Catalyst Publications
Publications by Category
Think of a time when you went through a significant transition to something wonderful and new. Maybe it was moving away from home for the first time and getting your own place. Maybe it was starting a new job and moving to a new city. Maybe…
Dec/14/2020
Because my mother died at a relatively young age, my main link to her family came through my great aunt, Flossie Johnson. I became close to Aunt Flossie during my nearly eighteen years of pastoral ministry in Washington, DC, the city where,…
Dec/09/2020
My last piece in Catalyst explored the gnostic tendencies of our currently over-Zoomed lives and asked questions about the use of so much virtual modality for theological education and worship. I suggested that we use this moment to think a…
Dec/07/2020
In part one of this essay, we explored biblical law regarding the humane treatment of domestic animals. We learned that the people of Israel were not free to be simple “consumers” of the creatures entrusted to them. Rather, they were comman…
Dec/02/2020
The subject matter of this article is one of the most misunderstood topics of holiness and social justice in the Christian community today. The topic is obviously important, relevant, contemporary, and compelling. It is something our neighb…
Nov/25/2020
2020 is a year that will live in the history books for many years to come. In the US alone many aspects of this tumultuous year will fill research journals for years, including epidemiology, race, politics, firefighting, hurricane forecasti…
Nov/16/2020
I continue this year’s survey of books that make explicit the trinitarian structure of Wesley’s theology with Holy Trinity: Holy People, The Theology of Christian Perfecting, by T. A. Noble (Wipf and Stock, 2013). Noble’s work is not only a…
Nov/11/2020
No doubt, 2020 has been a particularly rough year to experience. A worldwide lockdown to try to stem the raging coronavirus pandemic quickly followed by an outcry for justice and reform in the Black Lives Matter movement meant that natural …
Nov/09/2020
What is theology? This is usually the first question I ask my students in my systematic theology course at Fuller Seminary. Their answers typically revolve around the idea of thinking, talking, and writing about God. The assumption for many…
Nov/04/2020
Recently I suggested that Christians have much both to learn from and to contribute to public debates about monuments and meaning. Here I propose a distinctively Christian contribution: the fourfold reading of Scripture. A popular way of re…
Nov/02/2020
It is sometimes heard in our society that religion and politics are topics one should avoid because these topics are controversial and lead to heated arguments and disagreements. At the present, the issue of race and race relations could be…
Oct/26/2020
The impact of Larry W. Hurtado’s work on the study of the New Testament and early Christian origins has been broad and deep, leaving a lasting impression on biblical scholarship. As indicated by the title of a 2015 festschrift published in …
Oct/21/2020
Getting Involved
News & Events
-
A Foundation for Theological Education (AFTE) John Wesley Fellowships have been awarded to three doctoral stud…
-
Announcing that 2026 John Wesley Fellowship Scholarship Applications are now being accepted. Please see the at…
-
JWF and Friends of AFTE, we look forward to you joining us Thursday-Sunday, January 15-18, 2026, for the AFTE …
-
Twenty John Wesley Fellows, spouses, and friends were able to experience a trip of a lifetime. The travel itin…
"The John Wesley Fellowship provides not only financial support, it is an extraordinary community of Christian scholars — and friends."