William J. Abraham

In his day, John Wesley offered important insights on how to obtain knowledge of God that readily bears fruit in our own times. As premiere Wesleyan scholar William Abraham shows, Wesley's most famous spiritual experience is rife with philosophical significance and implications. Throughout, Abraham brings Wesley's works into fruitful conversation with some of the most important work in contemporary epistemology. Lyrically and succinctly he explores the simultaneous epistemological quest and spiritual pilgrimage that were central to Wesley and the Evangelical Revival of the eighteenth century. In so doing, he provides a learned and eye-opening meditation upon the relationship between reason and faith.

En este libro, el profesor William Abraham afirma que la evangelización es un arte. Y, por consiguiente, debe ser llevado a cabo con cuidado, ha de ser emprendido con seria reflexión y colocarse en el marco de la estrategia global de la vida eclesial. Es más, sostiene que no se consiguen más cristianos por el simple hecho de difundir palabras a la gente, sino por el cuidado y el amor que refleja una comunidad cristiana que toma muy en serio la Biblia y sus propias tradiciones. La colección SEUT es una selección de libros académicos, adaptados al lector para que profundice, de forma accesible, en los temas pilares de la Teología. El área Ministerio y Misión es un rico instrumento para el lector que quiera practicar la fe que proclama dentro y fuera de su comunidad cristiana.

The last few decades have seen a revolution in debates about the rationality of Christian belief. Among the array of current options for justifying religious belief, however, nearly every one assumes that a general theory of knowing and a minimal version of theism must be adopted before the rationality of Christian belief can be tackled. In Crossing the Threshold of Divine Revelation William J. Abraham confronts both of these assumptions, arguing that epistemology must begin with its particular target of inquiry -- in Abraham's case the full-blooded "canonical theism" of the early, undivided Christian church. He argues, moreover, that special divine revelation forms a crucial threshold at the entrance to the epistemology of Christian belief. Sure to intrigue philosophers, theologians, and curious students, Abraham's robust vision of Christian faith provides a creative solution to many of the current difficulties in philosophy and theology.

Wesley for Armchair Theologians engagingly presents the life and theology of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. Written by prominent Wesley scholar William Abraham, who aimed to "make Wesley come alive for those who would truly love to become armchair theologians," the book is an excellent, entertaining, and expert guide to the work of this important Christian figure. Written by experts but designed for the novice, the Armchair series provides accurate, concise, and witty overviews of some of the most profound moments and theologians in Christian history. These books are essential supplements for first-time encounters with primary texts, lucid refreshers for scholars and clergy, and enjoyable reads for the theologically curious.

Canon and Criterion in Christian Theology provides an original and important narrative on the significance of canon in the Christian tradition. Standard accounts of canon reduce canon to scripture and treat scripture as a criterion of truth. Scripture is then related in positive or negative ways to tradition, reason, and experience. Such projects involve a misreading of the meaning and content of canon --- they locate the canonical heritage of the church within epistemology --- and Abraham charts the fatal consequences of this move, from the Fathers to modern feminist theology. In the process he shows that the central epistemological concerns of the Enlightenment have Christian origins and echoes. He also shows that the crucial developments of theology from the Reformation onwards involve extraordinary efforts to fix the foundations of faith. This trajectory is now exhausted theologically and spiritually. Hence, the door is opened for a recovery of the full canonical heritage of the early church and for fresh work on the epistemology of theology.

The book provides an original and important narrative on the significance of canon in the Christian tradition. Standard accounts of canon reduce canon to scripture and treat scripture as a criterion of truth. Scripture is then related in positive or negative ways to tradition, reason, and experience. Such projects involve a misreading of the meaning and content of canon --- they locate the canonical heritage of the church within epistemology --- and Abraham charts the fatal consquences of this move, from the Fathers to modern feminist theology. In the process he shows that the central epistemological concerns of the Enlightenment have Christian origins and echoes. He also shows that the crucial developments of theology from the Reformation onwards involve extraordinary efforts to fix the foundations of faith. This trajectory is now exhausted theologically and spiritually. Hence, the door is opened for a recovery of the full canonical heritage of the early church and for fresh work on the epistemology of theology.

Asserting that the "return to Wesley" that is represented in the Quadrilateral is "intellectually wrongheaded," William J. Abraham argues that the Quadrilateral is not, and should not be, United Methodist doctrine. Abraham's lively treatise makes a provocative appeal for a reasoned exploration of the significance of the UMC's doctrinal identity. He reveals how churches have faced incompatible doctrinal proposals within their midst and examines the specific issues facing the United Methodist church as a whole.

Discusses conversion, baptism, morality, and the Holy Spirit and argues that evangelism is an initiation into the kingdom of God.