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Download The Call To Christian Perfection

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Author:
Samuel Chadwick

theWord Version:
3.x - 4.x

Tab Name:
Holiness, Wesley, Methodist

It was the settled conviction of John Wesley that the Lord had raised up the Methodist people "to spread Scriptural Holiness throughout the land." The doctrine was in a peculiar sense committed to them. Perhaps it would not be quite true to say it was discovered by them, but they received it, preached it, and formulated it in their teaching as never before in the history of the Christian Church. The witness to the experience has come down through the ages, but John Wesley became its apostle. For thirty years he preached it, expounded it, and defended it. When he died, he deposited it with the Methodist people as their special charge and responsibility. A collection of his teachings, warnings, and appeals on this subject would come with a shock to many of the people called Methodists. If it were not for Wesley's Hymn-book, there would be many who had not so much as heard of the doctrine. The late Dr. Dale used to say that the last word on the subject was still with Wesley, but he was equally sure the last word had not yet been spoken. He regretted that the Methodist people had done nothing to develop the doctrine. Keswick has tried to correct the Methodist emphasis by stating the doctrine from the Calvinistic angle, and some American theologians have attempted its statement in modern terms; but the standard teaching is still that of Wesley