A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life

Originally published in 1728 at the beginning of the Enlightenment, when rational criticism of religious belief was at its peak, William Law's A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life succeeded in inspiring the most cynical of the age with its arguments in favor of a spiritual life.

Law's challenge of conventional piety and emphasis on Christian perfection directly influenced literary critic Samuel Johnson and historian Edward Gibbon, as well as C. S. Lewis. John Wesley called it one of thre...