Holiness: A Biblical, Historical, and Systematic Theology

In this impressively comprehensive study of the history and theology of the doctrine of holiness, Ayars (Old Testament), Bounds, (church history), and Friedeman (New Testament) contribute their considerable expertise to a survey of how holiness is understood both in scripture and by theologians from different eras and denominational backgrounds, and to a fresh reading of the doctrine that is thoroughly Wesleyan both in method and outcome. In doing so they provide an overview of holiness that is firmly biblically rooted, traceable as a thread running discernibly through the history of the church, and effectually applicable today.The writers begin in the introduction to the book by nailing their Wesleyan colours firmly to the mast, but in doing so set the irenic tone for the rest of their study by outlining in a balanced way the three major positions—the 'shorter, longer, and middle ways'—taken by Wesleyans on the nature of the experience of entire sanctification (3–4). Declaring themselves to be advocates of a 'neo-holiness' middle way, the authors return to further expound this perspective later in the volume but begin their study with an exploration of the biblical roots of the doctrine of holiness, focusing on the range of writings and genres in the Old and New Testaments in three chapters each for both parts of the canon. Their exegesis throughout is meticulous and deserves careful study.The focus of the third section of the book is on the thread of holiness theology that can be traced through Christian history, with chapters focused on the patristic era, the Middle Ages, and the modern and postmodern eras, including the Reformation. Here the authors challenge the idea that 'perfectionist' views of holiness are a recent Wesleyan innovation by highlighting their presence at each stage of the church's development.In the final chapters of the book, the authors turn their attention to outlining a 'middle way' approach to a Wesleyan understanding of holiness and sanctification, which they dub a 'neo-holiness' position. One suspects that their standpoint will not gain the agreement of all Wesleyans, particularly some committed to the classical position of sanctification being a 'longer way' of continual growth. It does, however, have the merit of treating in an even-handed manner the 'shorter way' of immediately available sanctification by total consecration advocated by Phoebe Palmer and other nineteenth-century Holiness Movement theologians, being honest about its strengths and weaknesses. The coherence of the authors' position is further strengthened by placing the provision of God's grace and the work of the Holy Spirit as central in the call to holiness, in repudiation of the charges of legalism often levelled at the doctrine.The volume concludes with some suggestions for further reading. Here, and indeed in the main body of the text, the focus is almost entirely on North American Wesleyan theology: apart from Newton Flew rightly being referenced, little twentieth-century scholarship from outside the United States is acknowledged. One might have expected, in the chapter on the modern age, for example, the work of British Methodists William E. Sangster and Samuel Chadwick, along with the Swede Harald Lindstrom, to feature in any survey of holiness thought.The book's arguably over-exclusive North American orientation does not, however, impair its immense usefulness as a well-written and comprehensive one-volume Wesleyan theology of holiness, which shows the doctrine to be thoroughly grounded in scripture, as well as woven into the scope of Christian tradition. Its value as an academic text is substantial; in framing holiness not just as a key biblical and historical doctrine but also as a possible present reality, its worth as a call to holy living is arguably even greater.