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This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ A Holy People? Tradition, formation, and mission in contemporary British Methodism Mullins, David Harold Awarding institution: King's College London The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). 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Tradition, Formation, and Mission in Contemporary British Methodism David Harold Mullins Student number: 0844533 Research Based Thesis Doctor In Theology And Ministry August 2019 King’s College London Department of Theology and Religious Studies Abstract The Christian church in twenty-first century Britain faces a significant missiological challenge in which serious attention to Christian formation will be vital if Christians are to provide credible witness to the gospel, both individually and communally. Christian formation – a modern term – describes the early Wesleyan holiness tradition, now ‘lost’ to contemporary British Methodism, but which, it is argued, has potential for recovery. The thesis examines the early Wesleyan holiness tradition, including John Wesley’s doctrine of Christian perfection and the communal practices of the early Methodists, establishing its roots in the virtues and the affections. Envisioned as a relational process of gradual growth toward perfect love of God and neighbour, it became, after Aldersgate, an attainable goal, albeit in the context of ongoing growth. An examination of six key individuals who, after Wesley, played pivotal roles in modifying, transforming, or departing from the tradition establishes that, under the influence of American holiness revivalism, the tradition in Britain was reinterpreted in Pentecostal terms, emphasising instantaneous attainment and the ‘Second Blessing,’ whilst its gradual formational nature was lost. A lack of engagement with the needs of the world contributed to its neglect in the twentieth century, and eventual ‘loss’ in post Second World War Britain. New perspectives in Christian formation, particularly the rehabilitation of the virtues, the role of the affections, and Christian practices as means of grace, together with the emphasis on formation in community and engagement with the world, provide a basis for contemporary recovery, signs of which are already present. Suggestions are offered as to how Methodism might begin to re-express its historic tradition. The thesis concludes that Methodism has the opportunity to recover and reintegrate the essential dynamics of the early Wesleyan holiness tradition into its life and mission, informing its practice of Christian formation, and rediscovering its foundational call to become a ‘holy people’ for the sake of the world. 2 Table of Contents ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................................. 3 ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................................................... 5 1 INTRODUCTION – IN SEARCH OF A LOST TRADITION .................................................. 6 1.1 RESEARCH CONCEPTION: A PERSONAL PROJECT ..................................................................... 6 Mission ........................................................................................................................................... 7 Formation ...................................................................................................................................... 8 Tradition ...................................................................................................................................... 10 1.2 METHODOLOGY: A STUDY IN PRACTICAL THEOLOGY ............................................................. 11 Research Method ......................................................................................................................... 12 1.3 A DISCIPLESHIP MOVEMENT SHAPED FOR MISSION ............................................................... 13 1.4 HOLINESS – METHODISM’S ‘LOST’ TRADITION ..................................................................... 15 New stirrings of ‘holiness’ ............................................................................................................ 19 A repressed gene ......................................................................................................................... 20 Re-engaging with the holiness tradition ...................................................................................... 22 1.5 CHRISTIAN FORMATION – A MISSIOLOGICAL IMPERATIVE ...................................................... 24 A changed religious landscape .................................................................................................... 24 The missiological question ........................................................................................................... 28 1.6 CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................... 30 2 THE BIRTH OF A TRADITION ..................................................................................... 32 2.1 HOLINESS – AN ENDURING VISION ..................................................................................... 33 Wesley in context ......................................................................................................................... 37 2.2 AN EMERGING TRADITION: JOHN WESLEY AND THE PURSUIT OF HOLINESS ............................... 43 John Wesley and his sources ........................................................................................................ 44 The Oxford Methodists and ‘social holiness’ ................................................................................ 48 Holiness and Virtue ...................................................................................................................... 51 Holiness and Affection ................................................................................................................. 53 2.3 A CHANGING TRADITION: THE ‘WARMED HEART’ ................................................................. 56 John Wesley and the Moravians .................................................................................................. 57 ‘A Change of Affections’ ............................................................................................................... 60 2.4 A ‘SOCIAL’ TRADITION: THE COMMUNAL PRACTICES OF THE EARLY METHODISTS ....................... 63 The Society ................................................................................................................................... 64 Class Meeting ............................................................................................................................... 65 Band Meeting .............................................................................................................................. 66 The Means of Grace ..................................................................................................................... 67 2.5 A CONTROVERSIAL TRADITION: ‘INSTANTANEOUS’ OR ‘GRADUAL’ ........................................... 72 The Otley outbreak ...................................................................................................................... 73 Perfect love: dynamic, relational, and affectional ....................................................................... 76 2.6 THE MATURING OF A TRADITION ....................................................................................... 77 ‘A Plain Account of Christian Perfection’ ..................................................................................... 78 ‘The Scripture Way of Salvation’ .................................................................................................. 79 2.7 CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................... 83 3 THE LOSS OF A TRADITION ....................................................................................... 85 3.1 PHOEBE PALMER ........................................................................................................... 87 The influence