Methodist and Radical: Rejuvenating a Tradition

The thoughts and beliefs of John Wesley and the Early Methodist traditions are frequently related to recent progressive tendencies in theology. There are numerous parallels between contemporary interests in people at the margins and Wesley's concern for poor people and his commitments to the sick and imprisoned. In this volume, contributors from diverse backgrounds in the United States and around the globe reflect on radical and liberation traditions in Methodism in their own context. In conversation with contemporary Methodism and the Wesleyan heritage, each chapter focuses on the question of how radical and liberation traditions provide new visions for the present and future of the church.

Contributors: Jose Miguez Bonino, Rebecca S. Chopp, Stephen G. Hatcher, Jione Havea, Theodore Jennings, Jr., Cedric Mayson, Mercy Amba Oduyoye, Andrew Sung Park, Jong Chun Park, Harold J. Recinos, Joerg Rieger, John J. Vincent, and Josiah U. Young, III.

Joerg Rieger is Distinguished Professor of Theology and Cal Turner Chancellor’s Chair in Wesleyan Studies, and the Director of the Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee. His work addresses the relation of theology and public life, reflecting on the misuse of power in religion, politics, and economics. Author and editor of 27 books and over 210 academic articles, his books include Jesus vs. Caesar: For People Tired of Serving the Wrong God; No Religion but Social Religion: Liberating Wesleyan Theology; Unified We Are a Force: How Faith and Labor Can Overcome America’s Inequalities (with Rosemarie Henkel-Rieger); Faith on the Road: A Short Theology of Travel and Justice; and Occupy Religion: Theology of the Multitude (with Kwok Pui-lan).