Holiness Through the Ages First Fruits Press the Academic Open Press of Asbury Theological Seminary 204 N
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Holiness Through the Ages First Fruits Press The Academic Open Press of Asbury Theological Seminary 204 N. Lexington Ave., Wilmore, KY 40390 859-858-2236 [email protected] asbury.to/firstfruits An Historical Reader of Holiness Writers Edited by Robert E. Coleman Robert A. Danielson Faith E. Parry First Fruits Press Wilmore, Ky c2014 Holiness Through the Ages: An Historic Reader of Christian Writers on Holiness, edited by Robert E. Coleman, Robert A. Danielson, and Faith E. Parry Published by First Fruits Press, © 2014 ISBN: 9781621711193 (Print) 9781621711599 (Digital), 9781621711605 (Kindle) Digital version at http://place.asburyseminary.edu/academicbooks/9/ The author(s) has granted permission to First Fruits Press to electronically publish this item for academic use. Copyright of this item remains with the author(s). For any commercial or non-educational use of the material, please contact the author(s) directly. First Fruits Press is a digital imprint of the Asbury Theological Seminary, B.L. Fisher Library. Its publications are available for noncommercial and educational uses, such as research, teaching and private study. First Fruits Press has licensed the digital version of this work under the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/. For all other uses, contact First Fruits Press: 859-858-2236 [email protected] Holiness through the ages : an historical reader of holiness writers [electronic resource] / edited by Robert E. Coleman, Robert A. Danielson, Faith E. Parry 1 online resource (ix, 683 pages ; 23 cm.) : digital Wilmore, Kentucky : First Fruits Press, ©2014. ISBN: 9781621711599 (electronic) 1. Holiness. I. Title. II. Coleman, Robert Emerson, 1928- III. Danielson, Robert A. (Robert Alden), 1969- IV. Parry, Faith E BT767 .H646 2014eb 234.8 Cover design by Kelli Dierdorf Introduction Holiness is living life, as God would have us live it. For flawed human beings, this is impossible without the power of the Holy Spirit and a strong commitment to prayer, studying scripture, and repentance with self-reflection, along with other spiritual disciplines. No Christian tradition has a monopoly on teaching holiness. In fact, it has been a part of the teachings of the Church from the very start. This book brings together many Christian writers from many different traditions, but all with a common focus on how to live a holy life. From the Romafn Catholics, Brother Lawrence and Blaise Pascal to Puritans, Methodists, Baptists, and early Pentecostals, they all have some important lessons to teach those who desire to faithfully follow Christ today. Dr. Robert “Clem” Coleman, who started printing small booklets of excerpts or abridged versions of spiritual classics when he was a professor at Asbury Theological Seminary, edited and wrote introductions for a number of these chapters. He continued this work with many others in producing booklets that were later published by the Billy Graham Center. Dr. Coleman wanted to use many of these writings for teaching a course in discipleship, but was frustrated by the difficulty of locating so many small booklets and reselling them to students. So we gathered permissions from all of the writers we could find, and are now publishing most of this material in one place. Our hope is that this material, being made freely available online, will impact the lives of Christians all over the world. Holiness is what we are called to in the Christian journey. Conversion is just an important i step on a much longer journey toward holiness. Never before have the needs of the world cried out for the People of God to live out their calling to be a light to the nations, as it has in this generation. Yet many believers still have not heard the message of living a holy life for a holy God. Consumerism, materialism, individualism, rationalism, and the rejection of absolute truth have all led to a world desperately in need of the classical teachings of Christian holiness. This is just a small attempt to reintroduce these teachings once again. Read and reflect on these teachings and the lives of those who made such an impact in their own time. May their words inspire a new generation of Christians and light a fire in their hearts that will kindle a passion for holiness that will sweep over the earth! By Robert Danielson, Editor of First Fruits Press and of The Asbury Journal ii Using and Citing This Book Because this book is a collection of books, the table of contents is marked accordingly. The Roman numerals are the books, while the Arabic numerals are the chapters within each book.. Each book has its own copyright page and citations. When citing the book, it is best to use the format of a chapter within a book. If using a digital version of this book, make the edition either PDF, Kindle, or ePub to reflect that it is a digital edition. For example: MLA: Lawrence, Brother. “Practicing the Presence of God.” Holiness Through the Ages: An Historical Reader of Christian Writers on Holiness. Ed. Robert E. Coleman. Kindle Edition. Wilmore, Ky: First Fruits Press, 2014. APA: Lawrence, B. (2014). Practicing the Presence of God. In R. Coleman (Ed.), Holiness Through the Ages: An Historical Reader of Christian Writers on Holiness (Kindle Edition ed.). Wilmore, Ky: First Fruits Press. Always refer to MLA or APA standards for the most updated citation format. iii Books and Chapters Introduction .................................................................................... i Using and Citing This Book ...........................................................iii I. Practicing the Presence of God Brother Lawrence 1611-1691 1 1. Introduction By Robert E. Coleman .......................................................................................4 2. Conversations .....................................................................................7 3. Letters ..............................................................................................16 4. Notes ................................................................................................31 II. The Saints’ Everlasting Rest Richard Baxter 1615-1691 33 1. Introduction By Timothy K. Beougher ..................................................................36 2. The Importance of Leading a Heavenly Life Upon Earth ................39 3. Directions on How to Lead a Heavenly Life Upon Earth ...............49 4. The atureN of Heavenly Contemplation, with the Time, Place, and Frame of Mind Most Suited for It ...................................................62 III. Aflame with Love Blaise Pascal 1623-1662 71 1. Introduction By Robert E. Coleman .....................................................................74 2. Knowing God in Christ ....................................................................81 3. Proofs of Jesus ...................................................................................86 4. Human Struggle ...............................................................................94 5. The ewN Life ....................................................................................99 v IV. Resolutions of a Saintly Scholar Jonathan Edwards 1703-1758 107 1. Introduction By Robert E. Coleman ...................................................................110 2. His Spiritual Delight ......................................................................115 3. Personal Resolutions .......................................................................120 4. Constant Review.............................................................................127 V. The Scripture Way of Salvation John Wesley 1703-1791 135 1. Introduction By Robert E. Coleman ...................................................................138 2. The Scripture Way of Salvation ......................................................142 3. The Circumcision of the Heart .......................................................151 4. The Repentance of Believers ...........................................................160 5. Notes ..............................................................................................172 VI. Is Your Christian Faith Real? George Whitefield 1714-1770 175 1. Introduction By Timothy K. Beougher ................................................................178 2. “The Almost Christian” ...................................................................182 3. “Marks of a True Conversion” .........................................................192 4. Notes ..............................................................................................203 VII. The Fruit of Revival Charles G. Finney 1792-1875 205 1. Introduction By Robert E. Coleman ...................................................................208 2. When a Revival is to Be Expected ..................................................213 3. How to Promote a Revival ..............................................................218 4. TheWay of Salvation ......................................................................224 5. Christian Perfection ........................................................................228 6. Love is the Whole of Religion ........................................................237 7. Notes ..............................................................................................242 VIII. Faith in Action George Müller 1805-1898 245 1. Introduction By David P. Setran ..........................................................................248