From her PhD thesis, Julie Lunn, a Methodist minister and Lecturer in Practical and Social Theology at Nazarene Theological College in Manchester, has produced a detailed exploration of two key themes in Wesleyan theology. Lunn guides the reader carefully through the thicket of biblical allusions found in Charles Wesley's hymns, giving primary focus to the theme of resignation, which she defines as a ‘positive, deliberate act of intention and desire towards God’ (1). Lunn's exploration of resignation is very thorough and precise and benefits from her acknowledgement of the wider context of the importance of the relationship between Wesley's understanding of holiness and the act of resignation to God as ‘the predominant means by which a believer progresses towards sanctification’ (36).
The first part of the book looks at the context for Charles's use of the theme of resignation and the potential sources that shaped his linguistic presentation of it....
