Catalyst Publications
Publications by Category
Holiness is not a word much in use today. A word like “piety” has fallen into disuse because it now connotes a smugly self-righteous attitude. But holiness does not seem to connote much at all today–hence our reluctance to employ it. Whatev…
Feb/01/2005
Recent advances in neuroscience provide a critique of the modern dualist view of reality. Some neuroscientists are now telling us that Descartes got it wrong (cf. A. Damasio, Descartes’ Error [Putnam, 1984]), that emotion is as important to…
Feb/01/2005
In1780, the main hymnal of John Wesley’s Methodist movement was published. Like most of the Methodist hymnals that preceded it, A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists consisted of hymns largely written by Charles …
Feb/01/2005
Since the rise of modern skepticism, scholars have debated the proper presentation of ancient Israelite history. The eminent 20th century scholar Gerhard von Rad framed the issue cogently a generation ago: “These two pictures of Israel’s hi…
Nov/01/2004
Generally, the term “embody” has the sense of bringing to life. Essays in this series have shown how the healthy church embodies, or brings to life, qualities of forgiveness, diversity, hospitality, and so on. The same will apply to this to…
Nov/01/2004
A class of seminary students asked me to describe the changes in ministry I had observed in ministry since graduating from seminary more than two decades ago. At first I was silent. Where should I begin? The list I began to enumerate took t…
Nov/01/2004
“Our doctrine and our discipline” was a phrase common to early Methodists, including John Wesley and Francis Asbury. Both terms were crucial to the new movement, but they had significantly different connotations then than they do for many t…
Nov/01/2004
With the publication in 1986 of his book Foolishness to the Greeks (Eerdmans, 1986), Lesslie Newbigin set loose in the U.S. a new wave of influence among pastoral leaders. For decades, his influence had already molded the way people thought…
Apr/01/2004
In a New Yorker magazine cartoon, a person enters heaven. St. Peter, notes in hand, checks his list. He says to the person, “Bad timing—He is in one of his OT moods today.” It is bad enough that the person has died, but to find God in one o…
Apr/01/2004
The first book I read in my graduate work on the NT began as follows: “It is impossible to speak of a scientific view of the NT until the NT became the object of investigation as an independent body of literature with historical interest, a…
Apr/01/2004
Christian perfection, or entire sanctification, may be the most controversial of Wesley’s teachings. It was certainly one of the most misunderstood, which is why Wesley took such great pains to define it. Christian perfection, he said, is “…
Apr/01/2004
I have no such pretensions, but were I to offer a kind of state-of-the-union assessment of American Protestantism at the turn of the twenty-first century, I could not be sanguine. Mainline (generally liberal) Protestantism has been ravaged …
Mar/01/2004
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A Foundation for Theological Education (AFTE) John Wesley Fellowships have been awarded to three doctoral stud…
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Announcing that 2026 John Wesley Fellowship Scholarship Applications are now being accepted. Please see the at…
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JWF and Friends of AFTE, we look forward to you joining us Thursday-Sunday, January 15-18, 2026, for the AFTE …
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Twenty John Wesley Fellows, spouses, and friends were able to experience a trip of a lifetime. The travel itin…
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