Health and Medicine in the Methodist Tradition

“Holifield’s erudition and graceful writing are on full display in this concise history of the quest for spiritual and physical health in the Wesleyan tradition.  With deft strokes, Holifield draws readers into a story that is at once far away and close at hand.”


—Grant Wacker, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor, Emeritus of Christian History, Duke Divinity School


“Engaging, readable, creative, insightful, and instructive probing of the array of today's medical and health-related issues--some now highly controversial--and of Methodism's struggle to find balanced commitments and policy.  Brooks Holifield finds John Wesley and his daughters and sons to have lived with only partially formulated dialectical or balanced counsel.  He educates Methodists (and others) on what they believe.”


—Russell E. Richey, Dean Emeritus, Candler School of Theology


“Brooks Holifield’s consideration of health and medicine in Methodism couldn’t be more timely. He shows how Wesley’s stress on love as the central Christian virtue prompted Methodists to provide health care as an essential part of their ministries, and he incisively interprets the debates that have marked Wesleyan conversations. As he so clearly reveals, following the way of love in the Wesleyan tradition has never been simple. Given the fierce antagonisms in today’s debates about health care, this book is an absolute must read.”


—Valarie Ziegler, Professor of Religious Studies, DePauw University


Brooks Holifield has masterfully crafted a work of brilliant scholarship that is accessible for pastors and congregations alike. Health and Medicine in the Methodist Tradition is an essential tool for churches seeking a serious yet engaging study of Wesleyan theology and a thoughtful perspective on important ethical issues at a time when the Church needs to reclaim the values of a holistic and hopeful expression of the Christian faith.


—Rev. Barbara Clark, Pastor, Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church