Aldersgate and Athens

William J. Abraham (D.Phil. Oxford University) is Albert Cook Outler Professor of Wesley Studies, and Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor, Southern Methodist University, Perkins School of Theology. He is the author or editor of 16 books, including most recently Canonical Theism: A Proposal for Theology and the Church (with Jason E. Vickers and Natalie B. Van Kirk, 2008), Crossing the Threshold of Divine Revelation (2007), and Canon and Criterion in Christian Theology: From the Fathers to Feminism (2002). He lives in Dallas, Texas.

Preface Chapter 1 Faith and the Promises of God Chapter 2 Faith and Personal Experience of God Chapter 3 Faith and the Power of God Chapter 4 Faith and Divine Revelation

"Abraham draws fascinating lines between Aldersgate and Athens that few could have imagined existed. Priority reading for philosophers of religion." --Jerry L. Walls, author of Heaven: The Logic of Eternal Joy and editor of The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology "This is Abraham at his best. His thought-provoking comments throughout will engage the serious reader for years to come." --Richard P. Heitzenrater, The Divinity School, Duke University ...this book is a wonderful addition to any Wesleyan scholar's shelf. -- Lee M. Jefferson, Centre College -- Religious Studies Review William J. Abraham... has given us a slim but rich volume on the epistemology he believes is extractable from Wesley's experience.... Abraham has done us all a favor by clearly and concisely organizing and arguing the evidence of Wesley's theological epistemology. The case he builds comes from a close reading of the text, and by bringing Wesley into conversation with modern philosophers of religion he has shown the continued relevance of this great evangelist and modern saint. -- Tony Hunt -- The Living Church, 2011 [Aldersgate and Athens] encourages believers to look less to a reasoned faith proportionate to the objective (external or public) evidence for theism and more to a faith which generates its own certainty in the encounter with God in revelation and experience. -- Graham Gould, Leyton -- The Journal of Theological Studies