Holiness Movement (tradition, America, mission, churches, experience)

[Curious101]

I need information on the Holiness Church, otherwise known as the Holiness Movement, for a class. Does anyone know anything about it?

[Green Gaia]

I honestly can't say I've ever heard of it before reading your post, but I put the term in the ole search engine and came up with these links, that might help you out:

http://www.biblefacts.org/history/denom/holiness.html

http://www.cresourcei.org/hmovement.html

http://www.unitypublishing.com/NewRe...rismatics.html

http://www.fwponline.cc/v15n2dcrossman.html


And the following brief description from: http://www.mhsc.ca/index.asp?content...s/h6565me.html

The holiness movement comprises those groups which have perpetuated and popularized the Wesleyan message of sanctification in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is significant that both the Evangelical Missionary Church (formerly Mennonite Brethren in Christ) and the Brethren in Christ were influenced by the holiness movement in the latter half of the 19th century, for that was when the movement reached its greatest strength in North America and Europe. The Missionary Church was born at this time, and the Brethren in Christ endorsed the Wesleyan view of sanctification as they entered the second century of their existence. Holiness theology has also had a slight impact on the Evangelical Mennonite Church and other Mennonite groups.

The emergence of a holiness theology in the Mennonite Brethren in Christ (Missionary Church) was a rather uneventful development, growing out of the religious experience of their early ministerial leadership and through their almost immediate use of the camp meeting (holiness camps), popularized by the holiness movement. For the Brethren in Christ, the transition to a Wesleyan theology of holiness was a slow development, critiqued, modified, and at times resisted, by the "growth view" of sanctification entrenched by a century of denominational heritage. From 1887 to 1910 there was a trend toward a cautious Wesleyan view of sanctification. The holiness message spread, mainly through annual evangelistic meetings and later the camp meetings, until it climaxed in the 1940s with an unqualified stance on Christian perfection in the mold of the American holiness tradition.

Since the 1950s, both denominations have modified their Wesleyan stance somewhat, though with different dynamics in each case. Both denominations have entered into the larger Evangelical movement and have been affected by its non-Wesleyan atmosphere. This has been particularly noticeable in some areas of the Evangelical Missionary Church which have shifted to a Calvinistic understanding on sanctification. For the Brethren in Christ, historical studies, both in Brethren in Christ roots and in the theology of John Wesley (1703-91), which is more complex and less radical than the American camp meeting theology, have modified Brethren in Christ doctrinal expression regarding "entire sanctification." In general, more attention has been given since the 1950s to the process of sanctification as the necessary complement to the crisis aspect of the holiness message. Near the end of the 20th century, the Brethren in Christ more fully integrated their Wesleyan and Anabaptist traditions and thus were more comfortable with Anabaptist thought and activities than was the Evangelical Missionary Church.

Since the holiness tradition gave both churches a strong teaching emphasis upon the Holy Spirit's work in the life of the believer and in the congregation's worship and ministry, the charismatic movement has not had the impact upon them that it has had upon other segments of the Mennonite community. The traditional teaching has tended to insulate them from the charismatic emphasis. While not as hostile to charismatics as they were a generation ago, the emotional need for the charismatic experience is not widespread in the groups touched by Wesleyan theology.

[Curious101]

thanks