Description: An anthology of writings of late-18th and early-19th century Methodist women.Writings of early Methodist women have compelling stories to tell. This volume puts us in touch with a lost heritage of vital spirituality that can transform lives and the church, even today. These selections from the writings of early Methodist women vividly illustrate the richness of women's contributions to the life of the church and the legacy of Wesleyan spirituality. The religious accounts, diaries and journals, prayers, hymns and sacred poems, and narrative practical divinity, brought together here for the first time, provide a new vantage point from which to view the wonderful spiritual awakening of Wesley's day. They reveal a "way of devotion," a way of living out the Christian faith that conjoins personal piety and social action, conversion and growth in grace.
Brief description: Dr. Robin W. Lovin (B.A., Northwestern University; B.D., Ph.D. Harvard University) is Cary Maguire University Professor of Ethics at Southern Methodist University. Prof. Lovin served as Dean of the Perkins School of Theology from 1994 until 2002 and previously held teaching positions at Emory University and the University of Chicago, and he was Dean of the Theological School at Drew University. He is an ordained minister of the United Methodist Church and is active in local and national church events. His research interests include social ethics, religion and law, and comparative religious ethics. He has served on the editorial boards of numerous scholarly journals, including the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Studies in Christian Ethics, and the Journal of Law and Religion, and he is an editor-at-large for the Christian Century.