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Holiness Movement
The Holiness movement is an American off-shoot of
Methodism which
generally follows the
Arminian doctrinal teachings of
John Wesley.
Holiness Christians left Methodism in the 19th and early 20th centuries because
they felt that mainstream Methodism was failing to emphasize Wesleyan teachings
on
sanctification, particularly the experience of
Christian Perfection, which Holiness theologians usually refer to as
entire sanctification, following Wesley's colleague
John
Fletcher. Among the more notable Holiness bodies are the Church of the
Nazarene and the Salvation Army.
The roots of the Holiness Movement are
as follows:
- The Reformation itself, with its
emphasis on salvation by grace alone through faith alone.
- Puritanism in 17th Century England
and its transplantation to America with its emphasis on adherence to the Bible
and the right to dissent from the established church.
- Pietism in 17th Century Germany, led
by Philipp Jakob Spener and the Moravians, which emphasized the spiritual life
of the individual, coupled with a responsibility to live an upright life.
- Quietism, as taught by the Religious
Society of Friends (Quakers), with its emphasis on the individual's ability to
experience God and understand God's will for oneself.
- The 1730s Evangelical Revival in
England, led by Methodists John Wesley and his brother Charles Wesley, which
brought Wesley's distinct take on the teachings of German Pietism to England
and eventually to the United States.
- The First Great Awakening in the
18th and early 19th Centuries in the United States, propagated by George
Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, and others, with its emphasis on the initial
conversion experience of Christians.
- The Second Great Awakening in the
19th Century in the United States, propagated by Charles Finney, Lyman
Beecher, Francis Asbury, and others, which also emphasized the need for
personal conversion and is characterized by the rise of evangelistic revival
meetings.
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