Partakers of the Life Divine: Participation in the Divine Nature in the Writings of Charles Wesley

This volume is the first attempt to explore Charles Wesleys understanding of participation in the divine nature often described by the church fathers as deification and/or theosis within the full spectrum of his prose and poetical compositions and in relation to many of the church fathers. While the Eastern Church has been the primary harbinger of the doctrine of deification from the patristic era to the present Charles Wesleys theology illustrates that this emphasis is by no means absent in the West. Though patristic influences on Charles Wesleys thought are primarily through secondary sources such as the writings of Lancelot Andrewes and Richard Hooker as well as through the influence of his brother John this volume underscores prominent resonances with the church fathers. The extent of these resonances in Charless theology as regards participation in the divine nature is so widespread in his writings that they form the matrix of his ideas of salvation perfection and holiness all of which are intimately bound with life lived in and through the Eucharist. If taken seriously Charles Wesleys ideas on participation in the divine nature will require a rethinking of the role of Wesleyan theology in spiritual formation and in ecumenical conversation. This volume is the fruit of decades of work by S T Kimbrough Jr. to bring serious consideration of Charles Wesleys theology into the conversation between Eastern and Western theologians over the themes of deification and participation in the divine nature. It provides a comprehensive survey of Wesley on these topics and advances the discussion at several points. Highly recommended! --Randy L. Maddox William Kellon Quick Professor of Wesleyan and Methodist Studies The Divinity School Duke University S T Kimbrough Jr. demonstrates exhaustively that mystical sacramental union with God and participation in the divine nature is at the heart of Charles Wesleys thought and experience parallel to the Fathers of the Eastern Church. This contrasts starkly with prevailing Protestant interpretations of Wesleyan thought. For Orthodox readers the fact that Wesleys understanding was shaped entirely outside the boundaries of the Eastern Church may be akin to the apostle Peters discovery that Gentiles could have the same experience of the Holy Spirit as the Jerusalem community did on Pentecost. Charles Wesley could thus be a bridge of shared spiritual life looking toward the never-ending day of Gods eternal kingdom when Love like death hath all destroyed / Rendered all distinctions void: / Names and sects and parties fall; / Thou O Christ art ALL in ALL! --John A. Jillions Chancellor Orthodox Church in America S T Kimbrough has made a jewel of a book out of his lifelong interest in the life of the churches and the historical traditions core to the greater ecclesiastical tradition. In this lively study he makes a bridge for readers between the spiritual traditions of the reformed world through Wesley and other luminaries and the early Christian doctrines about redemption under the analogy of deification by grace. --John A. McGuckin Professor of Byzantine History Columbia University S T Kimbrough Jr. is a Research Fellow of the Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition of Duke Divinity School. He is the founder of The Charles Wesley Society and editor of its journal Proceedings of The Charles Wesley Society. As author/editor he has published numerous books on Charles Wesley including Charles Wesley: Poet and Theologian and The Unpublished Poetry of Charles Wesley (3 vols.).