Thomas Coke and early American Methodism.
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Abstract
Purpose: The Purpose of this dissertation is to present a biographical study of Thomas Coke, estimating his influence in the rise, expansion, and missionary outreach of
American Methodism.
Scope: The primary emphasis of the dissertation has been placed on the American phase of Coke's work.
Importance of the Subject: Thomas Coke was the executor of Wesley's design for the Methodists in America, out of which a new and powerful church grew. Presiding at the Christmas Conference on 1784, he was the key figure in an all important moment, the birth, of what was to become one of the most important Protestant Churches in the United
States. Coke was American Methodism's first General Superintendent (or Bishop). He planned its first college, Cokesbury. It was he who led Methodism's attack upon slavery. Coke conceived, in large part, and worked untiringly at Methodism's missionary vision. The personal qualities of the man, strengths and weaknesses alike, make an interesting human study.
Previous Work on the Subject: There is a paucity of material relative to Thomas Coke, due primarily to the fact that many of Coke's private papers, which he was taking with
him to India, have been irrecoverably lost. Several writers have undertaken biographies, chief of which are: Crowther, 1815; Drew, 1818; Etheridge, 1860; and Candler, 1923. These authors are all guilty of the same error: glorification of Coke, with an almost complete lack of the proper historian's point of view. [TRUNCATED]
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Thesis (S.T.B.)--Boston University
Includes bibliographical references.
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