S T Kimbrough
Список книг автора S T Kimbrough
May She Have a Word with You?
Perhaps Charles Wesley's two volumes of Funeral Hymns (1746 and 1759), plus a few poems left in manuscript form, are the least known of his poetical corpus. They are a treasury, however, of his views on the importance of women in eighteenth-century England as examples of how to live the Christian life. Entries in his MS Journal indicate an extremely positive relationship with women who are his coequals in mission and in the Methodist societies, and much of the work depended on them. Furthermore, Charles wrote numerous poems about women, often occasioned by death, which lift up individual women as models for the community at large and the church. The intent of this volume is not to present a historical survey of these women or their historical place per se in the early Methodist movement, rather the primary goal is to discover a literature that helps us to see the values which women had in the early Methodist movement and how those values were acknowledged, recorded, and fostered or encouraged by Charles Wesley, particularly in his poetry. The title, May She Have a Word with You, suggests there is a need today to hear of these women's exemplary words, deeds, and lives as a whole.
Alphabetical Index to the First Lines of All Stanzas of Poetry by John and Charles Wesley
This is the first-ever index of the first line of every stanza of all the poems and hymns in the publications of John and Charles Wesley, as well as those of other authors included in their publications. Two sources have been used as the basis for the creation of the index: (1) George Osborn, The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, thirteen volumes published between 1868 and 1872; (2) S T Kimbrough, Jr., Oliver A. Beckerlegge, The Unpublished Poetry of Charles Wesley, three volumes published in 1988, 1990, and 1992. The index in volume 13 of Osborn's work was an attempt to produce a first-line index of all stanzas of the poems included in the thirteen-volume work. There were hundreds of omissions and occasional misspellings. Due to lack of space, first lines were often abbreviated, thus providing often only portions of first lines. In this index first lines of all poem stanzas are printed in full, omissions are included, and misspellings are corrected. This index also provides a comparable index for all previously unpublished poems in the Kimbrough/Beckerlegge volumes. This is the first comprehensive and reliable index to Wesley poetry, which will assist interpreters with the full range of John and Charles Wesley's verse.
Partakers of the Life Divine
This volume is the first attempt to explore Charles Wesley's understanding of «participation in the divine nature,» often described by the church fathers as deification and/or theosis, within the full spectrum of his prose and poetical compositions and in relation to many of the church fathers. While the Eastern Church has been the primary harbinger of the doctrine of deification from the patristic era to the present, Charles Wesley's theology illustrates that this emphasis is by no means absent in the West. Though patristic influences on Charles Wesley's thought are primarily through secondary sources such as the writings of Lancelot Andrewes and Richard Hooker, as well as through the influence of his brother John, this volume underscores prominent resonances with the church fathers. The extent of these resonances in Charles's theology as regards «participation in the divine nature» is so widespread in his writings that they form the matrix of his ideas of salvation, perfection, and holiness, all of which are intimately bound with life lived in and through the Eucharist. If taken seriously, Charles Wesley's ideas on «participation in the divine nature» will require a rethinking of the role of Wesleyan theology in spiritual formation and in ecumenical conversation.
Of Death and Grief
This little book of poems reveals how the author has dealt with the grief that accompanied the death of his wife of fifty-nine years. The poems are a conversation on the journey through the grieving process, which perhaps has no end. Yes, they are permeated with a deep faith that there is more to life than merely living and dying. At the same time, they are honest responses to how painful it is to lose your life partner. Many of the poems are autobiographical: about first encounter, marriage, life and love together, and death. The actual physical occurrence of death can be readily described by physicians, but its emotional and life effect is much more illusory. Without question, these poems are simply one person's response to death and grief. They provide no decisive answers on how to respond to either, but if one's open and honest response can help others address such challenges, so be it. The goal of the author is not to provide steps for the grieving, rather through poetry to share the thoughts of the heart and mind as they grapple with death and grief. He avers that through the very difficult process of grieving, which may never completely end, love alone is the key to healing and renewal.
Radical Grace
This volume brings together for the first time the writings of Charles Wesley on the theme of justice for the poor and marginalized, drawing upon his sermons, manuscript journal, poetry, and a few letters. Most of his poems/hymns that address poverty and justice were left unpublished at his death. The author studies the theology of these texts for the first time in relation to relevant themes in his sermons, manuscript journal, and letters, and evaluates it in the light of its application and implementation in the eighteenth century and its viability for the twenty-first-century church and Christian. Charles's views of how Christians may «use divine grace divine» in seeking justice for the poor are indeed radical, for they advocate behavior that is often quite contrary to what is generally accepted as Christian practice. This volume makes clear that the radical grace he espouses is consistent with Holy Scripture and should indeed be practiced by Christians today.
The liturgies and musical settings of some of the hymn texts that address the poor and marginalized at the end of the volume provide a pragmatic means for the worshipping community to integrate the principles of radical grace into their theology and praxis.