Academic literature on the topic 'Perfection Sanctification'

AbstractContemporary analyses of Anselm's objective description of Christ's atonement have often resulted in a trend of interpretation that tends to ignore the relevance of this model to a development and understanding of a western doctrine of Christian sanctification. Through the examination of some overlooked insights offered inCur Deus homoand their integration with other spiritual writings in Anselm's corpus, the present article attempts to redirect current scholarship towards a more holistic engagement with Anselm's doctrine of atonement, out of which an original doctrine of Christian perfection can be outlined.

JOHN WALKER, sometime fellow of Trinity College Dublin and arch-critic of everyone's religious opinions but his own, wrote his Expostulatory Address to the Methodists in Ireland during one of the most remarkable outbreaks of rural revivalism in Irish history. Walker, who inevitably founded the Walkerites, not only condemned Methodist acquisitiveness, but also drew up a list of its Arminian sins after the style of the eighteenth-century Calvinistic polemicists. He alleged that Methodists were idolatrous in their veneration of Wesley, hypocritical in their class-meeting confessions, irrational in their pursuit of religious experience, arrogant in their supposed claims of Christian perfection and heretical in their interpretation of the doctrines of justification and sanctification. The chief importance of Walker's pamphlet was the reply it provoked from Alexander Knox, Lord Castlereagh's private secretary. As an admirer of Wesley's transparent piety and of the beneficial influence of Methodism on the labouring classes, Knox wrote a sensitive and sympathetic riposte.

In the course of efforts to gather together all the documentation relating to Fr. Ignatius Spencer C.P. (1799–1864) in connection with the process of beatification, references were encountered to a document entitled: Reflectiones Propositionesque Pro Fidelium Sanctificatione. To this date the paper has not been found. Ignatius had entered the Passionist Congregation on 21 December 1846, his birthday, and since he was already a priest, he was rapidly entrusted with positions of responsibility in the Congregation. The paper in question was one of his concerns in the years 1854–1857. In his writings, mention can be found of its composition, and of the reception it received from various people. It may be possible to reconstruct to some extent the content of the missing document, although the reason for its disappearance must remain an open question.

Written in honour of the Berlin systematic theologian Wolf Krötke, this paper gives an exposition of two propositions. (1) ‘A Christian dogmatics of the divine perfections is a positive science in the church of Jesus Christ whose task is the rational articulation of the singular identity of God the Holy Trinity, freely presented in the works of God's triune being.’ Christian dogmatics is a positive science concerned, not with deity as maximally perfect, but with the singular identity of God in his self-presentation as it is confessed in the sphere of the church. That identity is God's identity as Father, Son and Spirit, confessed as immanently complete and as operative in the economy of God's works. This is applied to the attributes of holiness and love in a further proposition: (2) ‘God's holiness is the majestic incomparability, difference and purity which he is in himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and which is manifest and operative in the economy of his works in the love with which he elects, reconciles and perfects human partners for fellowship with himself.’ God's holiness is self-consecration to be the wholly unique being that he is. But as the triune God, his self-consecration includes his consecration of the creature as he singles out the creature for blessing in his works of election, reconciliation and sanctification. As such, God's holiness is operative as the love which maintains the creature's cause by eradicating all that hinders the creature's consecration to life in fellowship with God.

This study focuses uniquely on one of twentieth-century Methodism's most famous and influential figures: the Rev. Dr. William Edwin Sangster (1900-1960). Sangster was and is primarily remembered as a preacher; indeed he was deemed 'the Prince of Preachers' following his untimely death in May 1960 (A1ethodist Recorder, 2 June 1962, p.4). Sangster is probably the only preacher within living memory to hit the headlines of the national newspapers due to the content of a sermon (January 1953). During the period 1940-1960 Sangster was one of the most well known religious personalities both in his own country and the USA, famous not only for his oratory but also his numerous publications. It is somewhat surprising, therefore, that so little scholarly attention has been paid to this central figure of Methodism. This thesis in part fills that gap. Therefore, the first major contribution this study will make is to bring together and collate, for the first time, a vast archive ·of Sangster's work, including many forms of published material; books, articles, letters and also a number of recordings. At present the painstaking research and collecting process of eighteen years, comprises all Sangster's books and pamphlets, nearly four hundred published articles, twenty-four letters and twenty tape recordings, a record and a film. It is this collection, which contains substantial but previously untapped primary material, that forms the basis of the theological analysis within this thesis. Over and above this in itself significant contribution to research, this study will address critically and comprehensively the thought of W.E. Sangster, and in particular his understanding of the Wesleyan doctrine of Christian holiness. This has never been done before. Throughout his ministry Sangster's main theological agenda was to understand and critically restate John Wesley's views concerning Christian holiness, which was arguably Methodism's most distinctive doctrinal contribution to 'the history of Christian theology. As is shown here Sangster felt that John Wesley's pre-scientific philosophical assumptions were primarily responsible for making his views untenable to the modern mind. It is also argued that Sangster should be considered as a forerunner of modern Wesleyan studies. Whereas many of the modern studies adopt a modified 'humanistic' approach, searching for Wesley's sources and influences in order to restate (state again) what Wesley actually did say, Sangster attempted to discover the assumptions Wesley brought to his theology and to uncover the logical framework upon which his conclusions were based with a view of ascertaining whether Wesley's doctrine of Christian holiness could be restated (stated anew) based on modern philosophical assumptions. This thesis contains six chapters, a bibliography (with unique primary material) and a collated and annotated appendix of Sangster's articles and letters. Chapter one serves as a brief introduction to Sangster's life and work and provides an important survey of Sangster's literary contribution. The chapter adds to, and departs from, Paul Sangster's biography at numerous points and focuses in particular on the theological development of Sangster's thought as seen in his writings. This issue lay outside Paul Sangster's agenda. Chapter two analyses the main formative influences on Sangster's thinking and in particular the significance of the Oxford Group in the period 1930-1937, leading to his personal re-discovery of the doctrine of assurance, which instigated his study into the Wesleyan doctrine of holiness. It is suggested that this chapter contains significant new insights that help us better to understand Sangster's development. Chapter three examines the theological landscape of the Wesleyan .doctrine of holiness from 1838-1938, the hundred year period before Sangster embarked on his study and which therefore sets the context for Sangster's own work. Three major interpretations were identifiable: the IV Classical Wesleyan, the PentecostallExperiential and the Critical view. These formed the immediate theological background of his own survey. Chapter four examines the change in theological viewpoint evident in Sangster's writings from 1939 onwards, in which he begins to employ modern scientific thought in his theology, a distinct contrast to his earlier devotional and pastoral emphasis. As we shall see this leads Sangster to depart from John Wesley on significant points that were essential to John Wesley's understanding of holiness. Again, it is suggested that this chapter provides significant new material and hence makes a major contribution to knowledge. Chapter five traces Sangster's understanding of the human condition - the doctrines of grace and sin; key components in his understanding of holiness, with the doctrine of sin being a major point of disagreement with Wesley. Chapter six analyses Sangster's main writings on the doctrine of holiness, identifying developments of thought. Sangster's more modern views of the after-life, sin, and psychology led to a restated or reshaped understanding of Christian holiness, this is then subject to ·critical analysis. The thesis concludes with a statement of Sangster's contribution to the Wesleyan holiness tradithm. Therefore, this thesis claims uniqueness and originality not only in the scope and comprehensiveness of source material but also in its agenda of presenting critically for the first time the theological essence of Sangster's life-long quest to understand and restate the Wesleyan doctrine of holiness. Supplied by The British Library - 'The world's knowledge'

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This work consists in a comparative study of the writings of John Wesley (1703-1791) and Ellen G. White (1827-1915) seeking to define the concept of sanctification in each author. A description may be found of the factors that led to the elaboration of Wesley s and White s perception. Similarities between both authors are verified, such as continuous growth, negation of sinlessness, the need for constant dependency in God and obedience to His law. Differences between both authors are also studied, such as Wesley s concepts of instantaneous sanctification, the second work of grace, and White s concepts of character perfection and spheres of perfection. This work also discusses contributions and implications that may be presented to the theological debate in today s theology, such as human finiteness, sin and human nature, religious motivations for praxis and divine/human collaboration for development.
Este trabalho consiste em um estudo comparativo entre os escritos de John Wesley (1703-1791) e Ellen G. White (1827-1915) procurando definir os conceitos de santificação de cada autor. São descritos os fatores que levaram a elaboração desta percepção tanto em John Wesley como em Ellen G. White e verificadas as congruências entre os autores estudados como o conceito de amadurecimento contínuo, a negação de impecabilidade, a necessidade de dependência constante em Deus e obediência à Sua lei entre outros. São verificadas também as divergências entre ambos os autores, como os conceitos wesleyanos de santificação instantânea, a segunda obra da graça, e os conceitos whiteanos de perfeição de caráter e esferas de perfeição. Neste trabalho, também são destacadas algumas contribuições e implicações para a teologia na atualidade como os conceitos da finitude humana, o pecado e a natureza humana, a práxis e suas motivações religiosas e a colaboração divino/humana no desenvolvimento.

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document
Thesis (PhD (Dogmatics and Christian Ethics))--University of Pretoria, 2007.
Dogmatics and Christian Ethics
PhD
unrestricted

John Wesley was a well educated son of a cleric, who chose to be a theologian and a minister in the Church of England. His theological distinctive was his insistence on the possibility of entire sanctification in this lifetime. In response to their position on sanctification, Wesley and the Methodists sought to save souls and cure the ills in society because they believed it was divinely mandated. Their love and work for the less fortunate was a response to their love for God and in obedience to His commandments. This is the great success of their work. They were able to serve God and their generation in a balanced yet inseparable way. The result of Wesley's life, direct and indirect, was that the social and spiritual plight of thousands of individuals and families was improved and dozens of church groups, missionary societies and benevolent organisations have emerged
Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology
Th.M. (Church History)

The focus of this study is to discover the identity of the emphatic “I” of Rom 7 with the added purpose of attempting to “draw” a spiritual portrait of a mature Christian believer. To accomplish this purpose, the process is as follows: An examination of Rom 7, within its context, is conducted. This examination is followed by an attempt at determining the experience of the emphatic “I” found within Rom 7. The next step in the process is to compare the experience of the emphatic “I” of Rom 7, as found within its context of Rom 1-8 with what Paul wrote elsewhere on the experience of new life in Christ for Christian believers. The purpose of this comparison is to discover if Paul had a “consistent” portrait of spirituality and Christian maturity. The final step is to compare the experience described by Paul, both in Rom 7 and in the wider Pauline Corpus, with the experience which John Wesley called “perfection”, and with the Mystical experience called the “spiritual marriage”. The study of Romans, Wesley, and the Mystics, coupled with the wider study of the secondary literature showed that there is a remarkable consistency in the teaching and understanding that the closer a Christian believer gets to God, the more this Christian believer is aware of his or her own sinfulness. Paul, in describing the experience of the emphatic “I”, is describing a person who is becoming more and more aware of his or her own sinfulness. The conclusion to be drawn from this study is that the identity of the empathic “I” is of a regenerate Christian believer, one who is growing ever closer and closer to God and at the same time is in “pain” over the remaining effects of sin.
Thesis (PhD (New Testament Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2007.
New Testament Studies
PhD
unrestricted

This chapter introduces Matthew Simpson and B.T. Roberts as representative figures of an initial theological fragmentation in American Methodist theology. Previous historiography of American Methodism as a theological tradition is summarized, noting the tendency to emphasize a big-tent vision for American Methodist theology. It is argued that the big-tent vision for American Methodist theology is the result of the shifts that happened in the 1850s and 1860s and represents one part of the fragmentation within American Methodism. It is argued that holiness and entire sanctification, or Christian perfection, were particular points of emphasis in American Methodist theology, even across its initial divisions. Simpson and Roberts represent a textured case study of a crucial moment of fragmentation in American Methodism.