Holiness movement
Encyclopedia
The holiness movement refers to a set of beliefs and practices emerging from the Methodist Christian
church in the mid 19th century. The movement is distinguished by its emphasis on John Wesley
's doctrine of "Christian perfection
" - the belief that it is possible to live free of voluntary sin
- and particularly by the belief that this may be accomplished instantaneously through a second work of grace
.
. The key beliefs of the holiness movement are (1) regeneration
by grace
through faith, with the assurance of salvation
by the witness of the Holy Spirit
; (2) entire sanctification as a second definite work of grace, received by faith, through grace, and accomplished by the baptism and power of the Holy Spirit, by which one is enabled to live a holy life.
In the context of the holiness movement, the first work of grace is salvation from sin, and without it no amount of human effort can achieve holiness. People are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ who made atonement for human sins.
The second work of grace refers to a personal experience subsequent to regeneration, in which the believer is cleansed from the carnal nature, and is empowered by the Holy Spirit to lead a holy life. Most teach that it is still possible for the sanctified to sin, and one grows in grace after this second spiritual experience and should strive for perfection.
The experience of sanctification enables the believer to live a holy life. Most holiness people interpret this as living a life free of willful sin or the practice of sin. The motive is to live a Christ-like life, to be conformed to the image of Christ and not the world
. Since holiness is the supernatural work of a transformed heart by the Holy Spirit, many holiness churches are careful to follow moral principles and what they perceive as the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Most followers of the holiness movement believe as Christ said, that love fulfills the entire law of God.
Holiness groups tend to oppose antinomianism
, which is a theological framework which states God's law is done away with. Holiness groups believe the moral aspects of the law of God are pertinent for today, inasmuch as the law was completed in Christ. This position does attract opposition from some evangelicals, who charge that such an attitude refutes or slights Reformation (particularly Calvinist) teachings that believers are justified by grace through faith and not through any efforts or states of mind on their part, that the effects of original sin
remain even in the most faithful of souls.
, such as the United Pentecostal Church, still largely adhere to these "standards.") Additionally, the terms Pentecostal and apostolic, now used by adherents to Pentecostal and charismatic doctrine, were once widely used by holiness churches in connection with the consecrated lifestyle described in the New Testament
. However, Pentecostals add and emphasize that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is evidenced specifically by speaking in tongues, a position which churches in the traditional holiness movement do not accept.
During the advent of Pentecostalism at Azusa Street, the practice of speaking in tongues was strongly rejected by leaders of the traditional holiness movement. Alma White, the leader of the Pillar of Fire Church
, a holiness denomination, wrote a book against the Pentecostal movement that was published in 1936; the work, entitled Demons and Tongues, represented early rejection of the new Pentecostal movement. White called speaking in tongues "satanic gibberish" and Pentecostal services "the climax of demon worship". Nevertheless, many holiness churches and organizations joined the Pentecostal movement (e.g., the Church of God in Christ
and the Pentecostal Holiness Church), accepting the Pentecostal teaching on speaking in tongues as the evidence of a "third work" of grace, in addition to conversion
and sanctification
. As a result, Pentecostal churches in the Southeast
and in the African-American community, are often called "holiness" and "sanctified" churches.
, and numerous persons in early American Methodism professed the experience of entire sanctification, including Bishop Francis Asbury.
By the 1840s, a new emphasis on holiness and Christian perfection had begun within American Methodism. Two major leaders of the holiness revival were Phoebe Palmer
and her husband, Dr. Walter Palmer. In 1835, Palmer's sister, Sarah A. Lankford, had started holding Tuesday Meetings for the Promotion of Holiness in her New York City home. In 1837, Palmer experienced what she called entire sanctification and had become the leader of the Tuesday Meetings by 1839. At first only women attended these meetings, but eventually Methodist bishops and hundreds of clergy and laymen began to attend as well. At the same time, Methodist minister Timothy Merritt of Boston founded a journal called the Guide to Christian Perfection, later renamed The Guide to Holiness. This was the first American periodical dedicated exclusively to promoting the Wesleyan
message of Christian holiness. In 1865, the Palmers purchased The Guide which at its peak had a circulation of 30,000. In 1859, Palmer published The Promise of the Father, in which she argued in favor of women in ministry. This book later influenced Catherine Booth
, co-founder of the Salvation Army
. The practice of ministry by women is common but not universal within the denominations of the holiness movement.
At the Tuesday Meetings, Methodists soon enjoyed fellowship with Christians of different denominations, including the Congregationalist
Thomas Upham. Upham was the first man to attend the meetings, and his participation in them led him to study mystical
experiences, looking to find precursors of holiness teaching in the writings of persons like German Pietist Johann Arndt
and the Roman Catholic mystic Madame Guyon
. Other non-Methodists also contributed to the holiness movement. During the same era Asa Mahan, the president of Oberlin College
, and Charles Grandison Finney
, an evangelist
associated with the college, promoted the idea of Christian holiness. In 1836, Mahan experienced what he called a baptism with the Holy Spirit
. Mahan believed that this experience had cleansed him from the desire and inclination to sin. Finney believed that this experience might provide a solution to a problem he observed during his evangelistic revivals. Some people claimed to experience conversion but then slipped back into their old ways of living. Finney believed that the filling with the Holy Spirit could help these converts to continue steadfast in their Christian life.
Representative was the revivalism of Rev. James Caughey, an American missionary sent by the Wesleyan Methodist Church to work in Ontario, Canada
from the 1840s through 1864. He brought in the converts by the score, most notably in the revivals in Canada West 1851-53. His technique combined restrained emotionalism with a clear call for personal commitment, coupled with followup action to organize support from converts. It was a time when the Holiness Movement caught fire, with the revitalized interest of men and women in Christian perfection. Caughey successfully bridged the gap between the style of earlier camp meetings and the needs of more sophisticated Methodist congregations in the emerging cities.
Presbyterian
William Boardman
promoted the idea of holiness through his evangelistic campaigns and through his book The Higher Christian Life, which was published in 1858. Also, Hannah Whitall Smith
, a Quaker, experienced a profound personal conversion. Sometime in the 1860s, she found what she called the "secret" of the Christian life—devoting one’s life wholly to God and God’s simultaneous transformation of one’s soul. Her husband, Robert Pearsall Smith
, had a similar experience at the camp meeting in 1867. Methodist minister B. F. Haynes
wrote a book, Tempest-Tossed on Methodist Seas, about his decision to leave the Methodist church and join the Church of the Nazarene
. In it he described the bitter divisions within the Methodist church over the holiness movement.
The first distinct "holiness camp meeting
" convened at Vineland, New Jersey
in 1867 under the leadership of John S. Inskip, John A. Wood, Alfred Cookman, and other Methodist ministers. The gathering attracted as many as 10,000 people. At the close of the encampment, while the ministers were on their knees in prayer, they formed the National Camp Meeting Association for the Promotion of Holiness, and agreed to conduct a similar gathering the next year. This organization was commonly known as the National Holiness Association. Later, it became known as the Christian Holiness Association and subsequently the Christian Holiness Partnership
.
The second National Camp Meeting was held at Manheim, Pennsylvania
, and drew upwards of 25,000 persons from all over the nation. People called it a "Pentecost," and it did not disappoint them. The service on Monday evening has almost become legendary for its spiritual power and influence. The third National Camp Meeting met at Round Lake, New York
. This time the national press attended and write-ups appeared in numerous papers, including a large two-page pictorial in Harper's Weekly
. These meetings made instant religious celebrities out of many of the workers. Robert and Hannah Smith were among those who took the holiness message to England, and their ministries helped lay the foundation for the now-famous Keswick Convention
.
In 1871, the American evangelist Dwight L. Moody
had what he called an "endowment with power" as a result of some soul-searching and the prayers of two Free Methodist women who attended one of his meetings. He did not join the holiness movement but certainly advanced some of its ideas and even voiced his approval of it on at least one occasion.
In the 1870s, the holiness movement spread to Great Britain, where it was sometimes called the higher life movement
after the title of William Boardman’s book The Higher Life. Higher life conferences were held at Broadlands
and Oxford
in 1874 and in Brighton
and Keswick
in 1875. The Keswick Convention soon became the British headquarters for the movement. The Faith Mission
in Scotland was one consequence of the British holiness movement. Another was a flow of influence from Britain back to the United States. In 1874, Albert Benjamin Simpson read Boardman’s Higher Christian Life and felt the need for such a life himself. He went on to found the Christian and Missionary Alliance
.
In the 1950s and 1960s, several small groups left the mainstream holiness movement to form what is known as the conservative holiness movement
. During the 1968 merger of the Wesleyan Methodist Church and the Pilgrim Holiness Church
which formed the Wesleyan Church
, the Allegheny Conference
and the Tennessee Conference of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, and some churches of the Pilgrim Holiness Church did not approve of the merger and several new holiness denominations were formed.
There is an annual gathering in Huntington, West Virginia, called the Interchurch Holiness Convention. It has met for several years in Dayton, Ohio.
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
church in the mid 19th century. The movement is distinguished by its emphasis on John Wesley
John Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
's doctrine of "Christian perfection
Christian perfection
Christian perfection, also known as perfect love; heart purity; the baptism of the Holy Spirit; the fullness of the blessing; Christian holiness; the second blessing; and entire sanctification, is a Christian doctrine which holds that the heart of the regenerant Christian may attain a state of...
" - the belief that it is possible to live free of voluntary sin
Sin
In religion, sin is the violation or deviation of an eternal divine law or standard. The term sin may also refer to the state of having committed such a violation. Christians believe the moral code of conduct is decreed by God In religion, sin (also called peccancy) is the violation or deviation...
- and particularly by the belief that this may be accomplished instantaneously through a second work of grace
Second work of grace
According to some Christian traditions, a second work of grace is a transforming interaction with God which may occur in the life of a Christian...
.
Beliefs
The holiness movement seeks to promote a Christianity that is personal, practical, life-changing, and thoroughly revivalisticChristian revival
Christian revival is a term that generally refers to a specific period of increased spiritual interest or renewal in the life of a church congregation or many churches, either regionally or globally...
. The key beliefs of the holiness movement are (1) regeneration
Regeneration (theology)
Regeneration, while sometimes perceived to be a step in the Ordo salutis , is generally understood in Christian theology to be the objective work of God in a believer's life. Spiritually, it means that God brings Christians to new life from a previous state of subjection to the decay of death...
by grace
Divine grace
In Christian theology, grace is God’s gift of God’s self to humankind. It is understood by Christians to be a spontaneous gift from God to man - "generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved" - that takes the form of divine favour, love and clemency. It is an attribute of God that is most...
through faith, with the assurance of salvation
Salvation
Within religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
by the witness of the Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of the Hebrew Bible, but understood differently in the main Abrahamic religions.While the general concept of a "Spirit" that permeates the cosmos has been used in various religions Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of...
; (2) entire sanctification as a second definite work of grace, received by faith, through grace, and accomplished by the baptism and power of the Holy Spirit, by which one is enabled to live a holy life.
In the context of the holiness movement, the first work of grace is salvation from sin, and without it no amount of human effort can achieve holiness. People are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ who made atonement for human sins.
The second work of grace refers to a personal experience subsequent to regeneration, in which the believer is cleansed from the carnal nature, and is empowered by the Holy Spirit to lead a holy life. Most teach that it is still possible for the sanctified to sin, and one grows in grace after this second spiritual experience and should strive for perfection.
The experience of sanctification enables the believer to live a holy life. Most holiness people interpret this as living a life free of willful sin or the practice of sin. The motive is to live a Christ-like life, to be conformed to the image of Christ and not the world
World (theology)
-Christian views on the World:In Christianity, the concept connotes the fallen and corrupt world order of human society. The world is frequently cited alongside the flesh and the Devil as a source of temptation that Christians should flee...
. Since holiness is the supernatural work of a transformed heart by the Holy Spirit, many holiness churches are careful to follow moral principles and what they perceive as the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Most followers of the holiness movement believe as Christ said, that love fulfills the entire law of God.
Holiness groups tend to oppose antinomianism
Antinomianism
Antinomianism is defined as holding that, under the gospel dispensation of grace, moral law is of no use or obligation because faith alone is necessary to salvation....
, which is a theological framework which states God's law is done away with. Holiness groups believe the moral aspects of the law of God are pertinent for today, inasmuch as the law was completed in Christ. This position does attract opposition from some evangelicals, who charge that such an attitude refutes or slights Reformation (particularly Calvinist) teachings that believers are justified by grace through faith and not through any efforts or states of mind on their part, that the effects of original sin
Original sin
Original sin is, according to a Christian theological doctrine, humanity's state of sin resulting from the Fall of Man. This condition has been characterized in many ways, ranging from something as insignificant as a slight deficiency, or a tendency toward sin yet without collective guilt, referred...
remain even in the most faithful of souls.
Relation and reaction to Pentecostalism
The traditional holiness movement is distinct from the Pentecostal movement, which believes that the baptism in the Holy Spirit involves speaking in tongues. Many of the early Pentecostals were from the holiness movement, and to this day many "classical Pentecostals" maintain much of holiness doctrine and many of its devotional practices. (Oneness PentecostalsOneness Pentecostalism
Oneness Pentecostalism refers to a grouping of denominations and believers within Pentecostal Christianity, all of whom subscribe to the nontrinitarian theological doctrine of Oneness...
, such as the United Pentecostal Church, still largely adhere to these "standards.") Additionally, the terms Pentecostal and apostolic, now used by adherents to Pentecostal and charismatic doctrine, were once widely used by holiness churches in connection with the consecrated lifestyle described in the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
. However, Pentecostals add and emphasize that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is evidenced specifically by speaking in tongues, a position which churches in the traditional holiness movement do not accept.
During the advent of Pentecostalism at Azusa Street, the practice of speaking in tongues was strongly rejected by leaders of the traditional holiness movement. Alma White, the leader of the Pillar of Fire Church
Pillar of Fire Church
The Pillar of Fire International is a Christian organization founded in Denver, Colorado in 1901 by Alma White, with headquarters in Zarephath, New Jersey. The Pillar of Fire was originally incorporated as the Pentecostal Union, but changed its name to distance itself from Pentecostalism in 1915...
, a holiness denomination, wrote a book against the Pentecostal movement that was published in 1936; the work, entitled Demons and Tongues, represented early rejection of the new Pentecostal movement. White called speaking in tongues "satanic gibberish" and Pentecostal services "the climax of demon worship". Nevertheless, many holiness churches and organizations joined the Pentecostal movement (e.g., the Church of God in Christ
Church of God in Christ
The Church of God in Christ is a Pentecostal Holiness Christian denomination with a predominantly African-American membership. With nearly five million members in the United States and 12,000 congregations, it is the largest Pentecostal church and the fifth largest Christian church in the U.S....
and the Pentecostal Holiness Church), accepting the Pentecostal teaching on speaking in tongues as the evidence of a "third work" of grace, in addition to conversion
Religious conversion
Religious conversion is the adoption of a new religion that differs from the convert's previous religion. Changing from one denomination to another within the same religion is usually described as reaffiliation rather than conversion.People convert to a different religion for various reasons,...
and sanctification
Sanctification
Sanctity is an ancient concept widespread among religions, a property of a thing or person sacred or set apart within the religion, from totem poles through temple vessels to days of the week, to a human believer who achieves this state. Sanctification is the act or process of acquiring sanctity,...
. As a result, Pentecostal churches in the Southeast
Southeastern United States
The Southeastern United States, colloquially referred to as the Southeast, is the eastern portion of the Southern United States. It is one of the most populous regions in the United States of America....
and in the African-American community, are often called "holiness" and "sanctified" churches.
Influences
The roots of the holiness movement are as follows:- The ReformationProtestant ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
itself, with its emphasis on salvationSalvationWithin religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
by graceDivine graceIn Christian theology, grace is God’s gift of God’s self to humankind. It is understood by Christians to be a spontaneous gift from God to man - "generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved" - that takes the form of divine favour, love and clemency. It is an attribute of God that is most...
through faith alone. - PuritanPuritanThe Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
ism in 17th century EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and its transplantation to America with its emphasis on adherence to the BibleBibleThe Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
and the right to dissent from the established church. - PietismPietismPietism was a movement within Lutheranism, lasting from the late 17th century to the mid-18th century and later. It proved to be very influential throughout Protestantism and Anabaptism, inspiring not only Anglican priest John Wesley to begin the Methodist movement, but also Alexander Mack to...
in 17th century GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, led by Philipp Jakob SpenerPhilipp Jakob SpenerPhilipp Jakob Spener was a German Christian theologian known as the "Father of Pietism."...
and the Moravians, which emphasized the spiritual life of the individual, coupled with a responsibility to live an upright life. - QuietismQuietism (Christian philosophy)Quietism is a Christian philosophy that swept through France, Italy and Spain during the 17th century, but it had much earlier origins. The mystics known as Quietists insist, with more or less emphasis, on intellectual stillness and interior passivity as essential conditions of perfection...
, as taught by the Religious Society of FriendsReligious Society of FriendsThe Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
(Quakers), with its emphasis on the individual’s ability to experience God and understand God’s will for himself. - The 1730s Evangelical Revival in England, led by Methodists John WesleyJohn WesleyJohn Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
and his brother Charles WesleyCharles WesleyCharles Wesley was an English leader of the Methodist movement, son of Anglican clergyman and poet Samuel Wesley, the younger brother of Anglican clergyman John Wesley and Anglican clergyman Samuel Wesley , and father of musician Samuel Wesley, and grandfather of musician Samuel Sebastian Wesley...
, which brought Wesley's distinct take on the Eastern Orthodox concept of TheosisTheosisIn Christian theology, divinization, deification, making divine or theosis is the transforming effect of divine grace. This concept of salvation is historical and fundamental for Christian understanding that is prominent in the Eastern Orthodox Church and also in the Catholic Church, and is a...
and the teachings of German Pietism to England and eventually to the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. - The First Great AwakeningFirst Great AwakeningThe First Awakening was a Christian revitalization movement that swept Protestant Europe and British America, and especially the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, leaving a permanent impact on American religion. It resulted from powerful preaching that gave listeners a sense of personal...
in the 18th and early 19th centuries in the United States, propagated by George WhitefieldGeorge WhitefieldGeorge Whitefield , also known as George Whitfield, was an English Anglican priest who helped spread the Great Awakening in Britain, and especially in the British North American colonies. He was one of the founders of Methodism and of the evangelical movement generally...
, Jonathan Edwards, and others, with its emphasis on the initial conversionReligious conversionReligious conversion is the adoption of a new religion that differs from the convert's previous religion. Changing from one denomination to another within the same religion is usually described as reaffiliation rather than conversion.People convert to a different religion for various reasons,...
experience of Christians. - The Second Great AwakeningSecond Great AwakeningThe Second Great Awakening was a Christian revival movement during the early 19th century in the United States. The movement began around 1800, had begun to gain momentum by 1820, and was in decline by 1870. The Second Great Awakening expressed Arminian theology, by which every person could be...
in the 19th century in the United States, propagated by Francis AsburyFrancis AsburyBishop Francis Asbury was one of the first two bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, now The United Methodist Church in the United States...
, Charles Finney, Lyman BeecherLyman BeecherLyman Beecher was a Presbyterian minister, American Temperance Society co-founder and leader, and the father of 13 children, many of whom were noted leaders, including Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry Ward Beecher, Charles Beecher, Edward Beecher, Isabella Beecher Hooker, Catharine Beecher, and Thomas...
, and others, which also emphasized the need for personal holiness and is characterized by the rise of evangelistic revival meetingRevival meetingA revival meeting is a series of Christian religious services held in order to inspire active members of a church body, to raise funds and to gain new converts...
s.
History
The Methodists of the 19th century continued the interest in Christian holiness that had been started by their founder, John Wesley. They continued to publish Wesley's works and tracts, including his famous A Plain Account of Christian Perfection. From 1788 to 1808, the entire text of A Plain Account was placed in the Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal ChurchMethodist Episcopal Church
The Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, was a development of the first expression of Methodism in the United States. It officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the first bishops. Through a series of...
, and numerous persons in early American Methodism professed the experience of entire sanctification, including Bishop Francis Asbury.
By the 1840s, a new emphasis on holiness and Christian perfection had begun within American Methodism. Two major leaders of the holiness revival were Phoebe Palmer
Phoebe Palmer
Phoebe Palmer was an evangelist and writer who promoted the doctrine of Christian perfection. She is considered one of the founders of the Holiness movement in the United States of America and the Higher Life movement in the United Kingdom.- Early life :Palmer was born Phoebe Worrall in New York...
and her husband, Dr. Walter Palmer. In 1835, Palmer's sister, Sarah A. Lankford, had started holding Tuesday Meetings for the Promotion of Holiness in her New York City home. In 1837, Palmer experienced what she called entire sanctification and had become the leader of the Tuesday Meetings by 1839. At first only women attended these meetings, but eventually Methodist bishops and hundreds of clergy and laymen began to attend as well. At the same time, Methodist minister Timothy Merritt of Boston founded a journal called the Guide to Christian Perfection, later renamed The Guide to Holiness. This was the first American periodical dedicated exclusively to promoting the Wesleyan
Wesleyanism
Wesleyanism or Wesleyan theology refers, respectively, to either the eponymous movement of Protestant Christians who have historically sought to follow the methods or theology of the eighteenth-century evangelical reformers, John Wesley and his brother Charles Wesley, or to the likewise eponymous...
message of Christian holiness. In 1865, the Palmers purchased The Guide which at its peak had a circulation of 30,000. In 1859, Palmer published The Promise of the Father, in which she argued in favor of women in ministry. This book later influenced Catherine Booth
Catherine Booth
Catherine Booth was the wife of the founder of The Salvation Army, William Booth. Because of her influence in the formation of The Salvation Army she was known as the 'Army Mother'....
, co-founder of the Salvation Army
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
. The practice of ministry by women is common but not universal within the denominations of the holiness movement.
At the Tuesday Meetings, Methodists soon enjoyed fellowship with Christians of different denominations, including the Congregationalist
Congregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
Thomas Upham. Upham was the first man to attend the meetings, and his participation in them led him to study mystical
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
experiences, looking to find precursors of holiness teaching in the writings of persons like German Pietist Johann Arndt
Johann Arndt
Johann Arndt was a German Lutheran theologian who wrote several influential books of devotional Christianity...
and the Roman Catholic mystic Madame Guyon
Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon
Jeanne-Marie Bouvier de la Motte-Guyon was a French mystic and one of the key advocates of Quietism...
. Other non-Methodists also contributed to the holiness movement. During the same era Asa Mahan, the president of Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
, and Charles Grandison Finney
Charles Grandison Finney
Charles Grandison Finney was a leader in the Second Great Awakening. He has been called The Father of Modern Revivalism. Finney was best known as an innovative revivalist, an opponent of Old School Presbyterian theology, an advocate of Christian perfectionism, a pioneer in social reforms in favor...
, an evangelist
Evangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
associated with the college, promoted the idea of Christian holiness. In 1836, Mahan experienced what he called a baptism with the Holy Spirit
Baptism with the Holy Spirit
Baptism with the Holy Spirit in Christian theology is a term describing baptism in or with the Spirit of God...
. Mahan believed that this experience had cleansed him from the desire and inclination to sin. Finney believed that this experience might provide a solution to a problem he observed during his evangelistic revivals. Some people claimed to experience conversion but then slipped back into their old ways of living. Finney believed that the filling with the Holy Spirit could help these converts to continue steadfast in their Christian life.
Representative was the revivalism of Rev. James Caughey, an American missionary sent by the Wesleyan Methodist Church to work in Ontario, Canada
History of Ontario
The history of Ontario covers the period from the arrival of Paleo-Indians thousands of years ago to the present day. The lands that make up present-day Ontario, currently the most populous province of Canada, have been inhabited for millennia by distinctive groups of Aboriginal peoples, with...
from the 1840s through 1864. He brought in the converts by the score, most notably in the revivals in Canada West 1851-53. His technique combined restrained emotionalism with a clear call for personal commitment, coupled with followup action to organize support from converts. It was a time when the Holiness Movement caught fire, with the revitalized interest of men and women in Christian perfection. Caughey successfully bridged the gap between the style of earlier camp meetings and the needs of more sophisticated Methodist congregations in the emerging cities.
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism refers to a number of Christian churches adhering to the Calvinist theological tradition within Protestantism, which are organized according to a characteristic Presbyterian polity. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures,...
William Boardman
William Boardman
William Edwin Boardman was an American pastor and teacher, and the author in 1858 of The Higher Christian Life, a book which as a major international success and helped ignite the Higher Life movement. Boardman's work attracted international attention, especially in England, where Boardman...
promoted the idea of holiness through his evangelistic campaigns and through his book The Higher Christian Life, which was published in 1858. Also, Hannah Whitall Smith
Hannah Whitall Smith
Hannah Tatum Whitall Smith was a lay speaker and author in the Holiness movement in the United States and the Higher Life movement in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
, a Quaker, experienced a profound personal conversion. Sometime in the 1860s, she found what she called the "secret" of the Christian life—devoting one’s life wholly to God and God’s simultaneous transformation of one’s soul. Her husband, Robert Pearsall Smith
Robert Pearsall Smith
Robert Pearsall Smith was a lay leader in the Holiness movement in the United States and the Higher Life movement in Great Britain. His book Holiness Through Faith is one of the foundational works of the Holiness movement...
, had a similar experience at the camp meeting in 1867. Methodist minister B. F. Haynes
Benjamin Franklin Haynes
Benjamin Franklin Haynes , usually known as B. F. Haynes, was a Methodist and later Nazarene minister and theologian from Tennessee. He was associated with the Holiness movement....
wrote a book, Tempest-Tossed on Methodist Seas, about his decision to leave the Methodist church and join the Church of the Nazarene
Church of the Nazarene
The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged from the 19th century Holiness movement in North America with its members colloquially referred to as Nazarenes. It is the largest Wesleyan-holiness denomination in the world. At the end of 2010, the Church of the...
. In it he described the bitter divisions within the Methodist church over the holiness movement.
The first distinct "holiness camp meeting
Camp meeting
The camp meeting is a form of Protestant Christian religious service originating in Britain and once common in some parts of the United States, wherein people would travel from a large area to a particular site to camp out, listen to itinerant preachers, and pray...
" convened at Vineland, New Jersey
Vineland, New Jersey
Vineland is a city in Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 60,724...
in 1867 under the leadership of John S. Inskip, John A. Wood, Alfred Cookman, and other Methodist ministers. The gathering attracted as many as 10,000 people. At the close of the encampment, while the ministers were on their knees in prayer, they formed the National Camp Meeting Association for the Promotion of Holiness, and agreed to conduct a similar gathering the next year. This organization was commonly known as the National Holiness Association. Later, it became known as the Christian Holiness Association and subsequently the Christian Holiness Partnership
Christian Holiness Partnership
The Christian Holiness Partnership is an international organization of individuals, organizational and denominational affiliates within the holiness movement. It was founded in 1867 as the National Camp Meeting Association for Christian Holiness, later changing its name to the National Holiness...
.
The second National Camp Meeting was held at Manheim, Pennsylvania
Manheim, Pennsylvania
Manheim is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,784 at the 2000 census.-General information:*ZIP code: 17545*Area code: 717*Education: Manheim Central School District and Manheim Central High School-History:...
, and drew upwards of 25,000 persons from all over the nation. People called it a "Pentecost," and it did not disappoint them. The service on Monday evening has almost become legendary for its spiritual power and influence. The third National Camp Meeting met at Round Lake, New York
Round Lake, New York
Round Lake is a lake and a village in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 604 at the 2000 census. The name is derived from a circular lake adjacent to the village...
. This time the national press attended and write-ups appeared in numerous papers, including a large two-page pictorial in Harper's Weekly
Harper's Weekly
Harper's Weekly was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor...
. These meetings made instant religious celebrities out of many of the workers. Robert and Hannah Smith were among those who took the holiness message to England, and their ministries helped lay the foundation for the now-famous Keswick Convention
Keswick Convention
The Keswick Convention is an annual gathering of evangelical Christians in Keswick, in the English county of Cumbria.- History :The Keswick Convention began in 1875 as a catalyst and focal point for the emerging Higher Life movement in the United Kingdom. It was founded by an Anglican, Canon T. D....
.
In 1871, the American evangelist Dwight L. Moody
Dwight L. Moody
Dwight Lyman Moody , also known as D.L. Moody, was an American evangelist and publisher who founded the Moody Church, Northfield School and Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts , the Moody Bible Institute and Moody Publishers.-Early life:Dwight Moody was born in Northfield, Massachusetts to a large...
had what he called an "endowment with power" as a result of some soul-searching and the prayers of two Free Methodist women who attended one of his meetings. He did not join the holiness movement but certainly advanced some of its ideas and even voiced his approval of it on at least one occasion.
In the 1870s, the holiness movement spread to Great Britain, where it was sometimes called the higher life movement
Higher Life movement
The Higher Life movement was a movement devoted to Christian holiness in England. Its name comes from a book by William Boardman, entitled The Higher Christian Life, which was published in 1858...
after the title of William Boardman’s book The Higher Life. Higher life conferences were held at Broadlands
Broadlands
Broadlands is an English country house, located near the town of Romsey in Hampshire, England, United Kingdom.-History:The original manor and area known as Broadlands has belonged to Romsey Abbey since before the time of the 11-century English Norman Conquest.After the Dissolution of the...
and Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
in 1874 and in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
and Keswick
Keswick, Cumbria
Keswick is a market town and civil parish within the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England. It had a population of 4,984, according to the 2001 census, and is situated just north of Derwent Water, and a short distance from Bassenthwaite Lake, both in the Lake District National Park...
in 1875. The Keswick Convention soon became the British headquarters for the movement. The Faith Mission
Faith mission
Faith mission is a term used most frequently among evangelical Christians to refer to a missionary organization with an approach to evangelism that encourages its missionaries to "trust in God to provide the necessary resources" These missionaries are said to "live by faith."Most faith...
in Scotland was one consequence of the British holiness movement. Another was a flow of influence from Britain back to the United States. In 1874, Albert Benjamin Simpson read Boardman’s Higher Christian Life and felt the need for such a life himself. He went on to found the Christian and Missionary Alliance
Christian and Missionary Alliance
The Christian and Missionary Alliance is an evangelical Protestant denomination within Christianity.Founded by Rev. Albert Benjamin Simpson in 1887, the Christian & Missionary Alliance did not start off as a denomination, but rather began as two distinct parachurch organizations: The Christian...
.
In the 1950s and 1960s, several small groups left the mainstream holiness movement to form what is known as the conservative holiness movement
Conservative Holiness Movement
The conservative holiness movement is a term that loosely defines a group of conservative Christian denominations that trace their origin back to Methodist roots and the teachings of John Wesley.-Doctrines and distinctives:...
. During the 1968 merger of the Wesleyan Methodist Church and the Pilgrim Holiness Church
Pilgrim Holiness Church
Pilgrim Holiness Church is a religious denomination associated with the holiness movement that split from the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1897. It was first organized in Cincinnati, Ohio as the International Holiness Union and Prayer League...
which formed the Wesleyan Church
Wesleyan Church
"Wesleyan" has been used in the title of a number of historic and current denominations, although the subject of this article is the only denomination to use that specific title...
, the Allegheny Conference
Wesleyan Methodist Church (Allegheny Conference)
Wesleyan Methodist Church is a holiness denomination in the United States. It traces its origin to the Wesleyan Methodist Church which was a Methodist denomination in the United States organized on May 13, 1841...
and the Tennessee Conference of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, and some churches of the Pilgrim Holiness Church did not approve of the merger and several new holiness denominations were formed.
There is an annual gathering in Huntington, West Virginia, called the Interchurch Holiness Convention. It has met for several years in Dayton, Ohio.
Denominations
The holiness movement led to the formation of several Christian organizations, including:- Brunstad Christian Church, also known by some as "Smith's Friends"
- Christian and Missionary AllianceChristian and Missionary AllianceThe Christian and Missionary Alliance is an evangelical Protestant denomination within Christianity.Founded by Rev. Albert Benjamin Simpson in 1887, the Christian & Missionary Alliance did not start off as a denomination, but rather began as two distinct parachurch organizations: The Christian...
- Christ's Sanctified Holy ChurchChrist's Sanctified Holy ChurchChrist's Sanctified Holy Church is a holiness denomination located primarily in the Southeastern United States. The group was organized on February 14, 1892, when members of the Methodist Episcopal Church on Chincoteague Island, Virginia, became convinced that they could not be saved without...
- Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A.Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A.The Church of Christ U.S.A. is a Holiness body of Christians headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi. In 2010, there were 14,000 members in 154 churches.- History :...
- Church of Daniel's BandChurch of Daniel's BandThe Church of Daniel's Band is a nondenominational holiness church originally organized in imitation of the early Methodist class meeting at Marine City, Michigan...
- Church of God (Anderson, Indiana)
- Church of God (Holiness)Church of God (Holiness)The Church of God is an association of autonomous holiness Christian congregations. It is an outgrowth of the 19th-century holiness movement.-History:...
- Church of the NazareneChurch of the NazareneThe Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged from the 19th century Holiness movement in North America with its members colloquially referred to as Nazarenes. It is the largest Wesleyan-holiness denomination in the world. At the end of 2010, the Church of the...
- Churches of Christ in Christian UnionChurches of Christ in Christian UnionThe Churches of Christ in Christian Union is a Christian denomination with origins in the Wesleyan/Arminian doctrine . The hot political climate at the beginning of the War Between the States brought Methodists into conflict. In Ohio the church in general supported the war but there was a small...
- Evangelical Methodist ChurchEvangelical Methodist ChurchThe Evangelical Methodist Church is a Christian denomination headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The denomination currently has churches in the United States, Mexico, Burma/Myanmar, Canada, Europe, and Africa. Congregations are located in 23 U.S. states, and they have a presence in 20 other...
- Free Methodist ChurchFree Methodist ChurchThe Free Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination within the holiness movement. It is evangelical in nature and has its roots in the Arminian-Wesleyan tradition....
- The Salvation ArmySalvation ArmyThe Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
- Wesleyan ChurchWesleyan Church"Wesleyan" has been used in the title of a number of historic and current denominations, although the subject of this article is the only denomination to use that specific title...
- Wesleyan Methodist Church (Allegheny Conference)Wesleyan Methodist Church (Allegheny Conference)Wesleyan Methodist Church is a holiness denomination in the United States. It traces its origin to the Wesleyan Methodist Church which was a Methodist denomination in the United States organized on May 13, 1841...
- World Gospel MissionWorld Gospel MissionThe World Gospel Mission is an interdenominational Christian holiness missionary agency headquartered in Marion, Indiana, United States. From its inception, WGM has been aligned with the Wesleyan Holiness tradition of Protestantism...
- Worldwide Faith MissionsWorldwide Faith MissionsWorldwide Faith Missions is a non-governmental international Christian relief and development church missionary organization based in the United States of America with mission branches in India, Burma , and Thailand. It is a part of the worldwide missions church movement.- History:Worldwide Faith...
See also
- ArminianismArminianismArminianism is a school of soteriological thought within Protestant Christianity based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic followers, the Remonstrants...
- Christian PerfectionChristian perfectionChristian perfection, also known as perfect love; heart purity; the baptism of the Holy Spirit; the fullness of the blessing; Christian holiness; the second blessing; and entire sanctification, is a Christian doctrine which holds that the heart of the regenerant Christian may attain a state of...
- MethodismMethodismMethodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
- Wesleyan
Further reading
- Boardman, William E. The Higher Christian Life, (Boston: Henry Hoyt, 1858).
- Brown, Kenneth O. Holy Ground, Too, The Camp Meeting Famil Tree. Hazleton: Holiness Archives, 1997.
- Brown, Kenneth O. Inskip, McDonald, Fowler: "Wholly And Forever Thine." (Hazleton: Holiness Archives, 2000.)
- Dieter, Melvin E. The Holiness Revival of the Nineteenth Century (Rowman & Littlefield, 1996).
- Grider, J. KennethJ. Kenneth GriderJ. Kenneth Grider is a Nazarene Christian theologian and former seminary professor primarily associated with the followers of John Wesley who are part of the Holiness movement. A member of the Church of the Nazarene, he graduated from the Nazarene Theological Seminary in 1947 and received his PhD...
. A Wesleyan-Holiness Theology, 1994 (ISBN 0-8341-1512-3). - Kostlevy, William C., ed. Historical Dictionary of the Holiness Movement (Rowman & Littlefield, 2001).
- Mannoia, Kevin W. and Don Thorsen. "The Holiness Manifesto", (William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2008)
- McDonald, William and John E. Searles. The Life of Rev. John S. Inskip, President of the National Association for the Promotion of Holiness (Chicago: The Christian Witness Co., 1885).
- Smith, Hannah Whitall. The Unselfishness of God, and How I Discovered It: A Spiritual Autobiography (New York: Fleming H. Resell Co., 1903).
- Smith, Logan Pearsall, ed. Philadelphia Quaker: The Letters of Hannah Whitall Smith (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1950).
- Smith, Timothy L. Called Unto Holiness: The Story of the Nazarenes—The Formative Years, (Nazarene Publishing House, 1962).
- Spencer, Carol. "Holiness: The Soul Of Quakerism" (Paternoster. Milton Keynes, 2007)
- White, Charles Edward. The Beauty of Holiness: Phoebe Palmer as Theologian, Revivalist, Feminist, and Humanitarian (Zondervan/Francis Asbury Press, 1986).
External links
- American Holiness Movement
- Holiness history from the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia OnlineGlobal Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia OnlineThe Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online is an online encyclopedia of topics relating to Mennonites and Anabaptism. The mission of the project is to provide free, reliable, English-language information on anabaptist-related topics....
- "The Cleansing Wave", article from Christianity TodayChristianity TodayChristianity Today is an Evangelical Christian periodical based in Carol Stream, Illinois. It is the flagship publication of its parent company Christianity Today International, claiming circulation figures of 140,000 and readership of 290,000...
- "Holiness Movement: Dead or Alive," article by Keith Drury (CRI Voice)
- A Look At Holiness And Perfectionism Theology by Armin J. Panning
- Christian Cyclopedia article on Holiness Churches
- How They Entered Canaan:A collection of holiness experience accounts by B. G. Paddock
- "Holiness Preaching," Examples of Various Holiness preachers