The Burning Heart: John Wesley, Evangelist
A. Skevington Wood

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Listed as one of the "top five books on church history" by Christianity Today (December issue, 2007)

A Landmark in Wesley Studies

“Skevington Wood’s The Burning Heart remains a landmark in the study of Wesley. It is written without pretension, with great clarity, and with unfailing insight; the control of tone and of pertinent evidence is remarkably sensitive. It displays a rare combination of intellectual depth and spiritual acumen.”

—William J. Abraham, Albert Cook Outler Professor of Wesley Studies Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University

Wesley’s Passion for Evangelism

British Wesley scholars typically excel in their historical and descriptive understanding of John Wesley, and they do so for obvious reasons considering that Wesley was himself British. Living in the midst of Wesley’s environment gives them an advantage in this regard. American Wesley scholars are famous for their theologies of John Wesley, but as one recent Wesley scholar has noted, you have as many “Wesleys” as you do contemporary Wesley scholars, each one mirroring Wesley in their own image and reconstructing him according to their own agendas. Here in this classic work A. Skevington Wood has the advantage of the British perspective and yet he provides a reliable interpretation of Wesley’s own theological thinking. Wood also rightly notes that the key to understanding Wesley is to see him as an evangelist. This interpretative theme is the prism for seeing the whole Wesley. Wood obviously shares the passion of Wesley for evangelism and hence this book vigorously affirms Wesley. Some might consider this to be a tendency toward hagiography; nonetheless, Wood’s profound appreciation for Wesley allows him to penetrate insightfully into the central concerns and contributions of Wesley. The decisive contribution of this book is that it gives the reader a clear and straightforward account of the ancestry, life, and theology of John Wesley and it does so all in one volume.

—Laurence W. Wood, Frank Paul Morris Professor of Theology/Wesley Studies Asbury Theological Seminary

About the Author:

A. Skevington Wood (1917–1993), Ph.D (Univ. of Edinburgh) was a British Methodist minister, author, and scholar. For seven years he was Principal of Cliff College in Derbyshire and was the first President of the Wesley Fellowship in the United Kingdom in 1984. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in the United Kingdom. He authored more than 16 books.