The development of John Wesley's doctrine of Christian perfection

No adequate single study has previously been made of the sources of the various elements in John Wesley's doctrine of Christian perfection. The purposes of this dissertation have been the description of the major sources from which this doctrine came and an analysis of its development. John Wesley's doctrine of Christian perfection arose and developed through his reading and experience. He himself listed the books which particularly influenced him towards an interest in Christian perfection. These are Jeremy Taylor's Rule and Exercise of Holy Living and Dying, the Imitation of Christ of Thomas a Kempis, William Law's A Treatise of Christian Perfection and A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, and the Bible. But Wesley's mature doctrine contains elements not to be found in these works. These elements came from his contact with the Moravians and from experience--his own and that of others.

Grantor dc:publisher

Boston University

Year dc:date.issued

1945

Author dc:creator

• Manifold, Orrin Avery

Statement dc:rights

• Based on investigation of the BU Libraries' staff, this work is free of known copyright restrictions

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Dc Identifier Other

b1366498

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.bu.edu:2144/4264