These essays from the "Second Consultation on Orthodox and Wesleyan Spirituality" address scriptural authority and interpretation in the Orthodox and Wesleyan traditions. Rooted within their respective faith communities, the authors avoid false convergences but acknowledge viable commonalities, thus setting an innovative tone for ecumenical study and dialogue. The four main sections-Orthodox Scriptural Understanding and Practice,Mutual Learning between Orthodox and Methodists,Wesleyan Scriptural Understanding and Practice, and Liturgy and Scriptural Interpretation-represent selected presentations from the "Second Consultation on Orthodox and Wesleyan Spirituality" held at Trinity College, June 16-20, 2000, in Bristol, UK, and from the "Third Consultation" convened at the Orthodox Spiritual Academy in Crete, Greece, August 1-7, 2002, under the sponsorship of the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church and the faculty of St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary. The Outstanding scholars from the Orthodox tradition, such as John McGuckin, Thomas Hopko, Elizabeth Theokritoff, Petros Vassiliadis, Theodore Stylianopoulos, Dimitar Kirov, Tamara Grdzelidze, and Nicholas Lossky engage their peers from the Wesleyan tradition, Geoffrey Wainwright, Grant Sperry White, Frances Young, Karen Westerfield Tucker, James Charlesworth, Ted Campbell, Kenneth Carveley, George Mulrain, Maxine Walker, and Timothy L. Bryan. The result is ecumenical dialogue at its finest.
This publication plus two others is the result of several years of work where we find a wealth of evidence based on careful scholarship documenting a significant amount of common ground between Orthodox and Wesleyan theology.
Kimbrough, Jr., S.T. (ed). (2002) Orthodox and Wesleyan Spirituality. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press.
_____, (ed) (2007) Orthodox and Wesleyan Ecclesiology. Crestwood, N.Y: St Vladimir’s Seminary Pr.
All of this work contributed to a powerful book digging into theosis and sanctification as seen in the book,
_____, and Bouteneff, P. (2016) Partakers of the Life Divine: Participation in the Divine Nature in the Writings of Charles Wesley. Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books.
Anyone who fails to see Methodism's clear eastern orientation, must not know either very well.