A new article has been published in the current issue of Methodist Review by Gaspar João Domingos and Helmut Renders, “The Issue of Slavery in Bishop William Taylor´s Works: From Abolitionist Conviction to Missionary Praxis in Angola”
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Abstract: This article seeks to recover a neglected dimension of Methodist Bishop William Taylor’s ministry: his abolitionist conviction as a central motivation for founding the self-supporting mission in Angola. It analyzes eighteen of Taylor’s works, published between 1857 and 1898, to address the guiding question: how do the themes of enslavement and the abolitionist struggle for its eradication appear in his writings? The study sustains the argument that Taylor’s abolitionist commitment was not incidental but formative and thoughtful, thereby shaping the creation of the Methodist mission in Angola in 1885 within the framework of an abolitionist agenda aimed at overcoming the so called “second slavery.” Although early scholarship acknowledged these elements, later historiography largely omitted them, portraying Taylor, instead, as highly committed but not an enthusiastic holiness activist. More recent references remain fragmentary and fail to recognize abolitionism as a defining axis of his work. By employing narrative and keyword analysis, this research demonstrates that Taylor consistently presents his missionary activities—especially in sub-Saharan Africa—as indisputably intertwined with his abolitionist convictions. Recognizing this dimension is essential for understanding both Taylor’s missiology and the historical trajectory of Methodist missions in Sub-Saharan Africa.