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Overview
From the author's preface:
The material contained in this book was prepared for delivery in the Nease Lectures at Pasadena College and in the Gould Lectures at Eastern Nazarene College. The purpose of the lectures was not to convince anyone of the truth of the Wesleyan interpretation of the theme of Bible holiness but rather to offer assistance to those who hold this doctrine in the matter of describing it as accurately and fairly as possible. The plan was to say what we as a people believe in terms that we ourselves use, and by repetition and explanation help ourselves to use these terms more intelligently. Thereby we would be able to make ourselves better understood by those who do not hold with us on this central thesis of our doctrinal interpretation of the Christian faith.
Language is simply a system of symbols, and its usefulness depends upon one's ability to interpret the symbol when others use them, and to use them so that others may interpret them readily. Thought approaches reality more closely than do words. But even thought, if it is altogether speculative and not in correspondence with reality, is far from the noblest thing in the universe.
We have, in view of these facts, not made a strong contention for words, although words are involved in the title and subtitles of our subject matter. We have sought rather to confirm the general understanding of accepted terminology which has been used by those who in the past have testified of the grace of God in Christ Jesus to the full deliverance from sin; for it is because of misunderstanding of the import of these words that much of the opposition to the Wesleyan interpretation of Bible holiness has arisen.
Nothing that we have said, however, is intended to suggest any change in the concepts of the fathers of the holiness movement of the past. They said what they believed and felt in words that were forceful and true. And there is a surprising uniformity of vocabulary among them, even though they came from many and varied historical communions of the Protestant division of the Church. It is ourselves of the present who need to be instructed rather than the fathers who require to be corrected. When it is said that "we need a new holiness vocabulary," the meaning is that we need to have the vocabulary of the fathers revitalized in our own thinking and feeling; for the fathers found their vocabulary a splendid vehicle for the purpose they had in mind.
Words have pedigree, even as men have ancestry. But the meaning of a word involves much more than etymology. The important question is, What do these words mean to the speaker, and what do they mean to the hearers? If they mean one thing to the speaker and another thing to the hearers, they fail of their purpose of being a means for the communication of thought. Either the speaker should learn new words or else he should explain his old words-he cannot expect his hearers to do either of these things.
If any shall find occasion to disagree with some of the conclusions of this book, our prayer is that we may not allow this disagreement to becloud the main issue, which is that both reader and writer shall be established unblamable in holiness at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.
The Table of Contents are as follows:
PREFACE
Chapter 1: The Importance of Terminology
Chapter 2: The Terminology of Sin
Chapter 3: The Terminology of Redemption
Chapter 4: The Terminology of Salvation
Chapter 5: The Terminology of the Christian Estate
Appendix
End Notes
The material contained in this book was prepared for delivery in the Nease Lectures at Pasadena College and in the Gould Lectures at Eastern Nazarene College. The purpose of the lectures was not to convince anyone of the truth of the Wesleyan interpretation of the theme of Bible holiness but rather to offer assistance to those who hold this doctrine in the matter of describing it as accurately and fairly as possible. The plan was to say what we as a people believe in terms that we ourselves use, and by repetition and explanation help ourselves to use these terms more intelligently. Thereby we would be able to make ourselves better understood by those who do not hold with us on this central thesis of our doctrinal interpretation of the Christian faith.
Language is simply a system of symbols, and its usefulness depends upon one's ability to interpret the symbol when others use them, and to use them so that others may interpret them readily. Thought approaches reality more closely than do words. But even thought, if it is altogether speculative and not in correspondence with reality, is far from the noblest thing in the universe.
We have, in view of these facts, not made a strong contention for words, although words are involved in the title and subtitles of our subject matter. We have sought rather to confirm the general understanding of accepted terminology which has been used by those who in the past have testified of the grace of God in Christ Jesus to the full deliverance from sin; for it is because of misunderstanding of the import of these words that much of the opposition to the Wesleyan interpretation of Bible holiness has arisen.
Nothing that we have said, however, is intended to suggest any change in the concepts of the fathers of the holiness movement of the past. They said what they believed and felt in words that were forceful and true. And there is a surprising uniformity of vocabulary among them, even though they came from many and varied historical communions of the Protestant division of the Church. It is ourselves of the present who need to be instructed rather than the fathers who require to be corrected. When it is said that "we need a new holiness vocabulary," the meaning is that we need to have the vocabulary of the fathers revitalized in our own thinking and feeling; for the fathers found their vocabulary a splendid vehicle for the purpose they had in mind.
Words have pedigree, even as men have ancestry. But the meaning of a word involves much more than etymology. The important question is, What do these words mean to the speaker, and what do they mean to the hearers? If they mean one thing to the speaker and another thing to the hearers, they fail of their purpose of being a means for the communication of thought. Either the speaker should learn new words or else he should explain his old words-he cannot expect his hearers to do either of these things.
If any shall find occasion to disagree with some of the conclusions of this book, our prayer is that we may not allow this disagreement to becloud the main issue, which is that both reader and writer shall be established unblamable in holiness at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.
The Table of Contents are as follows:
PREFACE
Chapter 1: The Importance of Terminology
Chapter 2: The Terminology of Sin
Chapter 3: The Terminology of Redemption
Chapter 4: The Terminology of Salvation
Chapter 5: The Terminology of the Christian Estate
Appendix
End Notes
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940151451871 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Jawbone Digital |
| Publication date: | 06/19/2015 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 446 KB |
About the Author
About the author (from Wikipedia):
James Blaine Chapman (1884-1947) was a minister, president of Arkansas Holiness and Peniel Colleges, editor of the Herald of Holiness, and general superintendent in the Church of the Nazarene.
Chapman was born 1884 in Yale, Illinois, the second son and fifth child in his family. The family moved to Oklahoma when he was fourteen years old, where he was converted to Christianity in 1899. Chapman's first academic instructor was his wife, a schoolteacher. When he took a pastorate at Vilonia, Arkansas in 1908, he enrolled at the Arkansas Holiness College there at age 24. After graduating in 1910, he left to pursue further study at Texas Holiness University in Peniel, Texas under president Roy T. Williams, where he received his bachelor's of divinity degree in 1913. Peniel College later awarded him an honorary doctor of divinity degree, in 1918, and Pasadena College did the same in 1927.
He began to preach at the age of sixteen, uniting with the World's Faith Missionary Association of Shenandoah, Iowa and then the Texas Holiness Association before forming his own Independent Holiness Church. He married Maud Frederick in 1903, at the church's first annual convention. His first pastorate was a church in Durant, in Indian Territory, which he organized in 1905 and would become part of the Holiness Church of Christ, but he also became pastor of a church in Pilot Point, Texas in 1907, for which he left Durant in 1908. That same year the Holiness Church of Christ joined the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene, and Chapman moved again, this time to a pastorate at Vilonia, Arkansas. He left in 1911 after graduating from Arkansas Holiness College to pursue further education at Texas Holiness University. His only other pastorate would later be at Bethany, Oklahoma from 1918-1919.
After enrolling at Peniel in 1910, Chapman instead became president of the Arkansas Holiness College, but returned to Peniel University in 1912 to teach there and became dean of the college upon his arrival. After he graduated with his bachelor's of divinity degree in 1913, President Williams resigned and the college named Chapman president until 1918. At the time Chapman took the presidency, Peniel was ranked behind Asbury College and Taylor University as the third-best holiness college in the nation, but it eventually closed in 1920 to lend support to Oklahoma Nazarene College instead. As an educator, Chapman aided the General Boar
James Blaine Chapman (1884-1947) was a minister, president of Arkansas Holiness and Peniel Colleges, editor of the Herald of Holiness, and general superintendent in the Church of the Nazarene.
Chapman was born 1884 in Yale, Illinois, the second son and fifth child in his family. The family moved to Oklahoma when he was fourteen years old, where he was converted to Christianity in 1899. Chapman's first academic instructor was his wife, a schoolteacher. When he took a pastorate at Vilonia, Arkansas in 1908, he enrolled at the Arkansas Holiness College there at age 24. After graduating in 1910, he left to pursue further study at Texas Holiness University in Peniel, Texas under president Roy T. Williams, where he received his bachelor's of divinity degree in 1913. Peniel College later awarded him an honorary doctor of divinity degree, in 1918, and Pasadena College did the same in 1927.
He began to preach at the age of sixteen, uniting with the World's Faith Missionary Association of Shenandoah, Iowa and then the Texas Holiness Association before forming his own Independent Holiness Church. He married Maud Frederick in 1903, at the church's first annual convention. His first pastorate was a church in Durant, in Indian Territory, which he organized in 1905 and would become part of the Holiness Church of Christ, but he also became pastor of a church in Pilot Point, Texas in 1907, for which he left Durant in 1908. That same year the Holiness Church of Christ joined the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene, and Chapman moved again, this time to a pastorate at Vilonia, Arkansas. He left in 1911 after graduating from Arkansas Holiness College to pursue further education at Texas Holiness University. His only other pastorate would later be at Bethany, Oklahoma from 1918-1919.
After enrolling at Peniel in 1910, Chapman instead became president of the Arkansas Holiness College, but returned to Peniel University in 1912 to teach there and became dean of the college upon his arrival. After he graduated with his bachelor's of divinity degree in 1913, President Williams resigned and the college named Chapman president until 1918. At the time Chapman took the presidency, Peniel was ranked behind Asbury College and Taylor University as the third-best holiness college in the nation, but it eventually closed in 1920 to lend support to Oklahoma Nazarene College instead. As an educator, Chapman aided the General Boar
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