Worth reading, part I

I'd like to spend a few posts pointing my readers to excellent resources for reading in the Wesleyan & Methodist tradition. Here's why:

-- While there are a lot of good Methodist-related blogs these days (see Shane Raynor's Wesley Report for a regular rundown of solid content), it's important to read deeper than what you can get in a blog post. Christians identify with a particular tradition because of the understanding that it offers of the Christian faith. The Wesleyan tradition, I believe, offers a compelling account of certain key parts of the Christian life: the doctrine of salvation; the understanding of grace; the nature and work of the Holy Spirit; the evangelistic calling of Christian ministry; the nature of sanctification; and the importance of participation in the means of grace. Learning to grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ within such a tradition means immersing oneself in that tradition's resources.

-- I often get requests about where to go to find information on this or that topic. While you can and should look for guidance on specific topics when they arise, I think a better way to come to a mature understanding of Wesleyan theology and Methodist history is to read regularly out of the best resources available. That will often come through new books that are written by pastors and theologians in the Wesleyan tradition. But it can also come through regularly engaging top periodicals and journals.

-- There are good resources available to us on both an academic and popular level - and I'll be recommending resources from both categories. Increasingly, these resources are available in both print and online editions. I have no doubt that most (if not all) will eventually be available primarily in online formats. The cost of printing and distribution is simply so high that it is driving print-based publications out of business. (And the move for academic journals, which have very small circulations, to go online has already started.) But the problem is that nobody has figured out how to make money with web-based publishing yet - and after all, making money is essential if a publication is going to survive. So in the resources I am going to recommend, I'm going to advocate not just free online reading, but actual subscriptions. That may sound a bit controversial, but I think it's important. If we want these publications to keep on going, we need to support them as they continue to evolve and develop publishing models that are sustainable for the future. For the sake of full disclosure, I'll let you know the ones for which I have subscriptions myself.

-- Many of us see the potential for revival of the Wesleyan tradition these days. In fact, in some ways a revival has been going on since the development of modern critical Wesley Studies in the 1960s. But for that revival to have a wide impact, it needs to be engaged by a breadth of interested laity, committed pastors, and dedicated scholars. So I'm going to be an advocate for that, here and in the posts to come.

Questions? Comments? I hope you'll stay tuned.