American Saint

"Wigger has fixed his place as the best Asbury scholar to date and one of the top historians of the American religious scene in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries."--Richard P. Heitzenrater, Methodist History "Asbury has not lacked for biographies, but Wigger's is definitive and magisterial."--Grant Wacker, Christian Century "Francis Asbury had an immense influence in shaping the early American Republic in that he promoted and oversaw the phenomenal growth of the fledgling Methodist movement at a rate that would soon make it America's largest Protestant denomination. John Wigger provides a definitive and illuminating biography that is to be recommended to all who wish to understand the sort of leadership that makes great religious movements succeed."--George Marsden, author of Jonathan Edwards: A Life "Francis Asbury was one of the three or four most important religious leaders in American history, but until now he has lacked a comprehensive biography. John Wigger fills this gap splendidly. But much more than filling a gap, Wigger's rich account of the man who created American Methodism as the marvel of its age also reveals a great deal about the United States in its formative decades. This is a terrific book on a major figure."--Mark A. Noll, author of America's God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln "Wigger's superbly researched and clearly written biography deservedly rehabilitates one of America's unlikeliest but most significant religious leaders. From his humble beginnings in England, Francis Asbury probably did more to reshape the religious culture of the new Republic than any other individual."--David Hempton, author of Methodism: Empire of the Spirit