An expansive, substantive history of the Wesleyan tradition in the United States, Doctrine, Spirit, and Discipline offers a broad survey of the Methodist movement as it developed and spread throughout America, from the colonial era to the present day. It also provides an theological appraisal of these developments in light of John Wesley's foundational vision. Beginning with Wesley himself, Watson describes the distinctiveness of the tradition at the outset. Then, as history unfolds, he identifies the common set of beliefs and practices which have unified a diverse group of people across the centuries, providing them a common identity through a number of divisions and mergers. In the midst of the sweeping changes happening in Methodism and the pan-Wesleyan movement today, Watson shows that the heart of the Wesleyan theological tradition is both more expansive and substantive than any singular denominational identity.
Perfect Love: Recovering Entire Sanctification—The Lost Power of the Methodist Movement is a wake-up call to the people called Methodists. According to John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, God raised up Methodism in order to spread the central teaching of entire sanctification. The church has offered an unbalanced understanding of the gospel for too long. The promise of forgiveness and pardon through faith in Jesus Christ has been emphasized in many parts of the body of Christ. Initial conversion and new birth are good news indeed! But they are also just the beginning of the life that is promised to us in the Bible. Jesus came not only so that we could be forgiven, but so that we could have life abundantly.
This book calls all Methodists - the spiritual descendants of the Wesleyan revival, regardless of contemporary denominational expression - back to who we have been at our best, in times when we have been a growing, vibrant, and Spirit-filled movement. It is time to retrieve Methodism's lost treasure, the doctrine of entire sanctification. This doctrine speaks to the radical optimism that through the work of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, we can move from struggling to survive as Christians to thriving! Perfect Love provides an in-depth explanation of entire sanctification and helps readers pursue all that God has for us.
