The Ten Most Important Theologians in the Wesleyan Tradition
Michael has given me a wonderful challenge: Name, describe, and rank the ten most important theologians in the Wesleyan theological tradition (since John and Charles Wesley). I will do a series of posts on this in the coming weeks. Off the top of my head, these are the names that come to mind. First of all, I would name a few contemporaries of John and Charles Wesley: John Fletcher, Thomas Coke, and George Whitefield (the black sheep Calvinist in the Methodist family).
Now, as far as theologians SINCE the Wesleys, my list would include (in no particular order) Albert Outler, Georgia Harkness, Edwin Lewis, Borden Parker Bowne, Edgar Sheffield Brightman, Thomas Oden, John Cobb, Nathan Bangs, William Cannon, Geoffrey Wainwright, Stanley Hauerwas, E. Stanley Jones, William Willimon, Richard Allen, Richard Hays, and James Cone. That’s 16 theologians. It will require some work for me to narrow the list to ten, but those are my nominations. This could be fun. Would you have any other nominations? There are probably some obvious ones that I am missing.
14 comments:
Good list.
Interesting choices. Fletcher was expected. Though he is relatively unknown outside of Methodism, everyone who knows the tradition knows his importance. I was surprised you picked Coke over Asbury but am willing to be convinced. Good to see Whitefield re-claimed. In North America, most of his converts either became Congregationalists or Baptists, but in the UK there are Calvinist Methodists to this day--most associated with the Primitive Methodist movement.
Given your own theological commitments, I was surprised to see Bowne, Brightman, & Cobb make the list, although not Harkness. In this liberal Wesleyan/Methodist tradition, I would have thought that Martin Luther King, Jr.'s teacher at B.U., L. Harold DeWolfe, rated listing.
Not familiar with Bangs or Lewis. I know only Cannon's name (and that he was a UMC bishop). In addition to Richard Allen, would not one want to include Absalom Jones? And one could argue that the layperson, Frederick Douglass, is a forerunner to Black Liberation theology and he was an AME member. Good to see James Cone here, but what about his nonviolent activist counterpart, James Lawson? Never thought of E. Stanley Jones as a theologian. If biblical scholars like Hays are included, I'd argue also for James D.G. Dunn.
Now that Hauerwas has left for Canterbury, does he still count? Isn't that like Anglicans counting John Henry Newman after his conversion to Catholicism? But I expected Stanley there.
Bishop Willimon is an intriguing choice. He is one of the few UMC bishops who is a major theological voice (unlike Anglican and Episcopal bishops, UMC bishops always seemed to me to be chosen simply for administrative talents), but the top 10? Nothing for William Abraham?
I'll be interested to see the series of profiles and the discussion, especially by your fellow Methodists and Wesleyans. (I wonder if Nazarenes or Wesleyan Church folk will weigh in? Holiness and/or Pentecostal offshoots?)
Only one woman and, despite the global nature of Methodism, today, only the missionary Jones is outside the UK/USA world. Perhaps a follow up series of "New Voices" globallY?
I really look forward to this, Jonathan. Maybe you can work parts of it into sermons at your church, too.
Thanks Michael. As I was thinking about the list of important theologians, I was not necessarily thinking of my favorite theologians or even the best theologians - I was thinking of the most important in the sense of influential. Certainly Bowne, Brightman & Cobb have not been influential for me, and I would not describe them as our best theologians, but they have had influence. You are right that L. Harold DeWolfe deserves consideration.
I did not put Asbury on the list because he was not really a theologian. A great preacher, leader, and organizer to be sure, but not really a theologian. You are right that E. Stanley Jones was not known primarily as a theologian, but he did write some theology.
Absalom Jones, Frederick Douglass, and James Dunn are also good suggestions. She wouldn't be considered as a theologian, but Harriett Tubman (a Methodist who was considered the Moses of her people) would be an interesting person to consider. I don't know James Lawson, although I'm sure that I should.
I'll say more about your Hauerwas questions later :)
Oh, I love William Abraham, by the way ! I don't think he would be in the top ten, but definitely an honorable mention.
Now I remember James Lawson! D'oh! Forgive my ignorance!
Well, I am an amateur historian of the Civil Rights movement, so that's why I remember Lawson. On my blog, I am pointing people here to this series.
I knew of Harriet Tubman's AME membership, but, as you say, she wasn't a theologian even in the broad sense. Also true of another AME saint, Harriet Tubman. (Rosa Parks was also AME, though she attended a Quaker high school.)
Your reasons for selecting Bowne, Brightman, and Cobb are compelling (and expected), but I wanted to see you spell them out.
One could argue that Brightman was primarily a philosopher, though, and make the case for substituting Albert C. Knudson.
I am really glad to see Outler in your list. He is in danger of being forgotten today, but was very important to my father's generation.
If you do a follow up on newer voices, I hope to see more global voices (Justo Gonzalez, Jose Miguez Bonino, Andrew S. Pak, Ghana's Mercy Amber Odoyuye, Joon-Sik Park, Edinburgh's Marcella Althas-Reid) and more female voices (my fried, Sondra Ely Wheeler at Wesley Seminary in D.C.; Marjorie Schuckocki--a more coherent process theologian than Cobb in my view and one who does more to connect it back to classical theology than any process thinker since the late UCC theologian Daniel Day Williams; Karen Baker-Fletcher, Rebekah Miles, Linda Mercadante).
BTW, my Methodist family connections are only one part of why I, a Baptist, know this much about the tradition. The other is that I have twice had the privilege of being Visiting Professor of Protestant Theology at St. Meinrad's Catholic Seminary in Indiana. (Much fun.) One course I taught was "Protestant Theology II: Post-Reformation to the 20th C." and Methodists played a large role there.
This is great, Jonathan... I look forward to seeing where you take this.
I suppose the category of "important" is catching my curiosity. And I'm left with more questions than answers...
How is "important" different or similar to "influential?"
How would a Nazarene or Pentecostal thinker rate? (Mainline Methodists can't discount their importance)
Given our theological heritage on "practical divinity," it strikes me that an authentic list would need to have practicing preachers who are not necessarily systematic theologians, don't you think?!
Lindstrom, forgot that one, another good one.
Mark, you are right to raise these questions. I am using the word "important" as in "influential," but I realize there are some important people who are not influential. I am using the term important to mean those theologians who have exerted the most influence on theological discussions in the Methodist tradition. I realize that the Methodist/Wesleyan tradition includes Pentecostals, Nazarenes, and Salvation Army. But I really don't know much about the theologians in those parts of the Wesleyan tradition. I invite readers to enlighten me. Which leads me to say that I do not claim to be the most qualified person to compose this list. My knowledge of the Methodist tradition is considerable, but it is not exhaustive. Michael has already pointed out some of my limitations. I cannot approach the question from every conceivable angle, but I will put forth my argument for why I choose the ten that I choose, and I welcome other points of view. Again, I emphasize that these will not be a list of my ten favorite Methodist theologians or those whom I consider the best theologians. This will be a list of the ten most important (influential) theologians to make an impact on Methodism.
I wasn't trying to convince you of "limitations," Jonathan. I'd challenged you to an almost impossible task. If I had to come up with only 10 Baptist theologians (my tradition), I'd be hard pressed.
I'm just trying to spark discussion, because theology and the life of the church mean much to me. I also wanted to see you blog more on The Ivy Bush--and to see others take this up, too.
So, no disparagement was meant at all.
Thanks, Michael. I think we all have limitations, so I didn't take it as disparagement :)
Since Wm. J. Abraham earned his D.Phil. at REGENT PARK's COLLEGE, Oxford, I think Baptists can take partial credit for him. (Strangely, despite the connection between Oxford and the Wesleys, there is no Methodist college at Oxford--just at Cambridge.)
John Miley is the great forgotten Methodist giant, and deserves mention.
There is one name that should be at or near the top of this list: William Burt Pope. Pope's systematics may be the most important ever written by a Methodist. It is an extremely impressive and much too neglected work.
Jason Vickers
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