REFLECTION ESSAY ON A CENTURY OF HOLINESS THEOLOGY: The Doctrine of Entire Sanctification in the Church of the Nazarene, 1904-2005 by Mark Quanstrom

The doctrine of entire sanctification has been and still remains the anchor of the Church of the Nazarene. From its founding in the holiness tradition, the Church of the Nazarene has distinctively defined itself from the others with the claim that a life without sin as a result of the work of grace can be achieved by all Christians. This was propelled early on by the 19th Century holiness movement that swept across America. It has now spread to the rest of the world and the Church of the Nazarene remains a leading light in spreading scriptural holiness. Over the decades the foundational definition of entire sanctification has seemingly taken varied shapes and forms depending on each generation. The more traditional approach and definition seems to be taking a back seat as the contemporary theologians continue to wrestle with what entire sanctification really entails and its applicability in the modern world.

Quanstrom writes in his introduction of A Century of Holiness Theology: The Doctrine of Entire Sanctification in the Church of the Nazarene, 1905 to 2004 that “Theologians in the denomination began to define the sin that could be eradicated more narrowly and the infirmities that were an inescapable consequence of fallen humanity more expansively. This led to an increasing dissatisfaction with traditional formulations of the doctrine.” As a result of this, the idea of going back to authentic John Wesley arises and Quanstrom addresses how “the doctrine as formulated by John Wesley in the 18th century was reexamined.” This almost resulted into a completely new understanding of Wesley with a clear attempt to avoid putting him out of context. Quanstrom adds that the “reformulation’ resulted into “two contemporaneous and competing definitions of entire sanctification in the Church of the Nazarene.”

Quanstrom then begins his analysis by going back to the basic foundation of the Church of the Nazarene. The many independent Holiness denominations and associations which came together to form the Church of the Nazarene at the beginning of the 20th century were confident of its future and the message they carried along. The very soul of their purpose was to spread Scriptural Holiness across the land. To them, it was evident that God transformed the lives of people completely and cleansed them from all “inbred sin” through the second work of grace. Their belief was founded on this doctrinal statement: “Entire sanctification is that act of God, subsequent to justification, by which regenerate believers are made free from inbred sin, and brought into the state of entire devotement to God, and the holy obedience of love made perfect. It is provided through the blood of Jesus, and is wrought immediately by the gracious agency of the Holy Spirit, upon the full and final consecration of the believer, and a definite act of appropriating faith; and to this work and state of grace the Holy Spirit bears witness.” They believed that society as well as individuals could be fully cleansed from all inbred sin and knew the world needed this kind of message.
The early Nazarenes described by Quanstrom as the “fathers” of the church believed that entire sanctification was as a result of baptism with the Holy Sprit which led to an instantaneous second work of grace eradicating the sinful nature. This however was propelled by faith and entire consecration in and to the Lord Jesus Christ which were considered primary conditions for entire sanctification. They also understood this experience as purely “Pentecostal” even though this was never used by John Wesley. According to them all believers were capable of experiencing a “personal Pentecost.” Most of the theological viewpoints were based on the diverse foundations developed by several distinct theologians from the holiness revivals who were part of the associations and independent churches which formed the Church of the Nazarene. The first generation of Nazarenes thrived on these beliefs and the message seemed to hit home with most believers.

The second generation of Nazarenes however began to experience difficulties in defining themselves to a weary America. It was a period between two wars sandwiched by the Great Depression. The first generation had hastily passed on the torch to the second generation who were probably totally unprepared to run things. There developed what Quanstrom calls a “need for an ‘official’ Nazarene theology.” The adjective “Pentecostal” was officially dropped from the church’s official name after the churches who emphasized speaking in tongues as evidence of the gift of the Holy Spirit began to be characterized by similar name. According to the Nazarenes, “Pentecost was the occasion of entire sanctification and speaking in tongues was not the evidence of that entire sanctification.” This was a major step to ensure they retained their authentic theological identity and heritage.

During the General Assemblies of the Church of the Nazarene, several doctrinal changes, especially definition of terms pertaining to entire sanctification and Christian perfection, were made to ensure any form of confusion was avoided. The church also developed a desire to ensure it stayed true to the doctrine of the church and as result of this; H. Orton Wiley was commissioned to write a systematic theology for the Church of the Nazarene. Wiley specifically utilized several works by renowned Methodist and Nazarene theologians while acknowledging the contributions of theologians from other traditions. He emphasized scriptural evidence of an instantaneous second work of grace which resulted into entire sanctification. He however acknowledged that many “Methodist theologians had come to emphasize sanctification as gradual instead of instantaneous.”

As the church continued to grow, historical circumstances led to a conclusion that “the apparently inherent sinfulness of humanity resulted in clinical qualifications of the doctrine of entire sanctification that defined more of man’s “fallen-ness” as infirmity instead of sin.” The eradication of sin in its entirety began to develop a new meaning. Whether it meant what it meant became a common question. These events led to the church returning to John Wesley’s writings on holiness presented in A Plain Account of Christian Perfection. Historically, there had been an evident inconsistency between Wesley and the Church of the Nazarene on the issue of entire sanctification. Several words including “eradicate” became contentious common talking points for theologians. There were also several debates including one on the baptism of the Holy Spirit and what it really meant. Quanstrom cites the General Assembly in 1985 which debated “whether or not the Church of the Nazarene had a coherent and cogent doctrine of holiness at all.”

The prevailing theological identity crisis led to several theological conferences. These conferences dealt thoroughly with the issue of identity while retaining the “core values” which held the Church of the Nazarene together. “An insert in the 1999 periodical Holiness Today, declared, “We are a Holiness People” which was becoming central in the church’s self-identity.”