The Origin of the Wesleyan Theological Vision for Christian Globalization and the Pursuit of Pentecost in Early Pietist Revivalism

Description

This remarkable book demonstrates that the Pietist revival on the continent of Europe in the 18th century was an important source of the Wesley brothers’ understanding of the order of salvation with its two-staged distinction between justifying faith and full sanctifying grace. This Pietist revival gave spiritual birth and theological understanding to Christian David who had decisive theological influence on John Wesley at Herrnhut in 1738. It was there that John Wesley learned to make a distinction between the saving experience of disciples before Pentecost when their sins were forgiven and after Pentecost when their hearts were cleansed from all sin, as a pattern for all Christian believers.

Christian David learned about this distinction from the Pietist revivalist, Johann Adam Steinmetz, a Lutheran pastor who preached a series of Pentecost addresses to his Silesian congregation of refugees from the raging religious wars which had tom apart their homeland. This congregation formed a megachurch of 70,000 members! The substance of his preaching was a call for believers to be “sealed with the Holy Spirit” of Pentecost.

This book further demonstrates that the origin within Protestantism of the vision for a globalized Christianity can be traced back to the voices of praying children in Eastern Europe in a spontaneous children’s revival set amid religious warfare entailing massive loss of life and property. Steinmetz as the preacher of that revival focused on being “sealed with the Spirit.” It was a holiness revival that predated and subsequently influenced John Wesley through Christian David (as noted in his journal).