John Wesley’s Letter to a Roman Catholic

by Steve | Aug 8, 2017 | In the News

DUBLIN July 18, 1749.

1. You have heard ten thousand stories of us who are commonly called Protestants, of which, if you believe only one in a thousand, you must think very hardly of us. But this is quite contrary to our Lords rule, “Judge not, that ye be not judged”; and has many ill consequences, particularly this — it inclines us to think as hardly of you. Hence we are on both sides less willing to help one another, and more ready to hurt each other. Hence brotherly love is utterly destroyed; and each side, looking on the other as monsters, gives way to anger, hatred, malice, to every unkind affection, which have frequently broke out in such inhuman barbarities as are scarce named among the heathens.

2. Now, can nothing be done, even allowing us on both sides to retain our own opinions, for the softening our hearts towards each other, the giving a check to this flood of unkindness, and restoring at least some small degree of love among our neighbors and countrymen? Do not you wish for this? Are you not fully convinced that malice, hatred, revenge, bitterness, whether in us or in you, in our hearts or yours, are an abomination to the Lord? Be our opinions right, or be they wrong these tempers are undeniably wrong. They are the broad road that leads to destruction, to the nethermost hell.

3. I do not suppose all the bitterness is on your side. I know there is too much on our side also — so much, that I fear many Protestants (so called) will be angry at me too for writing to you in this manner, and will say, “It is showing you too much favor; you deserve no such treatment at our hands.”

4. But I think you do. I think you deserve the tenderest regard I can show, were it only because the same God hath raised you and me from the dust of the earth, and has made us both capable of loving and enjoying Him to eternity; were it only because the Son of God has bought you and me with His own blood. How much more, if you are a person fearing God (as without question many of you are) and studying to have a conscience void of offence towards God and towards man!

5. I shall therefore endeavor, as mildly and inoffensively as I can, to remove in some measure the ground of your unkindness, by plainly declaring what our belief and what our practice is; that you may see we are not altogether such monsters as perhaps you imagined us to be.

A true Protestant may express his belief in these or the like words:–

6. As I am assured that there is an infinite and independent Being, and that it is impossible there should be more than one; so I believe that this one God is the Father of all things, especially of angels and men; that he is in a peculiar manner the Father of those whom he regenerates by his Spirit, whom he adopts in his Son as co-heirs with him, and crowns with an eternal inheritance; but in a still higher sense the Father of his only Son, whom he hath begotten from eternity.

I believe this Father of all, not only to be able to do whatsoever pleaseth him, but also to have an eternal right of making what and when and how he pleaseth, and of possess­ing and disposing of all that he has made; and that he of his own goodness created heaven and earth and all that is therein.

7. I believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Savior of the world, the Messiah so long foretold; that, being anointed with the Holy Ghost, he was a Prophet, revealing to us the whole will of God; that he was a Priest who gave himself a sacrifice for sin, and still makes intercession for transgressors; that he is a King, who has all power in heaven and in earth, and will reign till he has subdued all things to himself.

I believe he is the proper, natural Son of God, God of God, very God of very God; and that he is the Lord of all, having absolute supreme universal dominion over all things; but more peculiarly our Lord, who believe in him, both by conquest, purchase, and voluntary obligation.

I believe that he was made man, joining the human nature with the divine in one person; being conceived by the singular operation of the Holy Ghost, and born of the blessed Virgin Mary, who, as well after as before she brought him forth, continued a pure and unspotted virgin.

I believe he suffered inexpressible pains both of body and soul, and at last death, even the death of the cross, at the time that Pontius Pilate governed Judaea under the Roman Emperor; that his body was then laid in the grave, and his soul went to the place of separate spirits; that the third day he rose again from the dead; that he ascended into heaven; where he remains in the midst of the throne of God, in the highest power and glory, as Mediator till the end of the world, as God to all eternity; that in the end he will come down from heaven to judge every man according to his works, both those
who shall be then alive and all who have died before that day.

8. I believe the infinite and eternal Spirit of God, equal with the Father and the Son, to be not only perfectly holy in himself, but the immediate cause of all holiness in us; enlightening our understandings, rectifying our wills and affections, renewing our natures, uniting our persons to Christ, assuring us of the adoption of sons, leading us in our actions, purifying and sanctifying our  souls and bodies, to a full and eternal enjoyment of God.

9. I believe that Christ by his Apostles gathered unto himself a Church, to which he has continually added such as shall be saved; that this catholic (that is, universal) Church, extending to all nations and all ages, is holy in all its members, who have fellowship with God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; that they have fellowship with the holy angels, who constantly minister to these heirs of salvation; and with all the living members of Christ on earth, as well as all who are departed in His faith and fear.

10. I believe God forgives all the sins of them that truly repent and unfeignedly believe his holy gospel; and that at the last day all men shall rise again, every one with his own body. I believe that, as the unjust shall after their resurrection be tormented in hell for ever, so the just shall enjoy inconceivable happiness in the presence of God to all eternity.

11. Now, is there anything wrong in this? Is there any one point which you do not believe as well as we? But you think we ought to believe more. We will not now enter into the dispute. Only let me ask, If a man sincerely believes thus much, and practices accordingly, can any one possibly persuade you to  think that such a man shall perish everlastingly?

12. “But does he practice accordingly?” If he does not, we grant all his faith will not save him. And this leads me to show you in few and plain words what the practice of a true Protestant is.

I say, a true Protestant: for I disclaim all common swearers, Sabbath-breakers, drunkards; all whoremongers, liars, cheats, extortioners; in a word, all that live in open sin. These are no Protestants; they are no Christians at all. Give them their own name: they are open heathens. They are the curse of the nation, the bane of society, the shame of mankind, the scum of the earth.

13. A true Protestant believes in God, has a full confidence in his mercy, fears him with a filial fear, and loves him with all his soul. He worships God in spirit and in truth, in everything gives him thanks; calls upon him with his heart as well as his lips at all times and in all places; honors his holy name and his Word, and serves him truly all the days of his life.

Now, do not you yourself approve of this? Is there any one point you can condemn? Do not you practice as well as approve of it? Can you ever be happy, if you do not? Can you ever expect true peace in this or glory in the world to come, if you do not believe in God through Christ? if you do not thus fear and love God? My dear friend, consider, I am not persuading you to leave or change your religion, but to follow after that fear and love of God without which all religion is vain. I say not a word to you about your opinions or
outward manner of worship. But I say, all worship is an abomination to the Lord, unless you worship him in spirit and in truth, with your heart as wall as your lips, with your spirit and with your understanding also. Be your form of worship what it will, but in everything give him thanks, else it is all but lost labor. Use whatever outward observances you please; but put your whole trust in him, but honor his holy name and his Word, and serve him truly all
the days of your life.

14. Again: a true Protestant loves his neighbor — that is, every man, friend or enemy, good or bad – as himself, as he loves his own soul, as Christ loved us. And as Christ laid down His life for us, so is he ready to lay down his life for his brethren. He shows this love by doing to all men in all points as he would they should do unto him. He loves, honors and obeys his father and mother, and helps them to the uttermost of his power. He honors and obeys the King and all that are put in authority under him. He cheerfully submits to all his governors, teachers, spiritual pastors, and masters. He behaves lowly and reverently to all his betters. He hurts nobody by word or deed. He is true and just in all his dealings. He bears no malice or hatred in his heart. He abstains from all evil-speaking lying and slandering; neither is guile found in his mouth. Knowing his body to be the temple of the Holy Ghost he keeps it in sobriety, temperance, and chastity. He does not desire other men’s goods; but is content with that he hath, labors to get his own living, and to do the whole will of God in that state of life unto which it has pleased God to call him.

15. Have you anything to reprove in this? Are you not herein even as he? If not (tell the truth), are you not con­demned both by God and your own conscience? Can you fall short of any one point hereof without falling short of being a Christian? Come, my brother and let us reason together. Are you right, if you only love your friend and hate your enemy? Do not even the heathens and publicans so? You are called to love your enemy to bless them that curse you, and to pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you. But are you not disobedient to the heavenly calling? Does your tender love to all men – not only the good, but also the evil and unthankful – approve you the child of your Father which is in heaven? Otherwise, whatever you believe and whatever you practice, you are of your father the devil. Are you ready to lay down your life for your brethren? and do you do unto all as you would they should do unto you? If not, do not deceive your own soul: you are but an heathen still. Do you love, honor and obey your father and mother and help them to the utmost of your power? Do you honor and obey all in authority? all your governors, spiritual pastors, and masters? Do you behave lowly and reverently to all your betters? Do you hurt nobody by word or deed? Are you true and just in all your dealings? Do you take care to pay whatever you owe? Do you feel no malice, or envy, or revenge, no hatred or bitterness to any man? If you do, it is plain you are not of God; for all these are the tempers of the devil. Do you speak the truth from your heart to all men, and that in tenderness and love? Are you an ‘Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile’? Do you keep your body in sobriety, temperance, and chastity, as knowing it is the temple of the Holy Ghost and that, if any man defile the temple of God, him will God destroy? Have you learned, in every state wherein you are, therewith to be content? Do you labor to get your own living abhorring idleness as you abhor hell-fire ? The devil tempts other men; but an idle man tempts the devil: an idle man’s brain is the devil’s shop, where he is continually working mischief. Are you not slothful in business? Whatever your hand finds to do, do you do it with your might? And do you do all as unto the Lord, as a sacrifice unto God, acceptable in Christ Jesus?

This, and this alone is the old religion. This is true, primitive Christianity. Oh, when shall it spread over all the earth? When shall it be found both in us and you? Without waiting for others, let each of us, by the grace of God, amend one.

16. Are we not thus far agreed? Let us thank God for this, and receive it as a fresh token of his love. But if God still loveth us, we ought also to love one another. We ought, without this endless jangling about opinions, to provoke one another to love and to good works. Let the points wherein we differ stand aside: here are enough wherein we agree enough to be the ground of every Christian temper and of every Christian action.

O brethren, let us not still fall out by the way! I hope to see you in heaven. And if I practice the religion above described, you dare not say I shall go to hell. You cannot think so. None can persuade you to it. Your own conscience tells you the contrary. Then, if we cannot as yet think alike in all things, at least we may love alike. Herein we cannot possibly do amiss. For of one point none can doubt a moment, — “God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”

17. In the name, then, and in the strength of God, let us resolve first, not to hurt one another; to do nothing unkind or unfriendly to each other, nothing which we would not have done to ourselves. Rather let us endeavor after every instance of a kind, friendly, and Christian behavior towards each other.

Let us resolve secondly, God being our helper, to speak nothing harsh or unkind of each other. The sure way to avoid this is to say all the good we can both of and to one another; in all our conversation, either with or concerning each other, to use only the language of love to speak with all softness and tenderness, with the most endearing expression which is consistent with truth and sincerity.

Let us, thirdly, resolve to harbor no unkind thought, no unfriendly temper, towards each other. Let us lay the axe to the root of the tree; let us examine all that rises in our heart, and suffer no disposition there which is contrary to tender affection. Then shall we easily refrain from unkind actions and words when the very root of bitterness is cut up.

Let us, fourthly, endeavor to help each other on in what­ever we are agreed leads to the kingdom. So far as we can, let us always rejoice to strengthen each other’s hands in God. Above all, let us each take heed to himself (since each must give an account of himself to God) that he fall not short of the religion of love, that he be not condemned in that he himself approveth. O let you and I (whatever others do) press on to the prize of our high calling! that, being justified by faith, we may have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; that we may rejoice in God through Jesus Christ, by whom we have received the atonement; that the love of God may be shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Let us count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord; being ready for Him to suffer the loss of all things, and counting them but dung that we may win Christ.

–I am

Your affectionate servant for Christ’s sake.

John Wesley, Open Hearts, and Roman Catholicism

by Steve | Aug 8, 2017 | In the News

Cardinal Walter Kasper

Editor’s note: Since we mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation sparked by Martin Luther and his 95 Theses, we would like to take this opportunity to post this sermon from Roman Catholic Cardinal Walter Kasper marking the 300th anniversary of John Wesley’s birth. Kasper is President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, having served as its president from 2001 to 2010. This sermon was given at Ponte Sant’Angelo Methodist Church in Rome on June 22, 2003.

By Cardinal Walter Kasper

It is a great pleasure to be with you this morning as you join with Methodist congregations throughout the world in celebrating the 300^th anniversary of John Wesley. Your invitation to preach on this occasion is a generous ecumenical gesture for which I am most grateful, and I would like to extend my thanks in particular to your pastor, Rev. Pieter Bouman, and to all of you, for the warm welcome. It is also my pleasure and privilege this morning to bring you greetings and the blessing of Pope John Paul II. As you know, the longing to recover full communion among all Christians is a desire he carries deeply in his heart.

When twenty years ago my predecessor at the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal Willebrands, gave an address on the occasion of the 500^th anniversary of Martin Luther’s birth, he quoted Saint Augustine on the complexity of the human person: “Grande profundum est ipse homo” (the human person is a vast depth). Indeed, each human being is a great mystery, created and sustained by God, in a relationship with God the depths of which we cannot understand.

John Wesley was a complex figure, and his relationship with and view of the Catholic Church was complex. He was a priest of the Church of England, though decisions at the end of his life anticipated the separation of Methodism from Anglicanism. Methodist-Catholic relations today have been influenced by the fact that there is no history of formal separation between us, as Methodism grew out of the Anglican tradition; hence we have no difficult memories of separating.

While John Wesley understood the Roman Catholic Church to be a part of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, and acknowledged that Roman Catholics could be saved through faith, his writings and sermons contain certain hostile references to “popery” and “the errors of the Church of Rome,” which hopefully he would phrase differently if he were alive today. His commentary on the Book of Revelation reflects a rather ungracious view of the Papacy; so much so that it is somewhat daring of you to invite me here today, and perhaps equally daring of me to accept! The Catholic response to Wesley and early Methodists was, however, no better, and happily we have ceased to blame each other.

Wesley’s Letter to a Roman Catholic, written during the anti-Methodist riots in Cork in 1749, was something of an exception to all of this. Indeed it has been referred to as an ecumenical classic. In a plea for greater understanding, Wesley outlines what he sees as the essential beliefs of “true, primitive Christianity,” wherein most of what is said could be easily embraced by the Catholic Church. He invites Methodists and Catholics “to help each other on in whatever we are agreed leads to the Kingdom,” and proposes that “if we cannot as yet think alike in all things, at least we may love alike,” and finally, expresses his hope that they will meet in heaven.

A Catholic reflection on John Wesley needs to grapple with his ambivalent understanding of the Catholic Church, but cannot stop there; we must also seek a wider view, to see what dynamized Wesley’s ministry, to see the evangelical passion which gave direction to his life and the movement he started. Furthermore, we do so today in a new context, engaging in a reassessment of John Wesley’s life and ministry from a very different starting point.

Following upon the positive experience and reports of Methodist observers at the Second Vatican Council, a dialogue was initiated between the member churches of the World Methodist Council and the Catholic Church. Our [decades] of dialogue have already borne much fruit. A genuine friendship has emerged between us, not only on the level of the official dialogue, but in many local contexts as well, where Methodists and Catholics see themselves as ecumenical partners who feel an obligation to take their relationship further and to offer common witness. The hostility has passed, and we have come to recognize each other as brothers and sisters in Christ.

At least in part, we now look to John Wesley through eyes educated by our dialogue, and by our experience of Methodists today. A recent study of John Wesley notes that he left a lasting imprint on Methodism in much the same way as Ignatius of Loyola did on future Jesuits. In like manner, just as you continue to turn to the ministry of John Wesley for inspiration and guidance, we can look to see and find in him the evangelical zeal, the pursuit of holiness, the concern for the poor, the virtues and goodness which we have come to know and respect in you. For all of this, we can all afford to be profoundly grateful.

This morning’s readings, especially our text from the Second Letter of St Paul to the Corinthians, provide us with a framework to reflect on the call to discipleship, the call to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the call to personal holiness. As we do so, we can make connections with the life and ministry of John Wesley, and hear some of his words which still resonate with us today.

After an eloquent account of what Paul and his companions had experienced and endured in order to bring the gospel to the people of Corinth, Paul notes: We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you. There is no restriction in our affections… (vv.11-12). The missionary spirit which we see in St Paul is certainly one which inspired John Wesley, as was Paul’s desire to give himself completely to Christ. Wesley noted that as a young man, reading Thomas à Kempis awoke in him an interior dimension of faith, “the religion of the heart.” He wrote: “I saw that giving even all my life to God… would profit me nothing unless I gave my heart, yea all my heart to Him.” His experience of God at the Aldersgate Street gathering in 1738 in turn gave him the conviction that God’s forgiveness and grace were given unconditionally to him, and this propelled him to mission.

For Wesley, there was no such thing as being a half-Christian. The gift received invited a response of the whole person, with intellect and heart, knowledge and piety placed generously at the service of the Gospel, put into action in order that Christian discipleship touched every aspect of the life of the believer. Wesley told his itinerant preachers: “You have nothing to do but to save souls, therefore spend and be spent in this work.” The experience of the disciples at the end of today’s gospel, the sense of awe and wonder at the way in which Jesus had calmed the wind and sea, was an experience Wesley looked to awaken in his hearers in order that they might be converted to a vibrant discipleship of Christ.

Today’s passage from St Paul also presents the urgent need to spread the good news of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. “See, now is the acceptable time; … now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor 6:2). As a folk theologian, an itinerant preacher travelling throughout Britain, Wesley was moved by this same sense of urgency to patiently but persistently spread the glad tidings of salvation, to preach the Word in season and out. His mission was grounded in Scripture, in his understanding of Scripture as the primary and abiding testimony to the redemptive work of God in Christ. He saw his mission as “spreading scriptural holiness throughout the land.”

The core of the message was the limitless grace and love of God, echoing a line addressed to God from today’s Psalm (9:10): “You have never forsaken those that seek you.” As the leader of a revival movement, Wesley organized rounds and circuits to be visited by a band of itinerant preachers. The pastoral style he taught and encouraged was characterized by a desire to make known the love of Christ, to reform the inner life of the church, to encourage participation in the celebration of the Eucharist, to foster Christian education, to serve the poor, to impassion professed Christians into articulate witness for Christ’s sake.

A final aspect of John Wesley’s ministry deserves to be commented upon at greater length, namely his understanding of sanctification, the call to holiness. Again we can turn to today’s text from St Paul, where he outlines how he and his missionary companions have sought to live: in “purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left…” (2 Cor 6:6-7). Following in the spirit of this little litany of St Paul, Wesley understood the call to holiness as being both intensely personal and strongly ecclesial. He encouraged his hearers to strive towards a holy life, to live disciplined, simple lives removed from worldly pleasures, and stressed devotional exercises as a means to grow in one’s relationship with God.

The same Lord who calmed the wind and sea can bring stillness and calm to our hearts if we place all our trust in him. The following “personal covenant” dating from 1780 communicates well Wesley’s desire to invite his hearers into such a trusting relationship with God:

I come Lord, I believe Lord.

I throw myself upon thy Grace and Mercy; 

do not refuse me!

I have not whither else to go; 

Here will I stay, I will not stir from thy door; 

On thee will I trust, and rest, and venture myself. 

On thee I lay my hope for pardon, for life, for salvation.

if I perish, I perish on thy shoulder; 

if I sink, I sink in thy vessel; 

if I die, I die at thy door….

At the same time, Wesley saw clearly the importance of Christian community, and sought to cultivate a strong sense of ecclesial identity, desiring through his itinerant preaching to leave behind a company of men and women closely knit together in a common life. It is interesting to hear the testimony of George Whitefield, an itinerant preacher who started out in Wesley’s company of preachers, but eventually went his own way. Whitefield noted that by joining people together in small communities, Wesley “preserved the fruit of his labour. This,” wrote Whitefield, “I neglected, and my people are a rope of sand.”

We began our reflections from St Paul with his words our hearts are wide open to you. Today’s passage concludes with his plea, open wide your hearts also (v.13). It is a sign of the Holy Spirit’s work among us that Methodists and Catholics today can hear this call and seek to respond to it increasingly together, mindful of our common baptism, and in the context of an ever developing relationship which invites us to share, to the extent that it is presently possible, in Christ’s mission to the world.

The most recent report of the international Methodist-Catholic dialogue is entitled “Speaking the Truth in Love,” and its preface notes that this phrase of St Paul (Eph 4:15) “captures both the spirit in which the dialogue has proceeded and the result that is hoped for from it.” May we ever hold fast to both truth and love, pursuing them in tandem, and trusting that if we do so, the Holy Spirit will draw us ever more closely together.

The Methodist tradition of hymns is one which has resulted in an enriching of the Catholic Church and many other Christian traditions. Charles Wesley’s hymn Love Divine, All Loves Excelling is well known to English speaking Christians throughout the world. Mindful of the principle that our prayer expresses our belief (lex orandi, lex credendi), let us make the last verse of that hymn our common prayer to the Lord today:

Finish then Thy new creation,

Pure and spotless let us be;

Let us see Thy great salvation

Perfectly restored in Thee!

Changed from glory into glory,

Till in heaven we take our place,

Till we cast our crowns before Thee,

Lost in wonder, love, and praise.

Remembering Dr. Kenneth C. Kinghorn

by Steve | Jul 25, 2017 | In the News

Dr. Kenneth Kinghorn

By James V. Heidinger II

Dr. Kenneth Cain Kinghorn, 87, passed away peacefully at his home on July 23, 2017. Where does one begin in describing such a fruitful and productive life as his? Ken was a highly-respected author and teacher among Wesleyans literally around the world. He was a friend to evangelical and orthodox United Methodists, and a personal friend and encourager to many of us in denominational renewal ministries.

Ken attended Asbury Theological Seminary and then earned a Ph.D from Emory University in historical theology. During this time as a graduate student, he pastored Methodist churches in Kentucky and Georgia. He joined the faculty at Asbury Theological Seminary in 1965 and taught full-time until 2003, and then part-time until 2016, an amazing span of some 51 years! During those years he taught church history winsomely to thousands of future church leaders. He also served as Provost (1983-1986) and as Dean (1995-1999) at the seminary.

I never had the privilege of having a class under Ken at Asbury, but I did share in a small prayer group with him while still a student there. My admiration for him began there and continued to deepen across the years. For the past three decades, Ken and his lovely wife, Hilda, have been active members at First United Methodist Church in Lexington, where my wife Joanie and I have attended. For several decades, Ken spent many weekends traveling to churches across the country preaching, teaching, and leading workshops. It was always a rich time to catch up with him after church or over lunch to get a report on where he had been and how his weekend of teaching and preaching had gone.

It was also refreshing, as well, to get reports on his latest writing projects. Here was a full-time professor, an active churchman, and a husband and father who still had time to write — and did he ever write. Ken authored hundreds of articles (including a number for Good News) and more than 25 books, including The Heritage of American Methodism, Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and his highly significant three-volume set of John Wesley’s Standard Sermons in Modern English. A number of his works were translated into multiple languages. (He did preaching and teaching tours in Japan and Korea.)

Ken was able to be so productive because he was very Wesley-like in his personal disciplines — rising early each day for devotional reading, prayer and writing, always redeeming the time. His last book, an unusual high-quality volume of portraits of John Wesley, he completed just a month before he died.

Ken has been a friend to seminarians in more ways than most might realize. He helped to found, and to lead — as well as fundraise for — several foundations providing financial support for graduate students preparing for academic and pastoral vocations within the Wesleyan tradition. These included A Foundation for Theological Education (He was a founding and long-time member of the AFTE board of directors), a visionary ministry written about recently in the pages of Good News, and also a Foundation for United Methodists. His heart was set to help students. For many years, he taught continuing education (up through 2016) for the United Methodist Church’s Appalachian Lay Pastors School. This is simply who Ken Kinghorn was, a servant of the church.

Ken is survived by his wife, Hilda, three sons and a daughter, and numerous grandchildren. Thanks to you, Hilda, for encouraging Ken as he shared his many gifts with thousands of folks all across the country and beyond. So many of us have been enriched by his life, his winsome faith, and his Spirit-led teaching and ministry. My hearts is still profoundly moved as I reflect on what his life has meant to so many. And to me.

Kenneth Cain Kinghorn was one of the most authentic and consistent followers of Christ I have been privileged to know. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for this splendid Christian scholar, teacher, friend, and mentor of so many. His life has borne much fruit—and we know it will continue to for countless years to come.

James V. Heidinger II is the publisher and president emeritus of Good News. A clergy member of the East Ohio Annual Conference, he led Good News for 28 years until his retirement in 2009. Dr. Heidinger is the author of several books, including the recently published The Rise of Theological Liberalism and the Decline of American Methodism (Seedbed).