellowship, Bulkington, Nuneaton, 1992. ISBN 0951633228. pp.103. £1.50.

This book is the published form of the series of Didsbury Lectures given by A. Skevington Wood in 1987, a series that began at the Nazarene Theological College in Manchester in 1979 and has attracted Biblical scholars, theologians and Church historians of international reputation. Dr Wood carefully researches a part of early Methodist apologetic theology that has not received very much attention. John Wesley made a trenchant reply to the writings of the most eminent Socinian of his day, Dr John Taylor. The term ‘Socinian’ refers to what is now called ‘Unitarian’, the teaching that denies the deity of Christ, and goes on to deny the personality of the Holy Spirit and His work in regeneration. Wesley’s 1757 reply to Taylor, entitled The Doctrine of Original Sin according to Scripture, Reason and Experience, was the longest treatise he ever wrote. Dr Wood carefully discusses the origins of this debate and outlines Wesley’s long reply. In the second half of the book he deals with how two other early Methodists, John Fletcher and Joseph Benson, supported Wesley by writing against the teachings of other later exponents of Unitarianism, notably Dr Joseph Priestly. With its 322 references, this is a fine example of Dr Skevington Wood’s biblical and historical scholarship. At £1.50 to call this notable treatise a bargain is a gross understatement!

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Charles Goodwin, Cries of Anguish – Shouts of Praise: The Development of Wesleyan Revivalism 1739-1818. Originally published by the author, a Wesley Fellowship member, as Merlin Methodist Monograph, No 2, at Cannock, Staffordshire, 1994; Republished, with permission, by the Wesley Fellowship, Ilkeston, 1999. pp.62. £3.50.

This fascinating study of revivalism in early Methodism begins in 1739. In that year John Wesley read Jonathan Edwards’ account of the revival then in progress in New England in America and commented, ‘This is the Lord’s doing and it is marvellous in our eyes.’ Very soon afterwards there were similar signs of the Spirit at work through the preaching of John and Charles Wesley. Dr Goodwin argues convincingly that John Wesley’s revival ministry began in London, and the surrounding areas, late in 1738, some months before his open-air preaching began in Bristol on April 2nd, 1739. The progress of the revival is traced for the next half century, carried on by John Wesley and his many itinerant preachers. Some attention is also given to the rise of Primitive Methodism in Staffordshire in 1807, directly the result of revival praying and preaching and the particular revival ethos of ‘Camp-meetings.’ As well as the prominence of soul-saving preaching in revival, this evaluation also demonstrates the place and power of revival praying in any great work of the Spirit. This analysis finishes in 1818, the year that marked the death of William Bramwell, arguably the last of the great Wesleyan revivalists. Dr Goodwin writes a very practical and pressing epilogue to his engaging study of Wesleyan Revivalism with these telling words: ‘…the one clear lesson that does emerge [from this study] is that, ideally, revivalism should be the work of the whole church – pastors and people, preaching and praying, working in partnership for the salvation of sinners.’

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Herbert McGonigle, John Wesley and the Moravians. The Wesley Fellowship in association with Moorley’s Print & Publishing, Ilkeston, 1993. pp.32. ISBN 0 86071 422 5. £2.25.

John and Charles Wesley first encountered the Moravians on their voyage to Georgia in America in 1735. The Moravians were German evangelicals from Herrnhut, Saxony in Germany where their founder was Count Ludwig von Zinzendorf. The Moravians and the Wesleys were both dedicated to missionary work in Georgia and, for the next two years, John Wesley was increasingly impressed with the character and conduct of the Moravians. Back in England, it was another Moravian, Peter Bohler, who instructed the Wesley brothers in the way of saving faith, an instruction that led directly to their evangelical ‘heart warmings’ in May 1738. Although John Wesley later parted company with the Moravians because of what he believed to be the antinomian consequences of some of their teachings, he never lost his affection for the people who first directed him in the way of salvation. This paper carefully traces the relationship between Wesley and his early mentors and examines, in particular, the theological reasons for the split between them in the early 1740s. Although much longer studies of the Moravians have been published, this Paper summaries the essential facts and evaluates the doctrinal difference between Moravianism and Methodism.

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William Parkes, The Arminian Methodists. The Derby Faith: A Wesleyan Aberration in Pursuit of Revivalism and Holiness. Merlin Monograph, Cannock, Staffordshire, 1995, reprinted and published by The Wesley Fellowship, [1999]. pp.53. £3.50.

This short-lived revivalist movement originated in a doctrinal split that occurred on the Derby Wesleyan Methodist circuit in 1832, and for this reason its adherents were often called the ‘Derby Faith Folk.’ Although these Arminian Methodists claimed to be faithfully following John Wesley’s teaching on entire sanctification, in fact they departed from Wesley’s strong emphasis on salvation by repentance and faith. They turned saving faith into merely believing that Christ died for sinners and their doctrine of human response was semi-Pelagian. Five years after the movement’s beginning, it broke up and most of its 2000 members joined the Wesleyan Methodist Association. Dr William Parkes, co-founder of the Wesley Fellowship, was a recognised expert in the field of 19th century British Methodism and he knew more about the Arminian Methodists than any other living scholar. This book is the only substantial well-researched account of the ‘Derby Faith’ in print.

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Herbert McGonigle, John Wesley’s Doctrine of Prevenient Grace. Moorley’s Print & Publishing in collaboration with the Wesley Fellowship, Ilkeston, 1995. pp.31. ISBN 0 95163 324 4. £2.50.

This paper investigates how John Wesley attempted to harmonise his near-Augustinian doctrine of original sin and his doctrine of Christ’s universal atonement for sin. While most Augustinians had combined their doctrine of sin with a doctrine of absolute predestination, Wesley argued for a doctrine of prevenient grace. He meant by this that God’s free grace ‘prevents’ or ‘goes before’ any human response to the gospel. It is God’s free grace that awakens the sinner, that produces in him conviction of sin, that opens his understanding to the truths of the gospel, and enables him to respond to Christ with repentance and saving faith. This prevenient grace is the ‘light that enlightens everyone coming into the world;’ (John 1:9); in the words of Paul it is God’s ‘free gift’ (Romans 5:15, 16, 18). Prevenient grace is not saving grace, so John Wesley was not a universalist but he believed passionately that all mankind are blessed with this grace, so not all accept it or respond to it. While holding to a very orthodox doctrine of original sin, John Wesley proclaimed prevenient grace in a way that enabled him logically to steer clear both of a Pelagian doctrine of human ability and a rigid doctrine of predestination.

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Paul Taylor (Editor) Wesley Pieces: Conference and Other Papers 1995. The Wesley Fellowship with Moorley’s Print & Publishing, Ilkeston, 1996. A4 format, pp.56. ISBN 0951 16332 5 2. £2.00.

The four main Papers in this collection were originally presented as lectures at the Wesley Fellowship Residential Conference held in Derbyshire, at Cliff College, in 1995. First, Dr William Parkes outlines the life and work of Elizabeth Ann Evans, a woman preacher who, with her husband, left the Wesleyan Methodists in 1832 to join the Arminian Methodists. Her ministry was greatly blessed of God in the conversion of sinners and in leading believers into full salvation. Elizabeth Evans was the woman who ‘George Eliot’ used for her character ‘Dinah Morris’ in her book, Adam Bede. The second Paper is Col. David Guy’s ‘The Influence of John Wesley on William and Catherine Booth.’ The parallels between John Wesley’s ‘Methodism’ and the Booths’ ‘Salvation Army’ are striking, especially the latter’s enthusiastic attachment to Wesley’s doctrine of Christian holiness. But there are important differences as well, especially the Salvation Army’s attitude to the sacraments. In the third Paper, Dr Stephen Hatcher examines ‘The Primitive Methodist Experience of Holiness.’ In the early decades of Primitive Methodism, it followed the lead set by its founder William Clowes who fervently taught and disseminated the Wesleyan interpretation of entire sanctification. Dr Hatcher offers some compelling evidence of why this emphasis began to wane in Primitive Methodism in the closing decades of the 19th century. In the fourth Paper, Dr John Andrews writes on ‘John Wesley and the Translation of German Hymns.’ A noted expert in hymnody, especially of German translations into English, Dr Andrews evaluates John Wesley’s skills as a translator and illustrates his very informative paper with examples. These include, ‘Jesus, Thy boundless love to me’, ‘Now I have found the ground wherein’, ‘Thou hidden love of God, whose height’, ‘Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness’, and many more. For good measure, Wesley Pieces also includes the text of two sermons preached at the Conference - as well as two short articles, on ‘Wesleyan Arminianism’ and ‘The Love Feast.’ And all of this is on Special Offer at just £2!

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Peter Gentry, Francis Asbury – the Wesley of America. Moorley’s Print & Publishing, Ilkeston, 1996. pp.15. ISBN 0 86071 480 2. £1.00.

Here is a good introduction to the man who blazed a trail of spiritual fire and revival on the American frontiers from his arrival there in 1771 until his death in 1816 at the age of 70. In 45 years of non-stop itinerant preaching, this Birmingham-born Methodist preacher is estimated to have preached 16,500 sermons, ridden almost 300,000 miles on horse back, presided over 224 Methodist Conferences in America and ordained 4000 preachers. These pages introduce us to a dedicated Methodist preacher, described by an earlier biographer as ‘the apostle whose only home was the saddle and his parish the continent.’

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Charles Goodwin, The Methodist Pentecost: The Wesleyan Holiness Revival 1758-1763. Merlin Methodist Monograph No.4. Moorley’s Print & Publishing in Association with the Wesley Fellowship, Ilkeston, 1996. pp.38. ISBN 0 951633 26 0 £2.50.

During the years of John Wesley’s itinerant preaching, from 1739 until his death in 1791, there were many local ‘revivals.’ The most significant of these began in Otley in Yorkshire in February 1760 when many Christians sought and found the blessing of full salvation. This revival spirit spread to many places and was characterised not only by large numbers of sinners being converted but also by many Christians claiming the blessing of full salvation. Dr Goodwin discusses the origin and course of the revival, the reasons for its success and gives particular attention to the nature and claims made for the blessing of entire sanctification. A truly heart-warming account of five years of great blessing and increase in early Methodism.

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Paul Taylor (Editor) Wesleyan Perspectives: Papers Presented to The Wesley Fellowship in 1998. Moorley’s Print & Publishing in association with the Wesley Fellowship, Ilkeston, 1998. A4 format, pp.34. ISBN 0 9516332 9 5. £3.00.

In the first of these three Papers, Trevor Staniforth deals with ‘John Wesley’s Puritan Roots.’ The Wesley home in Epworth where both John and Charles were born was shaped by the two great streams of English Church life that coalesced there, Anglicanism and Puritanism. This paper concentrates on the Puritan influence and highlights, among other things, that John Wesley’s genius for organising the fruits of the Methodist Revival can be traced to a Puritan understanding of the Christian life and the means of grace. In the second paper John Dolan discusses ‘The Origins and Early Characteristics of the Independent Methodist Movement’. This branch of the Methodist movement began in Warrington in Lancashire in 1796 and was essentially a movement of lay preachers who did not believe in ministerial ordination or a paid ministry. In its early days the Movement was also known by the names of ‘Free Gospel Church’, ‘Christian Revivalists’, ‘Gospel Pilgrims’ and ‘Quaker Methodists’. Mr Dolan, who (in 2004) is in the process of completing a PhD thesis on Independent Methodism, is more informed about this movement than any contemporary scholar and this is a very readable and succinct account of these Independents. The third Paper is Brian Barber’s ‘Revival Seeds’, in which he examines some of the characteristics of the Methodist Revival in John Wesley’s time. He notes that, in addition to Wesley’s constant itinerant preaching, he also devoted much time and labour to building up the movement at local level. The part played by Charles Wesley’s inspirational hymns is also discussed. These Perspectives are readable, informative and heart-warming.

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Ian Randall, Pathway of Power. Moorley’s Print & Publishing, Ilkeston, 1999. pp.28. ISBN 0 9516332 8 7 £2.50.

The sub-title of this study summarises its area of research: ‘Keswick and the Reshaping of Wesleyan Holiness 1875-1905.’ In the latter part of the 19th century in England, there was a revival of interest in, and concern for, holy living. This movement was occasioned by the successful ministry in Britain if a number of American Holiness preachers, including Mrs Phoebe Palmer, the Revd William Boardman, and, in particular Robert Pearsall Smith and his wife, Hanna Whitall Smith. Conferences for ‘the deepening of spiritual life’ were convened and out of these gatherings the Keswick Convention was organised in 1875. From its very beginning, ‘Keswick’ theology was suspicious of the Wesleyan emphasis on entire sanctification being obtainable in this life. Instead it developed a doctrine of the counteraction of sin in the Christian’s heart by the indwelling Spirit. Dr Randall carefully traces the origin and development of the Keswick Convention and its ‘Higher Life’ teaching. He compares it with Wesleyan theology and some of the leading protagonists on both sides are introduced and their teachings examined. This account is scholarly, fair, clearly written and very informative.

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Paul Smith, John Wesley: Preacher of the Gospel. The Wesley Fellowship, Shearsby, Leicestershire, 2000. pp.20. ISBN 0 9537473 0 1. £2.00.

John Wesley preached the gospel for more than sixty years - and fifty of those years were spent in itinerant ministry. This study looks at Wesley’s preaching career, his methods of study, the content of his sermons, and some eyewitness accounts of those who heard him preach. Wesley preached daily for half-a-century across the Great Britain and Ireland and his preaching was plain, pointed, practical, and designed to bring his hearers to repentance and faith. By contrast, his published sermons were intended for those already Christians and their purpose was to build believers up in faith and holiness. This important distinction between John Wesley’s oral preaching and the style and content of the published sermons must be kept in mind when we read the latter. Mr Smith has done his research in Wesley’s Journal and Sermons with relish and produced a very informative summary of his preaching ministry.

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Deirdre Brower, Susanna Wesley: Practical Theologian. The Wesley Fellowship, Shearsby, Leicestershire, 2001. ISBN 0 9537473 1 X. pp.19. £2.00.

Biographers of John Wesley have long reminded us that in order to understand him we must first understand his mother Susanna. Deirdre Brower argues that Susanna was primarily concerned about the relationship between theological doctrines and everyday practical living. After summarising her precocious intellectual development as a daughter of the celebrated Puritan preacher, Dr Samuel Annesley, this study then examines the main theological motifs in Susanna’s thinking. These are the love of God, the nature of God, human nature, sanctification, and practical theology. The conclusion is that Susanna Wesley’s theology was grounded in Scripture and always concerned with practical living. Perhaps it is not surprising that this very ‘practical theologian’ had a son John who spent a long life applying the truths of the Bible to help people to find God’s grace and salvation and work it out in daily life.

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Paul Taylor (Editor) Wesley Papers: Papers presented to The Wesley Fellowship Conference in 2000. The Wesley Fellowship in Association with Moorley’s Print & Publishing, Ilkeston, 2002. pp.98. ISBN 0 9537473 0 1. £11.50.

This publication is made up of four Papers delivered at the Wesley Fellowship Residential Conference held at Cliff College, Derbyshire, in October 2000. The first Paper, ‘Offending in Many Things’ by Dr John Colwell, a lecturer at Spurgeon’s College in London, and is a fascinating comparison of the teaching of John Wesley and Thomas Aquinas on the measure to which the Christian may love God and his neighbour with all his heart in this life. This ‘perfection of love’ is what John Wesley meant by Christian perfection and this Paper throws fresh light and provides very helpful insights on this vital topic. The second Paper is by William Graham, Editor of The Wesley Fellowship Quarterly, who writes on ‘Pupils in the Gospel: The Education of John Wesley’s Preachers.’ This splendid Paper is, on its own, well worth the price of the whole book! It reminds us that John Wesley was not only devoted to preaching the gospel for half a century but he was equally devoted to helping his travelling preachers to get the best education they could. None of them had had John Wesley's background of learning and scholarship, begun in his Epworth rectory home, continued at Charterhouse School, developed by fifteen years at Oxford University as both student and tutor, and perfected by a lifetime of reading and study. Yet Wesley believed these men should be given every opportunity to improve their learning and, among other helps, he prepared a 50 volume Christian Library to assist them! Mr Graham’s Paper is a veritable storehouse of information about John Wesley and his preachers and his tightly packed 36 pages will tell you so much! And then, in addition, there are 272 Endnotes, which run to another 20 pages! John Wesley would have approved – this Paper will certainly add a wealth of information on this subject to all who take time to study carefully both the text and the Endnotes. The fourth Paper, by Geoffrey Fewkes, is entitled, ‘John Wesley and Reader Harris: Stages in Salvation’, and it carefully compares the teaching of Reader Harris (1847-1909), the founder of the Pentecostal League of Prayer with that of John Wesley. The heart of the Paper is the comparison between Harris’ understanding of the stages of salvation as preliminary, partial, perfect and progressive, and Wesley’s teaching on how prevenient grace leads to convincing grace and that, in turn, to salvation, understood as regeneration and sanctification. The third Paper, by the late Dr William Parkes, co-founder of the Wesley Fellowship, is entitled, ‘Lorenzo Dow: The Eccentric Cosmopolite.’ Dow (1777-1834) was an American Methodist camp-meeting preacher whom God used in remarkable ways in revival services. His ministry in Staffordshire in 1807 helped towards the rise and formation of Primitive Methodism. Eccentric in his dress and preaching style, yet Dow had an undoubted anointing from the Lord and his ministry was blessed to thousands. But sadly that all changed. In later life he began to dabble in financial ventures and was involved in a number of litigations. Then, to make matters worse, the one-time Spirit-filled preacher joined the Masonic Order. He drifted away from the gospel, lost his anointing and became a Deist in his religious convictions. At his funeral, he was buried with Masonic rites and the inscription on his gravestone makes it clear that Free Masonry had replaced Christ’s gospel in his convictions. This Paper is not only very informative but very salutary and a solemn warning to every Christian, and especially to every preacher. In his latter years, Dow ignored Paul’s warning that the servant of God should not entangle himself with worldly affairs (2 Tim. 2:4). Dr Parkes’ carefully researched pages give a moving account of Lorenzo Dow’s sad journey; a journey from the heights of spiritual power and effectiveness to the depths of Christless Deism and Masonic darkness. The fourth Paper, by Geoffrey Fewkes, is entitled, ‘John Wesley and Reader Harris: Stages in Salvation’, and it carefully compares the teaching of Reader Harris (1847-1909), the founder of the Pentecostal League of Prayer with that of John Wesley. The heart of the Paper is the comparison between Harris’ understanding of the stages of salvation as preliminary, partial, perfect and progressive, and Wesley’s teaching on how prevenient grace leads to convincing grace and that, in turn, to salvation, understood as regeneration and sanctification. With its 98 pages and hundreds of references and footnotes, Wesley Papers is enlightening reading and a very fine addition to the shelves of Wesley scholarship.

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John M. Haley John Wesley: The Means of Grace and the Holy Life Today. The Wesley Fellowship, Shearsby, Leicestershire, 2003. ISBN 0 9837473 2 8. pp.28. £3.00.

This fine paper was first presented to, and well received by, the members of the Wesley Fellowship Conference held at The Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick, Derbyshire, in October 2003. It presents a challenge for all Christians interested in scriptural holiness ‘to consider how’, three hundred years after his birth, ‘John Wesley’s means of grace can be faithfully used to encourage Christians towards living the holy life today’. The author, the Revd Dr John Haley, is a member of the Wesley Fellowship, a Minister in the Plymouth & Devonport Methodist Circuit, and an Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre for Ministry Studies at the University of Wales, Bangor, UK.

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John Wood The Peculiar People: A Nineteenth Century Methodist Off-Shoot in Essex. The Wesley Fellowship, Shearsby, Leicestershire, [in press] 2004. ISBN 0953774733 6. pp.28. £3.00.

This most interesting and well-researched paper describes the early history and later development of the ‘Peculiar People’, a comparatively little-known nineteenth century Methodist offshoot that began in rural Essex. It was first presented to the regular Wesley Fellowship meeting held at Zion Church of the Nazarene, Handsworth, Birmingham, in October 2003. The author, the Revd John Wood, is a retired Baptist pastor, school teacher, and Bible College Tutor – is, without doubt, the world’s most knowledgeable person on the subject both from his personal experience in the movement as a child and later as a result of his on-going investigative research into the surviving literature on the subject.

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The Wesley Fellowship also has an extensive range of audio cassette tapes for sale of most of the printed papers listed above – and of many other papers that have never been printed and published. These are live recordings made on occasions when they were first presented to meetings of the Fellowship. A full list is available on request to the Wesley Fellowship Book Sales Officer (details below).

All these publications – and numerous audio cassette tape recordings – are usually available for sale at regular Wesley Fellowship meetings. They are also obtainable for sale by post from the Wesley Fellowship’s Book Sales Officer, Revd Tony Tamburello, 13 Charles Street, Colne, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom, BB8 0LY.
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