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The Heritage Of Faith: An Historical Evaluation Of The Holiness Movement In America, Craig Charles Fankhauser

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This work traces the holiness movement from the Biblical Day of Pentecost, when the disciples of Christ first received the Holy Spirit, to the founding of independent holiness denominations in the first two decades of the twentieth century. In the eighteenth century the main emphasis of this perfectionists movement centered around the teachings of an Anglican priest, John Wesley. Wesleyan doctrine stressed two distinct religious experiences--justification (God forgiving individuals their sins) and sanctification. The latter cleansed the believer's heart from original sin and made him ready for heaven.

American holiness proponents founded the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1784 and in …