Perfecting Perfection

Henry D. Rack is one of the profoundest historians of the Methodist movement in modern times. He has spent a lifetime researching and writing about the rise and significance of John Wesley and his Methodist followers in the eighteenth century and has also uncovered the historical significance of the Methodist Church in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Collected here in this volume are thirteen essays honoring the life and scholarship of Dr. Rack from a host of international scholars in the field. The topics range from Wesley's view of grace in the eighteenth century to the dynamic intersection of the Methodist and Tractarian movements in the nineteenth century. A bibliographical essay of Rack's most prominent publications in the field of Methodist studies is also provided. In the end, the collection of essays offered here in honor of Dr. Rack will be engaging and provocative for considering Methodist Studies in the present and future generations.It is so fitting that the leading British Methodist historian, Henry Rack, is being honored in this eminently readable volume that includes contributions from such key American voices as Heitzenrater, Campbell, Wigger and Watson. Broad in scope, and yet remarkably balanced in its overall composition, this collection of essays makes a splendid and engaging contribution to the field. --Kenneth J. Collins, Professor of Historical Theology and Wesley Studies, Director of the Wesleyan Studies Summer Seminar, Asbury Theological Seminary This is an outstanding collection of essays that is indispensable reading for all students of Methodism and the Wesleyan tradition. Many of the essays break new ground for future research; all of them are a pleasure to ponder.--William J. Abraham, Outler Professor of Wesley Studies, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist UniversityRobert Webster is currently Senior Minister in the Tennessee Conference of the United Methodist Church and recently Professor of Methodist History and Theology at The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. He is the author of Methodism and the Miracuous (2013). In addition to numerous published articles in the field of Methodist Studies, he has also coedited a special issue of the Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester (2006) devoted to the life of Charles Wesley.