I am pleased to announce that my second book will soon be published by Routledge in their Methodist Studies Series.

The book analyzes the theology of the Spirit and the church in British Methodist revivalism and argues that seemingly subtle theological differences between the revivalists and other Methodists contributed significantly to the division and eventual reunion of British Methodism.

The book should be available late this year or early next. I’ve pasted the “blurb” and table of contents below, and I’ll post excerpts / highlights in the coming weeks.

Revivalism was one of the main causes of division in nineteenth century British Methodism, but the role of revivalist theology in these splits has received scant scholarly attention. In this book, James E. Pedlar demonstrates how the revivalist variant of Methodist spirituality and theology empowered its adherents and helped foster new movements, even as it undermined the Spirit’s work through the structures of the church. Beginning with an examination of unresolved issues in John Wesley’s ecclesiology, Pedlar identifies a trend of increasing marginalization of the church among revivalists, via an examination of three key figures: Hugh Bourne (1772-1852), James Caughey (1810-1891), and William Booth (1860-1932). He concludes by examining the more catholic and irenic theology of Samuel Chadwick (1860-1932), the leading Methodist revivalist of the early twentieth century who became a strong advocate of Methodist Union. Pedlar shows that these theological differences must be considered, alongside social and political factors, in any well-rounded assessment of the division and eventual reunification of British Methodism.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction

2. ‘A Division of Heart’: Separation and the Spirit in the Later Wesley

3. ‘We shall have no mastery’: Hugh Bourne and the Emergence of Primitive Methodism

4. Revival and the Reformers: James Caughey and the Schism of 1849

5. Separate but Non-Sectarian: The Salvation Army’s Ecclesiological Ambiguities

6. Catholicity of the Heart: Samuel Chadwick and Methodist Union

7. Conclusion: Revivalism’s Mixed Legacy