Why Holiness Died

Here are some of the contributing factors I have heard for the death of our beloved holiness.

Symptoms:
1. Pastors stopped preaching it.
2. People stopped believing it.

Underlying Illnesses
1. It was so associated with dress and behavior that when people stopped worrying about hair length, jewelry, going to movies, etc., it died. People couldn't define it apart from the concrete lifestyle that had been associated with it. And some of the aversion to that lifestyle probably transferred against holiness.

2. Inability to find the doctrine as set out in the late nineteenth century holiness movement in Scripture. I don't know how strong this contributing factor was, but one aspect of my seminary days was "No, that passage isn't really about entire sanctificiation." "Oops, that one isn't really either." The pre-modern nature of the holiness interpretive schema tends to unravel at seminary.

3. With mass media and Christian book stores--not to mention the church growth movement that took doctrine out of the spotlight for a few decades--we have been on a course of merger with the broader American Christian Zeitgeist. In the process, our less mainstream views have either been deemphasized or have fallen by the way.

4. One contributor at our Saving Grace conference suggested that perhaps the Wesleyan tradition had accomplished its goals as in some ways, the Christian meltdown has actually opened its mind significantly to becoming a "fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ." Maybe we have done our work as a Christian tradition, made our contribution to broader Christianity already.

5. Another colleague of mine thinks that we no longer have faith that God can instantaneously heal us of our sinful inclinations. We have become so process oriented that we just don't believe in instantaneous healing any more.

These are some of the suggested causes of the illness I have heard. I'll open the bidding at 5.