A critical touchstone for answering that question remains the 2002 conference of the Wesley Historical Society, the proceedings of which were published under the title Two decades on, the papers from that gathering continue to offer a benchmark for understanding how Wesleyan theology shaped—and was shaped by—educational theory and practice.
The title itself— Vital Piety and Learning —was a deliberate nod to Wesley’s own writings. In his Thoughts Upon the Present Scandal of Methodism (1778), he had warned against learning without piety (which bred arrogance) and piety without learning (which bred fanaticism). The 2002 papers tested this ideal against the messy reality of two centuries of Methodist schooling, from charity schools to theological colleges, from Sunday schools to the university settlements of the late Victorian era. A critical touchstone for answering that question remains
Moving beyond the 18th century, the papers in this collection examine the explosion of Methodist education during the 19th and early 20th centuries. This era marked a shift from itinerant preachers relying on the "Book of Nature" and the Bible to the establishment of robust institutions of higher learning. The 2002 papers tested this ideal against the
, examines the practical difficulties of maintaining these standards in industrial settings The Sunday School Movement : John Wesley’s early support for all-day Sunday Schools , examines the practical difficulties of maintaining these