The Rise of Theological Liberalism and the Decline of American Methodism

The Rise of Theological Liberalism and the Decline of American Methodism

Author: James V. Heidinger (II)

Publisher:

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 9781628244021

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"Once a strong, vital, and growing denomination, the United Methodist Church is now barely recognizable after more than four decades of demoralization and membership decline. What has gone wrong? In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the American church saw the rise of "theological liberalism," a religious system that intended to respond to new scientific and intellectual currents that were sweeping across the culture. Instead, liberalism not only challenged, but often displaced the substance of the church's doctrine and teaching, accommodating it to the new intellectual milieu of secularism and rationalism. In The Rise of Theological Liberalism and the Decline of American Methodism, James Heidinger discusses the rise of liberalism in America, its anti-supernatural focuses, and the resulting transition in Wesleyan theology. While there are undoubtedly many dimensions to the decline of a denomination, Heidinger suggests we look no further than theological liberalism as the driving force behind the fall of the once-mighty United Methodist Church"--


The Story of American Methodism

The Story of American Methodism

Author: Frederick Abbott Norwood

Publisher:

Published: 1974

Total Pages: 448

ISBN-13: 9780687396412

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Traces the history of Methodism from the eighteenth-century Wesleyan movement through successive stages of theological development to its role in today's ecumenical movement


The Heritage of American Methodism

The Heritage of American Methodism

Author: Kenneth C. Kinghorn

Publisher:

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13:

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The Heritage of American Methodism traces the grand legacy of American Methodism and shows how it became such a leading influence in the life of the nation. The drama of Methodism in America stands out as one of the most fascinating stories in the history of Christianity. This volume highlights the main reasons for this astonishing success and shows how the vitality of the Wesleyan way can be recovered. This illustrated history of American Methodism is presented for non-specialists in a beautifully designed, full-color format. Key Features: - A user-friendly, informative, and spell-binding account showing the impact of inspirational characters resounding today - Outstanding full-color photos and illustrations throughout - Portrays common links within the United Methodist Church and the unfolding drama of each conference - An attractive hardcover, "coffee-table" book Key Benefits: - Readers get the benefit of the history of American Methodism from a well-known expert - Can be used to help leaders prepare for classes on Methodism - An excellent gift for both young people and adults - Helps readers understand the challenges of tomorrow and the applications for the turbulence of life today


Methodism

Methodism

Author: David Hempton

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2005-01-01

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 0300106149

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Hempton explores the rise of Methodism from its unpromising origins as a religious society within the Church of England in the 1730s to a major international religious movement by the 1880s.


Taking Heaven by Storm

Taking Heaven by Storm

Author: John H. Wigger

Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 9780252069949

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In 1770 there were fewer than 1,000 Methodists in America. Fifty years later, the church counted more than 250,000 adherents. Identifying Methodism as America's most significant large-scale popular religious movement of the antebellum period, John H. Wigger reveals what made Methodism so attractive to post-revolutionary America. Taking Heaven by Storm shows how Methodism fed into popular religious enthusiasm as well as the social and economic ambitions of the "middling people on the make"--skilled artisans, shopkeepers, small planters, petty merchants--who constituted its core. Wigger describes how the movement expanded its reach and fostered communal intimacy and "intemperate zeal" by means of an efficient system of itinerant and local preachers, class meetings, love feasts, quarterly meetings, and camp meetings. He also examines the important role of African Americans and women in early American Methodism and explains how the movement's willingness to accept impressions, dreams, and visions as evidence of the work and call of God circumvented conventional assumptions about education, social standing, gender, and race. A pivotal text on the role of religion in American life, Taking Heaven by Storm shows how the enthusiastic, egalitarian, entrepreneurial, lay-oriented spirit of early American Methodism continues to shape popular religion today.


Marks of a Movement

Marks of a Movement

Author: Winfield Bevins

Publisher: Zondervan

Published: 2019-09-10

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 0310093252

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Marks of a Movement calls us back to the disciple-making mandate of the church through the timeless wisdom of John Wesley and the Methodist movement. With a love for history and a passion for today’s church, Winfield helps us reimagine church multiplication in a way that focuses on making and multiplying disciples for the twenty-first century. Winfield Bevins reminds us of the vital multiplication lessons from the Wesleyan movement, one of the greatest missional movements the world has ever known. He highlights the necessity of discipleship as the starting point and the abiding strategic practice that is key to all lasting missional impact in and through movements. The Methodist movement is an example of the power of multiplying movements that utilize the strategy of discipleship. Within a generation, one in thirty people who were living in Britain had become Methodists, and the movement soon became a worldwide phenomenon. We in the Western Church need a movement of historic proportions once again. What would such a multiplication movement look like for us today? We must look to the past to gain wisdom for the future. And as we look at the pages of church history, there is no better example of a multiplication movement in the West than the Methodist movement of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Marks of a Movement highlights the lessons and key insights that enable us to learn from the past and reapply this timeless, biblical wisdom for today.


The Methodist Experience in America Volume 2

The Methodist Experience in America Volume 2

Author: Russell E. Richey

Publisher: Abingdon Press

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 727

ISBN-13: 0687246733

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This Sourcebook, part of a two-volume set, The Methodist Experience in America, contains documents from between 1760 and 1998 pertaining to the movements constitutive of American United Methodism.


The Methodists and Revolutionary America, 1760-1800

The Methodists and Revolutionary America, 1760-1800

Author: Dee Andrews

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2002-03-31

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13: 9780691092980

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The Methodists and Revolutionary America is the first in-depth narrative of the origins of American Methodism, one of the most significant popular movements in American history. Placing Methodism's rise in the ideological context of the American Revolution and the complex social setting of the greater Middle Atlantic where it was first introduced, Dee Andrews argues that this new religion provided an alternative to the exclusionary politics of Revolutionary America. With its call to missionary preaching, its enthusiastic revivals, and its prolific religious societies, Methodism competed with republicanism for a place at the center of American culture. Based on rare archival sources and a wealth of Wesleyan literature, this book examines all aspects of the early movement. From Methodism's Wesleyan beginnings to the prominence of women in local societies, the construction of African Methodism, the diverse social profile of Methodist men, and contests over the movement's future, Andrews charts Methodism's metamorphosis from a British missionary organization to a fully Americanized church. Weaving together narrative and analysis, Andrews explains Methodism's extraordinary popular appeal in rich and compelling new detail.