Revision of author's thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Birmingham, 2019 under title: The significance of the supernatural in the American Methodist circuit-rider ministry (c. 1770s-1830s).

Includes bibliographical references (pages 277-315) and index.

Part I. The definition of the supernatural and the beginnings of early American Methodism. The supernatural: laying the framework -- Wesley and the supernatural -- The history of the American circuit rider ministry -- Part II. The role of the supernatural and the rise of early American Methodism. Private supernaturalism -- Public supernaturalism -- Religious enthusiasm: criticism and controversy -- The supernatural and Methodist expansion -- Concluding the investigation.

"In The Supernatural and the Circuit Riders, Rimi Xhemajli shows how a small but passionate movement grew and shook the religious world through astonishing signs and wonders. Beginning in the late eighteenth century, early American Methodist preachers, known as circuit riders, were appointed to evangelize the American frontier by presenting an experiential gospel: one that featured extraordinary phenomena that originated from God's Spirit. In employing this evangelistic strategy of the gospel message fueled by supernatural displays, Methodism rapidly expanded. Despite beginning with only ten official circuit riders in the early 1770s, by the early 1830s, circuit riders had multiplied and caused Methodism to become the largest American denomination of its day. In investigating the significance of the supernatural in the circuit rider ministry, Xhemajli provides a new historical perspective through his eye-opening demonstration of the correlation between the supernatural and the explosive membership growth of early American Methodism, which fueled the Second Great Awakening. In doing so, he also prompts the consideration of the relevance and reproduction of such acts in the American church today. "--Publisher.