162 - Charles Wesley: Poet and Theologian

Charles Wesley: Poet and Theologian
By S.T. Kimbrough, Jr., Editor
Abingdon Press, 1992. 250 pp. $18.95.

S.T. Kimbrough, founding President of the Charles Wesley Society and editor of this volume, is a familiar name to Wesleyan scholars. With Oliver Beckerlegge, he edited the three volumes of The Unpublished Poetry of Charles Wesley (Kingswood Books, 1988-1992). Kimbrough has also lectured widely OD the theological significance of Wesley for Western Christian tradition.

This volume is a compilation of papers first presented to the Charles Wesley Publication Colloquium in 1989. The essay topics range from

164 - Charles Wesley: Poet and Theologian

Wesley's relationship to Roman Catholicism to his contribution to liturgical renewal and method of biblical interpretation. Contributors include established scholars in the field, such as Frank Baker and Richard Heitzenrater, as well as some relative newcomers to Wesley studies. Thomas Albin's chapter on "Charles Wesley's Prose Writings" sheds light on the recently-published collection of six "shorthand sermone" and introduces the reader to additional manuscript documents in the hand of Charles Wesley. As is common with anthologies, the essays vary in both length and complexity. Though probably too detailed to maintain the interest of students in an introductory church history course, two kinds of readers will find this work particularly helpful. The first is the pastor or layperson who has read one or two Charles Wesley biographies, and now wants further insight into Wesley's thought. The second type is the academic seeking to keep abreast of recent scholarship and discoveries in Wesleyan and liturgical studies.

Carol M. Noren
Duke University Divinity School
Durham, NC.