Insights from Holiness Traditions for Faith Practice Today
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INSIGHTS FROM HOLINESS TRADITIONS FOR FAITH PRACTICE TODAY By JOHN-CHARLES STAY Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree, Magister Artium (Systematic and Historical Theology) at the Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Pretoria SUPERVISOR: Dr Tanya van Wyk CO-SUPERVISOR: Prof Dr Yolanda Dreyer August 2018 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my parents for providing me with the opportunity to complete this dissertation, for continuing to believe in me and encouraging me to complete this study. Many thanks to Prof. Dreyer for patiently offering her thorough guidance over the duration of this study and challenging me to think broader than I initially intended to. To Dr. Van Wyk for helping me to swiftly and meaningfully connect the theme of holiness to spirituality for this present-day. I feel humbled, honoured, deeply grateful and delighted to present this dissertation as a contribution towards applying holiness in faith practice for the field of spirituality. To God for giving me the resolve, inspiration and ability to complete what I set out to do! To God be all the glory! UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY This document must be signed and submitted with every essay, report, project, assignment, dissertation and / or thesis. Full names of student:..John-Charles Stay…………………………………………. Student number:…15027644………………………………………………………… 2 Declaration I understand what plagiarism is and am aware of the University’s policy in this regard. I declare that this ………………dissertation……………………… (eg essay, report, project, assignment, dissertation, thesis, etc) is my own original work. Where other people’s work has been used (either from a printed source, Internet or any other source), this has been properly acknowledged and referenced in accordance with departmental requirements. I have not used work previously produced by another student or any other person to hand in as my own. I have not allowed, and will not allow, anyone to copy my work with the intention of passing it off as his or her own work. SIGNATURE OF STUDENT:.......…………………JCStay………………………………………… ……… …………. SIGNATURE OF SUPERVISOR:………………………………………………………………………… …….. 3 SUMMARY This study offers insights into holiness traditions, with the aim of applying them in faith practice today. The concept of holiness is ancient and therefore has often been relegated to the fringes in terms of theological importance in this present-day world. Through exploring several holiness traditions and the development of these traditions, it is evident to see that holiness has been crucial in adding value to faith practice over many centuries. For instance, the Wesleyan/Holiness Movement grew from John Wesley’s emphasis on holiness, which he often referred to as Christian Perfection. He was influenced not only by the Scriptures and his contemporaries, but by the Church Fathers and spiritualities such as the Quakers, Quietists, Reformers, Puritans and Pietists. Ascetic Spirituality involved holiness as being physical separation from the society and the wickedness associated with it. Reformed Spirituality was founded on the Protestant Reformation and emphasises the importance of reforming to conservative views of the Scripture in order to spiritually cleanse the institutionalised church and individual Christians from corruption. Puritan Spirituality extended this to beyond the church into family and community life, emphasising piety or purity as essential for a Christian and as essential to Christianise society at large. Pentecostal Spirituality emphasised the importance of the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in order to sanctify a believer’s life. The Emerging Church Movement aimed to build bridges across denominations and reach those outside the institutionalised church through living an authentic faith open to conversation. Inter-religious Dialogue extended this inclusive approach by forming a dialogue between different world religions to form solutions to global issues, such as poverty and human slavery. Through these traditions, holiness has been emphasised in different ways. For instance, it moved from being initially individualistic and exclusive to more communal, global and inclusive. Each tradition offers insights on how to live out faith practice for today. KEY TERMS: Holiness; Spirituality; faith practice; Methodist; Wesleyan tradition; Reformation; church; tradition; history 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................... 7 1.1 Background ............................................................................................... 7 1.2 Problem statement .................................................................................. 10 1.3 Orientation and Research gap ................................................................ 12 1.4 Methodology ........................................................................................... 16 1.5 Chapter outline ........................................................................................ 24 CHAPTER 2 WESLEYAN UNDERSTANDINGS OF CHRISTIAN PERFECTION ................................................................................ 27 2.1 Foundations of Christian Perfection ........................................................ 27 2.1.1 John Wesley’s “practical theology” ................................................... 26 2.1.2 John Wesley’s Puritan heritage ........................................................ 30 2.1.3 John Wesley’s evangelistic approach ............................................... 33 2.1.4 John Wesley and the influence of the Church Fathers ..................... 36 2.1.5 Other main influences of John Wesley’s theology ............................ 38 2.1.6 John Wesley’s conferences .............................................................. 41 2.2 Christian Perfection: Developments ........................................................ 45 2.2.1 Holiness and love ............................................................................. 45 2.2.2 Testimonies ...................................................................................... 48 2.3 Christian Perfection: Further developments ............................................ 51 2.3.1 Christian Perfection as “consecration”: Phoebe Palmer ................... 51 2.3.2 Christian Perfection as identity: Hannah Whitall Smith ..................... 54 2.3.3 Christian Perfection as “new measures”: Charles Finney ................. 56 2.3.4 Christian Perfection as loving relationships: Mildred Wynkoop ......... 58 2.3.5 Christian Perfection as “relational holiness”: Thomas Oord & Michael Lodahl……………………………………………………………………..59 2.3.6 “Renovating holiness”: The Nazarene project ................................... 61 5 CHAPTER 3 HOLINESS: ANCIENT TO CONTEMPORARY ... 67 3.1 Contemplative spiritualities ..................................................................... 67 3.1.1 The Desert Father’s and self-denial .................................................. 67 3.1.2 New Monasticism .............................................................................. 70 3.2 Perspectives from Reformed Spirituality ................................................. 73 3.2.1 Martin Luther ..................................................................................... 73 3.2.2 John Calvin ....................................................................................... 76 3.2.3 Jürgen Moltmann .............................................................................. 78 3.2.4 Miroslav Volf ..................................................................................... 81 3.3 Puritan Spirituality ................................................................................... 82 3.3.1 John Owen’s “mortification of sin” ..................................................... 82 3.3.2 John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s progress ..................................................... 85 3.3.3 Jonathan Edwards’ religious affections ........................................... 87 3.4 Pentecostal Spirituality ............................................................................ 91 3.4.1 Charles Fox Parham’s glossolalia ..................................................... 91 3.4.2 A.B. Simpson’s “fourfold gospel” ....................................................... 95 3.4.3 Kenneth Hagin’s Faith Movement ..................................................... 98 3.5 Authentic discussions in a postmodern world ....................................... 100 3.5.1 Emerging Church Movement .......................................................... 100 3.5.2 Interreligious Dialogue .............................................................................108 CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS.......................................................... 117 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................... 124 6 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background Holiness is a topic that has intrigued me ever since I became a Christian in my matric year at school, thirteen years ago. I was raised as an only child in a household where the importance of good values was emphasised. Jesus was the example to follow and the local church as God’s family would guide me. From an early age, I was encouraged to follow Jesus and live a life of virtue, based on love for God and others. Rather than compare myself to peers, I was encouraged to be more like Jesus, to follow his life and example and also that of biblical characters who live holy lives that please