BOOK REVIEWS

Irene Kraft-Buchmuller. 1992. Die Frauen in der Anfangszeit der bischoflichen Methodistenkirche in Deutschland: Fine Untersuchung der eigenkirchlichen Schriften von 1850 bis 1914 (Beitrage zur Geschichte der Evangelisch-methodistischen Kirche, 41. Stuttgart: Christliches Ver­laghaus. 72 pp. No ISBN.

Reviewed by David Bundy, Christian Theological Seminary, Indi­anapolis, Indiana.

Kraft-Buchmuller has here provided an examination of the roles of women during the formative period of Methodism in Germany. It is also a study of the periodical, Der Evangelist, which from May 1850 until 1914 served as the foremost medium of communication among German-speak­ing Methodists and between German Methodists and their largest con­stituencies. It is a carefully researched and documented study, albeit with­out reference to most North American publications on women in Methodism and its derivative traditions, material which could have nuanced, perhaps, the pages devoted to "The Methodist Heritage."

The study begins with a quick survey of two aspects of the context: (1) the situation of women in German society in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, focusing on the women's movements which grew out of the 1848 revolution, and (2) the situation of women in the Methodist tradition during and immediately after Wesley's lifetime, noting that Wesley's openness to some experimentation with regard to women's roles in ministry was not continued after his death. Moving on to the foundations in Germany, the author notes that from the first founding of a Methodist congregation in Germany (Bremen, 1850), the adoption of American Methodist discipline provided for rigid boundaries between the genders, and that by 1856 women were expressly excluded from the priestly functions of the church.

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In the periodicals and in the Methodist disciplines, women were dis­cussed in idealized terms as wives, examples, family center, marriage partners, mothers, and housewives. Within the church, women could par­ticipate in women's youth and children's concerns as well as in the distri­bution of tracts. Ministers' wives had more status, were expected to be community models of the idealized Christian woman, and had some, albeit minimal, flexibility in ministry not allowed other women. Unmar­ried women were allowed wider spheres of participation, primarily as deaconesses (following the pietist model) and as missionaries. There was clearly dissatisfaction with this situation and Kraft-Buchmuller describes the development of the "women issue," the "Frauenfrage," as it surfaced in jurisdictional conferences from 1869 through the turn of the century, with women finally achieving lay representation in 1900.

The two primary ministries open to women within the Methodist con­text were the service ministries and mission work, an experience not unlike that of women in Methodism elsewhere in Europe and throughout the world. In both fields, women established institutions, raised funds and had influence in cultures ranging from the U.S.A. to India. The periodical Heiden-Grauen Freund was founded in 1885. Initially modeled after the U.S. Methodist women's missionary periodical entitled Heathen Women's Friend, it served as the instrument of the Frauen-Gesell schaft fur auswartige Missions Deutschland. Local women's missionary society organizations developed, and by 1887 there were twenty chapters with some 120 members. Despite the demonstrable success on foreign fields, there was little progress on the issue of women clergy in Germany. When the merger with the Evangelical United Brethren was effected in 1968, no Methodist woman in Germany had ever served a church as a pastor.

The first chapter of the story of women in German Methodism is a painful and hopeful narrative of women finding ways to live out their commitments to God and church in ministry. It was done in spite of the cultural context and in spite of the conservative opposition of most of the established male clergy. Unfortunately, this study does not explore the lives of key figures who are only names in the tense narrative, nor does it explore the relationship between the German and A merican churches as an influence in German developments. It is hoped that the research begun here will be expanded and continued into the next decades, and that a similar examination of the Evangelical United Brethren tradition in Germany will be undertaken. As it is, this volume will be an essential component of any discussions of the role of women in the Methodist traditions.

Albert C. Outler and Richard Heitzenrater, eds. 1991. John Wesley's Sermons: An Anthology. Nashville: Abingdon Press. 572 pp. ISBN 0-687­20495-X.

Reviewed by Kenneth J. Collins, Asbury Theological Seminary, Fayetteville, North Carolina.

When Methodists talk about the sermons of John Wesley, they often have in mind the fifty-three pieces (often called standard sermons) con­tained in Edward Sugden's edition-an edition which has been reprinted on numerous occasions in the past, and by Abingdon and Francis Asbury Press more recently. However, with the publication of John Wesley's Ser­mons: An Anthology, edited by the late Albert C. Outler and Richard Heitzenrater, this situation is likely to change.

This new anthology of Wesley's sermons, printed in an attractive paperback format, is conceived by its publisher, Abingdon Press, primar­ily as a tool for classroom instruction in Methodist history and theology and also as a supplement to Outler's earlier volume John Wesley. Like much in Wesley Studies today, the original impulse for the project came from Albert Outler himself and was afterwards supported by the Board of Directors of the Wesley Works Editorial Project, Inc. In fact, just a week before his death, Outler suggested a volume of sermons that would include a broad range of topics covering Wesley's entire career. Shortly thereafter, a list of primary (thirty sermons) and secondary (eight ser­mons) selections for the new collection was found among Outler's papers. However, this list is not really remarkable for which post-1770 sermons are included-there are actually few surprises here-but rather for which pieces are not selected from Wesley's own 1771 edition of the Sermons on Several Occasions. The following chart reveals the late historian's omissions.

Chart One: Sermons Not Included

The Almost Christian                                            1741

Awake, Thou That Sleepest                                              1742

The Marks of the New Birth                                 1748

Sermon on the Mount, Discourse 4                                   1748

The New Birth                                                      1760

On Sin in Believers                                                           1763

The Danger of Riches                                            1781

The Duty of Constant Communion                       1787

Though there is no way of knowing in detail why Outler wished to exclude these sermons, Richard Heitzenrater and the editorial staff at Abingdon have decided to include all of them in the new collection. To be sure, the Methodist community, both laity and scholars alike, will appre­ciate this judgment.

If John Wesley's Sermons: An Anthology is to emerge as a successful replacement of the Fifty-Three Standard Sermons (or the fifty-two of the Burwash edition), as Matthews suggests, then this collection must not only have the backing of such leading Wesley scholars as Outler and Heitzenrater, but it also must provide a more accurate and comprehensive view of Wesley's own theological and soteriological emphases than ear­lier editions. Along these lines, the future promise of the collection can be gauged, in part, by a consideration of two key questions. First, which standard sermons are omitted? Second, which sermons, numbered 54-151 in Outler's much larger critical edition, are, in fact, included?

With respect to the first question, the following chart reveals at a glance which traditional sermons are not found in the new volume.

Chart Two: Sermons of the Fifty-Three Standard Not Included

The Righteousness of Faith                                                1746

The First-fruits of the Spirit                                                1746

The Witness of Our Own Spirit                                          1746

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount, I-III                      1748

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount, VII                       1748

Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount, IX-XIII                1748

The Nature of Enthusiasm                                                 1750

Wandering Thoughts                                                           1762

Satan's Devices                                                                   1750

The Wilderness State                                                          1760

Heaviness Through Manifold Temptations                         1760

Self-Denial                                                                          1760

The Cure of Evil Speaking                                                  1760

The Reformation of Manners                                              1763

On the Death of George Whitefield                                   1770

Though all of these sermons above have been cherished by Ameri­can Methodists, especially in this century, the deletion of "The Cure of Evil Speaking," "The Reformation of Manners," and "On the Death of George Whitefield" is not likely to evoke much response since these works are peripheral, at best, to Wesley's larger theological design. On the other hand, the omission of "The Wilderness State" and "Heaviness Through Manifold Temptations" may draw some criticism, especially from scholars, since it can be argued that their exclusion weakens the overall collection. That is, these sermons treat some of the very real diffi­culties of the ongoing Christian life in a serious and forthright manner­difficulties which are not always addressed by either "On Sin in Believ­ers" or "The Repentance of Believers."

To illustrate this last point, in the sermon "Heaviness Through Mani­fold Temptations" Wesley disassociates spiritual heaviness from the issue of sin and repentance, at least in some respects, by noting: "I will not say that it [a clearer and fuller knowledge of inbred sin] must bring us into heaviness." The source of the heaviness lies elsewhere; namely, in such things as disease, violent pain, nervous disorders, poverty, the death of those whom we love, and in the apostasy of a close friend. In other words, in this sermon John Wesley paints a very realistic picture of the Christian life as one that will, on occasion, include sorrow, pain, and failure even as one continues to trust a holy God. Without this important and sensitive sermon, then, the new anthology, oddly enough, runs the risk of being less realistic about the nature of the Christian life than John Wesley himself.

Second, the exclusion of "Self Denial" is likewise troubling, espe­cially as our own age continues to grapple with the relation between per­sonal and social ethics. More to the point, the sermon "Self Denial" not only provides a window on Wesley's ethical and spiritual motivation, thereby rendering it intelligible, but it also informs those ethical pieces which are included in the anthology such as "On the Use of Money" and "On the Good Steward." In other words, a denial of self, a subordination of one's own will, a bracketing out of self-interest, all of these things cou­pled with "taking up our cross," a task which is yet higher, constitute the necessary and irreducible motivation for the moral life, both personal and social. Lacking these emphases, the moral life remains uncritical, not suf­ficiently conscious of its own proclivity towards evil, its own tendency towards self-interest. Consequently, "Self Denial" is not a superfluous or minor piece like "The Cure of Evil Speaking," but contains the first prin­ciples of Wesley's entire moral endeavor. Its exclusion, therefore, is regrettable.

With respect to the second question, the next chart displays which of the "later sermons," beyond Sugden's traditional fifty three, are included in Abingdon's Anthology. For illustrative purposes, they are divided according to the major categories utilized in the critical edition.

Chart Three: Sermons Beyond the Fifty-Three Standard Which Are Included

A. Sermons on Several Occasions (1788), V-VIII

Spiritual Worship                                          1780

The Danger of Riches                                   1781

The End of Christ's Coming                         1781

On Zeal                                                        1781

God's Love to Fallen Man                            1782

The New Creation                                        1785

On Working Out Our Own Salvation          1785

The Duty of Constant Communion              1787

The More Excellent Way                              1787

B. A Miscellany of Published Sermons

Free Grace                                                    1739

C. Sermons Published in the Arminian Magazine

On the Omnipresence of God                      1788

The Unity of the Divine Being                     1789

Prophets and Priests                                     1789

Causes of the Inefficacy of Christianity        1789

On the Wedding Garment                            1790

On Living Without God                               1790

D. Manuscript Sermons

The Image of God                                        1730

The One Thing Needful                               1734

Clearly, the selections which are indicated in category "A" above are well chosen and demonstrate a familiarity with the content of Wesley's entire sermon corpus. However, given Wesley's repeated defense of the Methodist movement as a vital part of the Church of England, as well as his caution on many occasions against separating from this communion, it is difficult to understand why "Of the Church" was not incorporated into the anthology. This last point becomes even more troubling in light of the inclusion of "The One Thing Needful," a manuscript sermon which Wes­ley chose-with good reason-not to publish. To make matters worse, "The One Thing Needful" is actually redundant in this setting: it reiterates much of the content of the other manuscript sermon in the anthology, namely, "The Image of God."

In a similar fashion, the sermons listed in category "C" above are basically representative of their particular genre, that is, of those items which were published by Wesley in the Arminian Magazine from 1789­1792. However, this selection, once again, could have been enhanced by the addition of just one more sermon. Accordingly, if the purpose of the chronological arrangement of the sermons in the new anthology is to raise the issue of the continuity and discontinuity of the theological emphases of the early and the mature Wesley, then "On the Discoveries of Faith" obviously belongs in the volume. In particular, not only does this last ser­mon display Wesley's conception of faith as the organ, par excellence, of spiritual reality, demonstrating that the Methodist leader held "intuitionist theories of religious knowledge" as Outler points out, but this sermon also provides an important window on the distinction between the "faith of a servant" and the "faith of a son," a distinction which is integral to any assessment of the early and the mature Wesley.

Beyond a consideration of the composition of the anthology, a few other items warrant attention. First of all, on a more optimistic note, the brief introductions to each sermon, which are actually edited versions culled from Outler's critical edition, are generally helpful to the reader. However, if this volume is intended for student consumption, as Matthews indicates, then Latin phrases such as fides caritate formata, found in the introduction to "The Law Established Through Faith Dis­course II" should be translated. In addition, greater orientation, at times, is needed for lay readers in terms of the historical material provided in each introduction and against which each sermon is best understood. For example, the introduction to "The Original, Nature, Properties, and Use of the Law" could have been enhanced by including a brief comparison with both Luther and Calvin's views on this topic.

Moreover, the careful reader of the introductions will soon notice that in each instance where Albert Outler had originally employed the phrase ordo salutis in his four-volume work, Richard Heitzenrater has substituted his own phrase "the way of salvation" (see "The Image of God," "The Scripture Way of Salvation," and "The More Excellent Way"). Outler's choice, however, is much to be preferred since it not only suggests the structure, the unique fingerprint, of Wesley's reasoned reflection about salvation (it is, after all, the Wesleyan ordo salutis), but it also suggests, in a way typical of Eastern Christianity, that redemption is a process. Heitzenrater's language, on the other hand, while emphasizing the latter aspect, only hints at the former.

Despite the preceding criticisms, whether they pertain to the choice of sermons or to their introductory material, John Wesley's Sermons: An Anthology deserves a serious reading by scholar and lay person alike. The overall project, the display of the whole Wesley from young man to sea­soned leader, the inclusion, for the most part, of the heart of Sugden's cor­pus, the incorporation of many of the sermons written during the decade of the 1780's (Wesley's most prolific period, homiletically speaking), the attractive paperback format, and the joint authority of Outler and Heitzen­rater are all elements which suggest that this work may well replace The Fifty-Three Standard Sermons in terms of popular consumption.

Richard B. Steele. 1994. "Gracious Affection" and "True Virtue" According to Jonathan Edwards and John Wesley. Metuchen, N.J.: The Scarecrow Press. 423 pp. ISBN 0-8108-2821-9.

Reviewed by Robert Doyle Smith, Olivet Nazarene University, Kankakee, Illinois.

Richard Steele analyzes the historical and literary relationships between Jonathan Edwards and John Wesley. He states the primary sub­ject of his work as "how Edwards and Wesley defended their conviction that the genuine knowledge of God incorporates cognitive, volitional, and affectional elements, rather than where they derived it from" (iii).

Seven chapters comprise the work, with the first three presenting background material. These chapters most retain the flavor of a revised dissertation as he supplies the justification for the study. Steele states his purpose for chapter one: "to establish the historical context within which Edwards and Wesley worked out their experimental theologies" (xi-xii). By historical context Steele does not mean the history of the "awakening" or general history of Puritan revivalism. However, since he uses the term "awakening" in this chapter primarily in association with Edwards and Wesley, he conveys the false impression that the Great Awakening origi­nates primarily with these two theologians. He waits until chapter four to describe the Puritan revival movement (1600-1730) and thus to explain how Wesley and Edwards relate to the larger movement. In this chapter he reviews philosophical and theological positions on religious experi­ence during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.

In chapter two Steele sketches the voluntarist tradition on the affec­tions by tracing the positions of Paul, Augustine, Calvin, and William Ames. The third chapter is a review of secondary literature in order to demonstrate the distinctiveness of his research. The key point is his dis­agreement with Frederick Dreyer's interpretation of John Wesley. He argues that Dreyer "overstates his case when he treats Edwards as a 'rationalist' who regarded knowledge as the apprehension of the intelligi­ble properties of things, and Wesley as an 'empiricist' who regarded knowledge as the apprehension of the sensible properties of things" (88).

Chapters four through six are the focus of this work. In chapter four, he considers the biographical parallels and historical connections between Wesley and Edwards. One question Steele explores is how Edwards might have known about John Wesley. Steele develops a theory that infor­mation came largely through Edwards' contact with George Whitefield. He shows how Whitefield's relationship with John Wesley could have resulted in certain opinions of Wesley being conveyed to Edwards by Whitefield.

I have two major questions regarding Steele's interpretation of the historical data. First, in his examination of their early religious experi­ences, Steele contends that one of the major differences was that Edwards had been exposed to conversionist preaching while Wesley had not. Steele's distinction is sound, but he might have drawn other conclusions. For example, the nurturing of Wesley's mother, Susanna, could be explained as a different style of conversion, instead of simply as "exter­nally imposed discipline" (106-107). Steele restricts conversion to instan­taneous experiences and excludes Christian nurture as a mode of conver­sion, and thus closes himself off to alternative interpretations of the data.

A second question concerns Steele's contention that "because of Edwards, Wesley found new conceptual categories for spiritual diagnosis and church revival" (157). While Wesley read, edited, and found useful Edwards' Faithful Narrative, the conclusion drawn by Steele needs fur­ther study. Moreover, while stressing the influence of Edwards upon Wes­ley, he diminishes some of the impact of the Moravians who taught Wes­ley that instantaneous assurance accompanied the conversion experience. One omission is Wesley's contact with Augustus Spangenberg who directly raises the issue of conversion and immediate assurance with John Wesley. The doctrine of assurance is key to both Wesley and Edwards.

Perhaps the heart of Steele's work is chapter five where he discusses Wesley's abridgments of Edwards' revival treatises: Faithful Narrative, Distinguishing Marks, Some Thoughts Concerning the Revival, A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections, and The Life of David Brainerd. Steele reviews the content and the publication history of both Edwards' original writing and the abridgments of Wesley. He compares the length of each section in the abridgment with that in the original and analyzes the rela­tion of religious affectivity and moral virtue. The primary changes that Wesley made in Edwards' works were to delete anti-Arminian polemics, to modify hyper-Calvinist phraseology, and to eliminate references to the local American color of the revival that would hold no interest for a British audience.

Chapter six reviews the parallel and polemical writings of Edwards and Wesley, who responded to John Taylor about original sin, Lord Kames on the bondage of the will, and Francis Hutcheson concerning moral sense. Steele argues that the chapter shows their differences "as a family feud within the Reformed tradition." He judges that "their under­standing of Christian spiritual experience (the 'gracious affection') and moral character ('true virtue') are in deep agreement" (270). Steele does acknowledge the difficulty of analyzing Wesley's reply to Taylor because of his extensive use of quotations from other writers. He consults a ser­mon to clarify Wesley's viewpoints, but he could have made a more extensive use of Wesley's sermons. More importantly, Steele focuses on what places them within the Reformed tradition, but he does not show how their respective discussions flow from their differing traditions. For example, Edwards places his discussion of original sin within the context of justice, viewing salvation through the doctrine of original sin, while Wesley understands the doctrine of original sin through his experience of saving grace. Edwards begins with the doctrine of God, while Wesley starts with soteriology. This results in such differences as their positions on the status of unsaved infants. In his attempt to show the similarities between Wesley and Edwards, Steele sometimes blurs the distinctions that give insight to their diverse understanding of the issues.

Steele provides a good introduction to the study of John Wesley and Jonathan Edwards. His biographical chapter demonstrates the connections between the two. His study of the abridged and parallel works reveals their similar concern for describing and analyzing religious movements and their common interest in entering into public debate on the same the­ological issues. Steele correctly argues that Wesley and Edwards were closer together in their understanding of religious experiences than their theological differences might suggest.

Edited by Michael Mattei for the
Wesley Center for Applied Theology
at Northwest Nazarene University
© Copyright 2003 by the Wesley Center for Applied Theology

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