Book Review: Wesley and the People Called Methodists

Information about the book

Richard P. Heitzenrater. Wesley and the People Called Methodists, Second Edition. Abingdon Press, Nashville. 2013.  Cokesbury. Amazon.

Summary

From the Amazon Description: This second edition of Richard P. Heitzenrater's groundbreaking survey of the Wesleyan movement is the story of the many people who contributed to the theology, organization, and mission of Methodism. This updated version addresses recent research from the past twenty years; includes an extensive bibliography; and fleshes out such topics as the means of grace; Conference: "Large" Minutes: Charles Wesley: Wesley and America; ordination; prison ministry; apostolic church; music; children; Susanna and Samuel Wesley; the Christian library; itinerancy; connectionalism; doctrinal standards; and John Wesley as historian, Oxford don, and preacher.

This book is a very detailed review of the early years (1700s) of Methodism. It focuses on John and Charles Wesley and the people and activities around them through Wesley's death.

Impressions

I read this book in preparation for the BeADisciple class Methodist Identity: Our Story.  I have found that my "investing" my reading time in a reference book related to the class that my experience of the class is greatly enhanced.  I read this one before the class started, over the summer months.  I found it to be very detailed, well organized, and actually, if not an easy read, then also not a difficult read.

I found the following aspects of the book to be particularly interesting:

1. The first section reviewed the English Reformation and the Church in England.  I have never considered how this would influence the development of Methodism and the Wesleys themselves. 
2. I was particularly interested in watching how Wesley's faith and viewpoint matured over his lifetime. It was definitely not a stagnant faith. It grew and matured.
3. John (and Charles) Wesley's idea that they weren't Christian until they experienced assurance of God's love and forgiveness was - well - a shocker.
4. I appreciated watching the dynamic of "will we or won't we" break away from the Anglican Church.
5. In general, reading about how Methodism grew and changed was very interesting to me.

I would recommend this book to someone who would like to take a deep dive into the origins on Methodism during John Wesley's life.

Posts about book

Others posts that reference this book will be tagged with Heitzenrater Wesley

Time Management and Holy Living

I’m currently reading Wesley and the People Called Methodists by Richard P Heitzenrater. I’ve registered for my next Wesley / Be A Disciple class for the Wesley Academy for Advanced Christian Studies.   My experience with these classes is that they do not require a large amount of outside reading, but by adding an optional book reading to the class, I greatly enhance my experience and learning. 

Anyway, today I read this:  "Jeremy Taylor provided one of the most crucial suggestions that Wesley adopted: the first rule of holy living is care of your time."

I’ve known for a while that John Wesley kept a diary of the use of his time (among other things).  Also, one of the historical questions is:

“Will you observe the following directions? A) Be diligent. Never be unemployed. Never be triflingly employed. Never trifle away time; neither spend any more time at any one place than is strictly necessary. B) Be punctual. Do everything exactly at the time. And do not mend our rules, but keep them; not for wrath, but for conscience’ sake.” 

I’ve never really considered why Wesley placed such a value on managing his time until I read the first sentence I quoted: the first rule of holy living is care of your time.

How aware are we of how we spend our time?  I manage my time at work with the goal (in my mind) of both being aware of the goals/tasks I need to accomplish that day, prioritizing them, and then managing my time in order to accomplish them.  That’s not working toward holy living, but it’s what I consider to be time management.

But how often do we say, “I would do that, but I just don’t have the time.”  Are we aware of how we spend our time? Do we prioritize holy living? Time in prayer and study? Time in service?

I for one do not think it is healthy to always be pushing to get things done.  We all need down time.  That said, do we prioritize our time for holy living? It’s an interesting question to me.