'Inward & Outward Health' - Paperback

by Deborah Madden (Editor)

Inward and Outward Health is the first interdisciplinary scholarly collection to provide an in-depth and new perspective on the medical and scientific activity of one of the eighteenth century's most successful and controversial theological figures, John Wesley. These essays, written by established scholars in the field, convincingly correct a persistent view of Wesley as an irresponsible religious enthusiast who confused medical science and theology. The reader is given here instead a picture of someone who was a crucial admirer of Enlightenment principles: a deeply pious individual who could minister to the physical and spiritual welfare of the poor, applying remedies for the body or prayer for the soul as and when appropriate.

Author Biography

Deborah Madden is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Theology Faculty at the University of Oxford. She has written several articles on religion, medicine, and culture in the eighteenth century, as well as a monograph examining John Wesley's medical activity.