Review of "A Century of Holiness Theology"

Mark R. Quanstrom. A Century of Holiness Theology: The Doctrine of Entire Sanctification in the Church of the Nazarene, 1905-2004. Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 2004.


In A Century of Holiness Theology, Mark Quanstrom examines the development of the doctrine of entire sanctification in the Church of the Nazarene, noting how changes in emphasis have occurred over the past 100 years. I have found this book to be a thorough study of this development in our denomination. Quanstrom makes two great contributions in this book. First, he places the powerful influence of the doctrine of entire sanctification in the Church of the Nazarene into a historical context. In so doing, Quanstrom has pointed out that the doctrine is continually changing in emphasis to meet the changing needs of the world around us without compromising its central message. The second great contribution is that Quanstrom’s account has provided me with a more holistic picture of Nazarenes over many generations, so I can better formulate a via media position that includes elements from our various traditions.

As I read Quanstrom, I found it interesting that many aspects of the doctrine of entire sanctification have changed over time. When the denomination was formed, entire sanctification was a unifying factor of persons from various denominational backgrounds. By the 1920s, there was growing concern to distinguish the Church of the Nazarene from other denominations, thus entire sanctification became the distinct doctrine of the Church of the Nazarene. Even into the twenty-first century, Nazarenes consider entire sanctification to be our distinct doctrine as if we are the only Christians who are “called unto holiness.” Although not addressed directly by Quanstrom, the Church of the Nazarene needs to recognize that although we claim entire sanctification as our distinctive doctrine, other denominations claim similar experiences. Perhaps the resistance of some in other denominations to acknowledge entire sanctification is related to traditional belief of some Nazarenes who state that sanctification makes persons incapable of sinning and who describe the experience in terms much more fitting glorification. As we come to a proper understanding of entire sanctification and the holy life, we should again explore holiness as a unifying factor above denominational lines.

Quanstrom illustrates how various historical factors led to a reformulation of the doctrine, beginning with a great depression and two world wars, when the early optimism was replaced with a realization of the “sinfulness of man.” Theologians attempted to redefine entire sanctification so that the sin which was eradicated was defined more narrowly and the infirmities more widely in order to match what persons experienced. At this time Nazarenes began to examine seriously the works of John Wesley. I was surprised that until this point in the denomination’s history, Nazarenes had almost entirely relied on the traditions of the American Holiness Movement rather than on Wesley’s teachings. As Nazarenes read Wesley, they began to see that his teachings were quite different from the traditional Nazarene belief system, and they had to reconcile the two. Nazarene theologians such as Mildred Bangs Wynkoop and H. Ray Dunning began to use Wesley to support a new relational holiness theology, which would close the “credibility gap” between what was proclaimed and what was experienced. This new framework of holiness theology has made some think it has saved the doctrine while others think it has been lost, just because there has been another shift in focus.

Along with teaching that the doctrine of entire sanctification has changed over the course of history, this book has taught me that Nazarenes today must not emphasize one positive aspect of entire sanctification to the exclusion of others. There must be a via media (a middle way), recognizing the dangers on both sides of the issue. In reading Quanstrom, it seems that both the early Nazarenes and the later Nazarenes (along with Wesley) acknowledge both a crisis moment and a gradual process. Early Nazarenes emphasized the crisis at the near exclusion of the process, and later Nazarenes are in danger of forgetting God’s power at work at the momentary experience. We must emphasize the importance of growing in grace after entire sanctification, an aspect that seems to have been forgotten around mid-century due to the emphasis on the moment. It is the task of the minister to effectively communicate the doctrine of holiness to one’s congregation including both the instantaneous work of God and the continuous growth in grace through spiritual disciplines that shape a holy life.

Quanstrom’s A Century of Holiness Theology effectively communicates the struggles throughout the denomination’s history to preserve the doctrine of entire sanctification in ways that are faithful to the denomination’s founders, but also communicates effectively to the present generation.