Randy L. Maddox

The publication in 1994 of Responsible Grace: John Wesley’s Practical Theology established Maddox as one of the foremost interpreters of the Wesleyan tradition. Maddox's work in Responsible Grace is noteworthy in aligning John Wesley's theological concerns related to the doctrine of salvation with themes characteristic of the Eastern (or Greek) Christian tradition. According to Maddox, the Western juridical tendencies in Wesley's theology (sin as guilt, grace as pardon, and salvation as being from the penalty of sin) are couched in a larger framework that owes more to an Eastern therapeutic view (sin as disease, grace as power for healing, salvation as being from the plague of sin).[6] In advancing this view of Wesley's doctrine of salvation, Maddox emphasizes the importance of sanctification within Wesley's conception of the via salutis (or “way of salvation”) as an ongoing form of spiritual maturation or growth.[7]

Maddox also brings clarity to the understanding of Wesley's theological method by describing his approach as guided by an abiding “orienting concern.” He names this orienting concern as “responsible grace,” a term that sums up many of the major dynamics of Wesley's doctrine of grace as they relate to God's initiative in salvation and the human response to God. He describes the concept of responsible grace as “an abiding concern to preserve the vital tension between two truths that [Wesley] viewed as co-definitive of Christianity: without God’s grace, we cannot be saved; while without our (grace-empowered, but uncoerced) participation, God’s grace will not save.”[8]

Beyond its interpretation of Wesley's soteriology, Responsible Grace also identifies John Wesley as a “practical theologian.” Maddox developed this idea for several years prior to the publication of Responsible Grace, having become convinced that the traditional dismissal of Wesley's theological writing within the academy was the result of a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of his work.[9] Rather than judging Wesley according to the canons of systematic theology, Maddox argues that he ought to be seen as engaging in practical theology—which he defines as a form of reflection that seeks “to unify the various theological concerns (tradition, Scripture, experience, reason, etc.) around the common focus of norming Christian praxis.”[10] From this understanding of the nature of practical theology, Maddox subsequently posited the notion of the “orienting concern” as the way in which consistency in theological claims is measured.[11]

In interpreting Wesley as a practical theologian, Maddox suggests that he resembles the early church fathers of the first few centuries of the Christian era (rather than the systematic theologians of the 19th and 20th centuries).[12] Wesley's theology is occasional and contextual, geared to address specific challenges and problems of the Christian life. It is typically expressed in genres such as sermons, liturgies, hymns, pastoral letters, catechetical works, and doctrinal essays.[13] Maddox argues that such theological activity ought not be seen as a lower or less important expression of theology than the highly technical theology of the modern academy. Rather, practical theology as Maddox describes it is the most characteristic mode of theology in that it is intimately connected to Christian worship and the life of discipleship.[14] Reading Wesley as a theologian in this guise means engaging Wesley's theology on its own terms—as a type of serious theological reflection engaged with the context and practice of the Christian life.

In recent years Maddox has advanced the understanding of Wesley's doctrine of salvation as it pertains to bodily health and wholeness.[15] Modern day readers of Wesley's Primitive Physick—a manual of medical advice and folk remedies for common illnesses—often view many of its suggested “cures” as humorous. Maddox, on the other hand, has emphasized the way in which Wesley's concern for bodily health is reflective of his understanding of salvation as intended for human life in the present and as encompassing both body and soul. For Wesley, Maddox argues, the reason one would take care of one's physical health is intimately related to God's desire to save whole persons.[16][17][18] Maddox also emphasizes the way in which the Wesleyan concern for holistic salvation influenced Wesley's eschatological views as well, which has consequences both for his understanding of the New Creation as well as the place of the animal kingdom within it.[19]

Beginning in 1960, Methodist scholars began pursuing the development of a comprehensive and critical edition of John Wesley's corpus of writing.[20] Currently housed in the Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition at Duke Divinity School, the Wesley Works Editorial Project is engaged in the publication of a projected 35-volume edition of the Bicentennial Edition of the Works of John Wesley. Abingdon Press is serving as the publisher for the series.

In 2003, Maddox was named as the Associate General Editor for the Wesley Works Project; and in 2014 became General Editor. He also serves as a fellow of the Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition. In his capacity as the Associate General Editor, Maddox has editorial oversight of the individual volumes currently in research or production. He has personally edited Doctrinal and Controversial Treatises I in 2012, which is Volume 12 in the series and covers aspects of the theological stance of John Wesley in the area of soteriology.[21] For his work on this volume, Maddox received the 2013 Saddlebag Selection Award from the Historical Society of the United Methodist Church, given to "the outstanding book on United Methodist history or a related subject published during a given year."[22][23]

Maddox's role as a fellow in the Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition has also included significant historical work with Charles Wesley's poetry and hymnody. A five-year project under Maddox's leadership was completed in 2012 that successfully compiled all the known verse from Charles Wesley's pen, both published and unpublished. This comprehensive collection of Charles Wesley's hymns and poems is the first of its kind and is intended to serve as a resource both for the study of Charles Wesley's theology and the hymnody of the Methodist tradition.[24]

While Maddox's scholarly work has primarily been focused on the interpretation of John Wesley and the later Methodist tradition (and so falls under the heading of historical theology), he has also consistently attempted to translate that work as a resource for contemporary Christian practice.[25] In this sense, Maddox serves as one of the standard bearers for the "neo-Wesleyan revival", which features renewed interest in the theology of John Wesley and the practices of early Methodism amongst Methodists and other Wesleyans from the 1960s to the present.[26]