Theology and the Wesleyan Tradition

Abstract

This article examines the nature of systematic or dogmatic theology in relation to the Wesleyan tradition. A brief review of contemporary works examining the theology of John Wesley is followed by a survey of the development of systematic theology within the Wesleyan tradition in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. An examination of the Trinitarian, credal shape of Christian theology leads to thinking about the shape of the theological curriculum in the Christian college or seminary and finally to reflections on the role of theology in the church.