A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy LifeHendrickson Publishers, 2021 M12 14 - 333 páginas Originally published in 1728 at the beginning of the Enlightenment when rational criticism of religious belief was at its peak, William Law’s work succeeded in inspiring the most cynical men of the age with its arguments in favor of a spiritual life. Proclaiming that God does not merely forgive our disobedience, but directly calls us to obedience and to a life completely centered in him, Law declares, “If you will here stop and ask yourself why you are not as pious as the primitive Christians were, your own heart will tell you that it is neither through ignorance nor inability, but because you never thoroughly intended it.” Law’s prose is packed with vivid imagery and illustrative anecdotes that both reveal what it means to lead a Christian life and unmask the perversion of Christian tenets by secular and spiritual establishments. This challenge of conventional piety and emphasis on Christian perfection directly influenced literary critic Samuel Johnson and historian Edward Gibbon, as well as Cardinal John Henry Newman. John Wesley called Law’s work one of three books that accounted for his first “explicit resolve to be all devoted to God.” Charles Wesley, George Whitefield, Henry Venn, William Wilberforce, and Thomas Scott each described reading the book as a major turning point in his life. William Law (1686-1761) was educated at Cambridge, took a teaching position there, and was also ordained in the Church of England. He lost his access to university venues and the parish ministry when he was unable to swear allegiance to the Hanoverian dynasty that replaced the Stuarts as the rulers of Great Britain. Although forbidden the use of pulpit and lecture hall, he preached through his books, including Christian Perfection, The Grounds and Reasons of Christian Regeneration, Spirit of Prayer, and Spirit of Love. |
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... observing times and places of prayer, and yet letting the rest of his life, his time and labor, his talents and money, be disposed of without any regard to strict rules of piety and devotion. For it is as great an absurdity to suppose ...
... observing times and places of prayer, and yet letting the rest of his life, his time and labor, his talents and money, be disposed of without any regard to strict rules of piety and devotion. For it is as great an absurdity to suppose ...
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... observe the same Sunday worship that they did; and you are strict in it, because it is your full intention to be so. And when you as fully intend to be like them in their ordinary common life, when you intend to please God in all your ...
... observe the same Sunday worship that they did; and you are strict in it, because it is your full intention to be so. And when you as fully intend to be like them in their ordinary common life, when you intend to please God in all your ...
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... observe prayer, and the other has not; but the reason is this, that one intends to please God in the duties of devotion, and the other has no intention about it. Now the case is the same, in the right or wrong use of our time and money ...
... observe prayer, and the other has not; but the reason is this, that one intends to please God in the duties of devotion, and the other has no intention about it. Now the case is the same, in the right or wrong use of our time and money ...
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... observe, his own heart will tell him, that it is because he never intended to be so exact in those duties. For whenever we fully intend it, it is as possible to conform to all this regularity of life, as it is possible for a man to observe ...
... observe, his own heart will tell him, that it is because he never intended to be so exact in those duties. For whenever we fully intend it, it is as possible to conform to all this regularity of life, as it is possible for a man to observe ...
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... observe? Is not negligence, and a want of sincere intention, as blamable in one case as in another? You, it may be, are as far from Christian perfection, as the common swearer is from keeping the Third Commandment; are you not therefore ...
... observe? Is not negligence, and a want of sincere intention, as blamable in one case as in another? You, it may be, are as far from Christian perfection, as the common swearer is from keeping the Third Commandment; are you not therefore ...
Otras ediciones - Ver todas
A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life ; The Spirit of Love William Law Vista previa limitada - 1978 |
Términos y frases comunes
according actions affected Angels appear better Blessed body called carry charity Christ Christian clothes common condition consider contrary course creatures death desire devotion Divine doctrines dress drink duty eternal everything excellence exercise eyes follow folly fortune founded friends give glory greater greatest hands happiness heart Heaven heavenly highest holy hour human humility indulgence instances intend kind labor lawful live look Lord manner matter means mind nature necessary necessity neglect never obliged observe ourselves particular passions perfection perform persons piety pious plain pleasures poor practice praise pray prayers pride proper raise reason receive relation religion render repentance requires rules Scripture sense singing sins soul spirit suppose surely tell tempers things thoughts true turn unto vanity virtue whole wisdom wise worldly