Holiness movement

[5][6] The movement is historically distinguished by its emphasis on the doctrine of a second work of grace,[7][8] which is called entire sanctification or Christian perfection.

[9][10] The word Holiness refers specifically to this belief in entire sanctification as an instantaneous, definite second work of grace, in which original sin is cleansed, the heart is made perfect in love, and the believer is empowered to serve God.

This work has these distinct elements: The Church of the Nazarene, a large Wesleyan-Holiness denomination in the Methodist tradition, explains that:"We believe that entire sanctification is that act of God, subsequent to regeneration, by which believers are made free from original sin, or depravity, and brought into a state of entire devotement to God, and the holy obedience of love made perfect.

[26] John Swanel Inskip, a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church, explained, "There is, however, one doctrine, in a great measure peculiar to Methodism.

Timothy Cooley explained, "If this definition is compromised, victorious Christian living becomes meaningless, and entire sanctification an impossibility.

"[37] The founder of the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana), D. S. Warner, explains "Holiness writers and teachers, as far as my knowledge extends, uniformly hold up a sinless life, as the true test and Bible standard of regeneration.

"[38] Denominations aligned with the Holiness movement believe the moral aspects of the law of God are pertinent for today, and adherents obey teachings regarding modesty, clean speech and sober living.

Many churches and denominations in the Holiness movement prohibit smoking, drinking, dancing, listening to inappropriate worldly music, or wearing makeup or flashy clothes.

[42] Anabaptist denominations aligned with the holiness movement, such as the Apostolic Christian Church, teach the observance of ordinances, such as communion, headcovering and footwashing.

By the 1840s, a new emphasis on Holiness and Christian perfection began within American Methodism, brought about in large part by the revivalism and camp meetings of the Second Great Awakening (1790–1840).

In 1835, Palmer's sister, Sarah A. Lankford, started holding Tuesday Meetings for the Promotion of Holiness in her New York City home.

In New York City, Palmer met with Amanda Smith, a preacher in the African Methodist Episcopal Church who testified that she became entirely sanctified in 1868 and then began to preach Christian holiness throughout the world.

His technique combined restrained emotionalism with a clear call for personal commitment, thus bridging the rural style of camp meetings and the expectations of more "sophisticated" Methodist congregations in the emerging cities.

Roberts and John Wesley Redfield founded the Free Methodist Church on the ideals of slavery abolition, egalitarianism, and second-blessing holiness.

The couple became figureheads in the now-famous Keswick Convention that gave rise to what is often called the Keswick-Holiness revival, which became distinct from the holiness movement.

[59] Founded by Samuel Heinrich Fröhlich, the Apostolic Christian Church (Nazarene) is an Anabaptist denomination aligned with the holiness movement, thus being "distinguished by its emphasis on entire sanctifiation".

At the close of the encampment, while the ministers were on their knees in prayer, they formed the National Camp Meeting Association for the Promotion of Holiness, and agreed to conduct a similar gathering the next year.

This time the national press attended and write-ups appeared in numerous papers, including a large two-page pictorial in Harper's Weekly.

"By the 1880s holiness was the most powerful doctrinal movement in America and seemed to be carrying away all opposition both within the Methodist Church and was quickly spreading throughout many other denominations.

[52] In 1871, the American evangelist Dwight L. Moody had what he called an "endowment with power" as a result of some soul-searching and the prayers of two Free Methodist women who attended one of his meetings.

In 1881, D. S. Warner started the Evening Light Reformation, out of which was formed the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana), bringing Restorationism to the Holiness family.

"[68] Palmer's The Promise of the Father, published in 1859, which argued in favor of women in ministry,[69] later influenced Catherine Booth, co-founder of the Salvation Army.

The founding of the Salvation Army in 1878 helped to rekindle Holiness sentiment in the cradle of Methodism—a fire kept lit by Primitive Methodists and other British descendants of Wesley and George Whitefield in prior decades.

Out of the four million Methodists in the United States during the 1890s, probably one-third to one-half were committed to the idea of entire sanctification as being brought about instantaneously.

[77] In this book, he spent several hundred pages exclusively quoting Wesley in defense of the Holiness Movement's view of entire sanctification.

[80][81] This tension reached a head at the 1898 conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, when it passed rule 301: Any traveling or local preacher, or layman, who shall hold public religious services within the bounds of any mission, circuit, or station, when requested by the preacher in charge not to hold such services, shall be deemed guilty of imprudent conduct, and shall be dealt with as the law provides in such cases.

[83] Meanwhile, the bulk of the Wesleyan-Holiness churches began to developed a disdain for what they considered to be legalism, and gradually dropped prohibitions against dancing and theater patronage, while maintaining rules against gambling, as well as alcohol and tobacco use.

[99] The Book of Discipline of the Global Methodist Church thus teaches that "a life of holiness or 'entire sanctification' should be the goal of each individual’s journey with God.

During the Azusa Street Revival, often considered the advent of Pentecostalism, the practice of speaking in tongues was strongly rejected by leaders of the traditional Holiness movement.

Alma White, the leader of the Pillar of Fire Church, a Holiness Methodist denomination, wrote a book against the Pentecostal movement that was published in 1936.