This is an introduction to the Methodist way and method of doing theology. This book is written to capture the imagination and engage the reader in conversation. Methodism is not a doctrinaire society, yet it is clear about what it believes. Methodists confidently develop their theology through conversation with the world of secular knowledge, with other Christian traditions and other religious faiths, drawing on contemporary biblical scholarship and with careful attention to the Christian tradition. Methodism is serious about worship, public and personal, since it wants to celebrate the reality of God's presence with God's people - that is, as Methodists understand it, with all God's people. Methodist theology is grounded in the grace of God that it proclaims to be free for all. Methodist theology is essentially Christological; it puts Christ at the centre of faith, but therefore, (not 'as well'!) is focused on God, the Holy Trinity. Methodism is one Society and is keen to draw others into its fellowship. Hence the Methodist Church does not have missionary societies; it is, properly understood, a Society organised for mission. "Doing Theology" introduces the major Christian traditions and their way of theological reflection. The volumes focus on the origins of a particular theological tradition, its foundations, key concepts, eminent thinkers and historical development. The series is aimed readers who want to learn more about their own theological heritage and identity: theology undergraduates, students in ministerial training and church study groups.

Author Biography

Kenneth Wilson was educated at Cambridge and Bristol Universities and is a Methodist Minister. After chaplaincies to London University and Kingswood School, Bath, held the Rowbotham Chair in Philosophical Theology and Ethics at Wesley College Bristol and taught at Bristol University, (1973-80). 1980-1996 Principal Westminster College, Oxford; 1996-2001 Director of Research Queens Foundation, Birmingham. Currently:- Visiting Research Fellow, Canterbury Christ Church University, and Chichester University. His publications cover: Making Sense of It (Epworth); Focus on God (with Frances Young, Epworth); Freedom and Grace (ed. with Ivor Jones, Epworth); Readings in Church Authority (ed. with Gerard Mannion, Richard Gaillardetz and Jan Kerkhofs, Ashgate, 2003); Learning to Hope (Epworth, 2006).