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Abstract Reintroducing the Doctrine and Experience Of ABSTRACT REINTRODUCING THE DOCTRINE AND EXPERIENCE OF CHRISTIAN PERFECTION TO UNITED METHODISTS by Matthew Hatcher Johnson William Abraham has called the doctrine of Christian perfection a “dead letter” in the United Methodist Church despite the fact that the founder of Methodism, John Wesley, once proclaimed that Christian perfection was the chief reason for the rise of Methodism. In the last one hundred years, preaching and teaching on this important doctrine has become marginalized, which is to the detriment of discipleship within the United Methodist Church. Some key scholars within the United Methodist Church, including Rex Matthews and Bishop Scott Jones, have called for a renaming of the doctrine in order to make it more palatable and more understandable to modern Methodists. However, a review of the biblical and historical literature suggests that a reintroduction is needed rather than a new name. The Bible is replete with descriptions of holiness (a synonym for Christian perfection) as well as calls to be holy as God is holy. Placed within the broad framework of the Bible’s message, Christian perfection is not only possible; it is what God desires of his people. Reintroducing the doctrine and experience of Christian perfection begins with reaffirming this doctrine and teaching information about Christian perfection to United Methodists. A solid understanding of the doctrine opens the door to formational and transformational possibilities in line with the adult educational theories of Jack Mezirow and Dorothy MacKeracher. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a six- session intervention using pre- and post-intervention questionnaires, semi-structured participant interviews, and researcher observation notes. The instruments were designed to help the researcher understand the informational, formational, and transformational impact that the intervention may or may not have had on the participant's understanding and experience of Christian perfection. The participant answers to both the pre- and post-intervention questionnaires were compared and contrasted thus providing a data set with which to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. Further data was gathered from five semi-structured interviews and observational notes written by the researcher. Forty-five people participated in the study, and forty-two of them returned both the pre- and post-intervention questionnaires. The sessions took place at Saint Paul United Methodist Church in Searcy, AR. The intervention proved to make a difference in the understanding of Christian perfection among the participants. There was a 65% increase in the number of participants who believed that Christian perfection was something a Christian could experience in this life. Other data revealed that the language used in the intervention affected participant answers and understanding of Christian perfection. Interviews yielded responses indicating that participants understood the information and expected the transformation to follow in the future. This is an encouragement to all United Methodist Churches and an indication that Christian perfection itself is not dead, but merely neglected. DISSERTATION APPROVAL This is to certify that the dissertation entitled REINTRODUCING THE DOCTRINE AND EXPERIENCE OF CHRISTIAN PERFECTION TO UNITED METHODISTS presented by Matthew Hatcher Johnson has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for the DOCTOR OF MINISTRY degree at Asbury Theological Seminary Dissertation Coach Date Representative, Doctor of Ministry Program Date Dean of the Beeson Center Date REINTRODUCING THE DOCTRINE AND EXPERIENCE OF CHRISTIAN PERFECTION TO UNITED METHODISTS A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of Asbury Theological Seminary In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Ministry by Matthew Hatcher Johnson May 2017 © 2017 Matthew Hatcher Johnson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................. viii CHAPTER 1 NATURE OF THE PROJECT .....................................................................1 Overview of the Chapter .........................................................................................1 Autobiographical Introduction ................................................................................1 Statement of the Problem ........................................................................................5 Purpose of the Project ……………………………………………………………6 Research Questions ..................................................................................................6 Rationale for the Project ..........................................................................................7 Definition of Key Terms .........................................................................................8 Delimitations ...........................................................................................................9 Review of Relevant Literature ...............................................................................10 Data Collection Method ........................................................................................11 Participants ................................................................................................12 Type of Research ......................................................................................13 Data Collection .........................................................................................13 Data Analysis ............................................................................................13 Generalizability .........................................................................................14 Overview of Dissertation ......................................................................................15 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW FOR THE PROJECT .........................................16 iii Overview of Chapter ..............................................................................................16 Description of Literature Surveyed ........................................................................16 Biblical Foundations ..............................................................................................17 Introduction to a Biblical Understanding of Christian Perfection .............17 A Biblical Understanding of Holiness .......................................................17 Theological Foundations ........................................................................................45 The Issue for United Methodism ...........................................................................51 Adult Learning. ......................................................................................................56 Gaps Analysis in Literature ..................................................................................62 Research Design ....................................................................................................62 Review of the Chapter ..........................................................................................63 CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY FOR THE PROJECT Introduction Nature and Purpose of the Project………………………………………….64 Research Questions ....................................................................................65 RQ #1. RQ #2 RQ #3 Ministry Context(s) for Observing the Phenomenon ............................................67 Participants to Be Sampled About the Phenomenon ............................................69 Criteria for Selection .................................................................................69 Description of Participants .......................................................................69 Ethical Considerations ..............................................................................70 iv Procedure for Collecting Evidence from Participants ..........................................72 Procedure for Analyzing the Evidence Collected .................................................77 Reliability & Validity of Project Design ..............................................................78 Review of the Chapter ..........................................................................................78 CHAPTER 4 EVIDENCE FOR THE PROJECT ..............................................................80 Introduction ...........................................................................................................80 Research Question #1: Description of Evidence ..................................................81 Research Question #2: Description of Evidence ..................................................84 Research Question #3: Description of Evidence ..................................................88 Summary of Major Findings ..................................................................................90 Review of the Chapter ..........................................................................................91 CHAPTER 5 LEARNING REPORT FOR THE PROJECT .............................................90 Overview of the Chapter .......................................................................................90 Major Findings .......................................................................................................90
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