Henry D. Rack, D.Phil. (Cantab.)

Formerly Bishop Fraser Senior Lecturer in Ecclesiastical History in The University of Manchester.

Dr Rack is commonly acknowledged as one of the world’s experts on John Wesley and early Methodism. His magisterial study of Wesley, Reasonable Enthusiast: John Wesley and the Rise of Methodism 3rd edn (Epworth Press, 2002) is regarded by many as the finest modern biography of Wesley. He delivered the inaugural MWRC Annual Lecture in 2005, titled: ‘The Current State of Wesley Scholarship’.

Select Recent Publications

'John Wesley and Overseas Missions: Principles and Practice', Wesley and Methodist Studies 5 (2014), 30-55.

‘A Man of Reason and Religion? John Wesley and the Enlightenment’, Wesley and Methodist Studies 1 (2009), 2-17.

'Charles Wesley and Early Methodism', in Charles Wesley: Life, Literature and Legacy, ed. Ted Campbell and Kenneth Newport (Oxford, 2007), 40-57.

'John Wesley - Ecumenical Pioneer?', Bulletin of Wesley Historical Society (Yorkshire Branch) (Autumn 2007), 12-24.

‘Some Recent Trends in Wesley Scholarship’, Wesleyan Theological Journal 41:2 (Fall 2006) [the 2005 MWRC Annual lecture].

 'Wesley Portrayed: Character and Criticism in Some Early Biographies', Methodist History 43:2 (2005), 90-114.

Twenty-five entries for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004) including those on John Wesley, Charles Wesley, Samuel Wesley, sen., and The Holy Club.

Email: Henryrack31@gmail.com