KESWICK ORIGINS; IDEOLOGICAL ROOTS: HOLINESS THEOLOGY
Charles Finney & Oberlin Theology
Phobe Palmer & Entire Devotion
William Boardman & The Higher Christian Life
Hannah Whitehall Smith & The Christian Secret of a Happy Life
HISTORIC ORIGINS:
The term Keswick derives its name from a small community in the Lake district of England. In the wake of the Moody-Sankey campaigns there was an increased thirst for personal holiness and spiritual victory in the lives of many English Evangelicals. T. D. Harford-Battersby, vicar of Keswick was such a man. He had attended the Oxford meetings led by Robert Pearsall Smith and William Boardman 1874 and a series of similar meetings in Brighton the following year. At the Brighton meetings Harford-Battersby made arrangements to host a series of meetings the following year at his parish in Keswick, billed as a “Convention for the Promotion of Practical Holiness”
The first Keswick Convention hosted over 400 individuals, who met under the banner of “All One in Christ Jesus.” The meetings have become an annual affair ever since. From Keswick the teaching quickly spread over England, Canada and the United States, with Moody himself being key to the propagation of Keswick teaching in the U.S.
The Keswick format is standardized. The subject of the first day’s meetings is that of sin, which is portrayed in graphic detail. The topic of the second day deals with the provision through the cross for power over sin. (The Keswick understanding of Romans 6-8 becomes key in this regard) The third day addresses the topic of consecration, man’s abandonment to the rule of Christ as both crisis and process. The Fourth day focuses on the Spirit filled Life. And the final day focuses upon the necessity of Christian service which is seen as a necessary outcome of the Spirit-filled life.
“Keswick is not a doctrinal system, much less an organization or a denomination, which is perhaps why participation in it has been so broad. Though leading churchmen and noted scholars led the movement, no Keswick leader has written a treatise on its teaching. . . . There is no official doctrinal statement . . . and a broad variety of doctrinal positions have been held and taught by those associated with the name Keswick.” McQuilken (153)
B. THEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
THE PROBLEM:
The reason for the existence of Keswick is the perception that the average Christian is not a normal Christian according to New Testament standards. According to Keswick understanding:
“The normal Christian is characterized by loving responses to ingratitude and indifference, even hostility, and is filled with joy in the midst of unhappy circumstances and peace when everything is going wrong. The normal Christian overcomes in the battle with temptation, consistently obeys the laws of God, and grows in self control, contentment, humility and courage. Thought processes are so under the control of the Holy Spirit and instructed by Scripture that the normal Christian authentically reflects the attitudes and behavior of Jesus Christ. God has first place in his life, and the welfare of others takes precedence over personal desires. The normal Christian has power not only for godly living but for effective service in the church. Above all, he or she has the joy of constant companionship with the Lord.” (McQuilken 151)
The Keswick perception of the average Christian is that he is decent enough but there is nothing supernatural about him. When confronted by temptation he succumbs. He is characterized by self-interest
THE SOLUTION:
Keswick’s solution mirrors in many respects the Wesleyan-Holiness theology out of which it was born.
Appropriation:
Salvation (viewed comprehensively) consists of divine and human initiatives. God’s initiative is to provide salvation. Man’s responsibility is to receive it. Thus individuals are responsible to appropriate the provision for daily victory over sin as they are justification.
Means:
The means of appropriation of this victory have a clear affinity to Wesleyanism
- Immediate abandonment of every known sin, doubt, indulgence, or conscious hindrance to holy living. Rom. 6:12-14; 8:12-14; 14:21-2 and Heb. 12:1-2.
- Surrender of the will and the whole being to Jesus Christ as not only savior, but master and Lord, in loving and complete obedience. Rom 10:9, 1 Cor 12:3.
- Appropriation by faith of God’s promise and power for holy and righteous living. Rom. 4:20-25; 6:2, 2 Peter 1:4 and Heb 8:10
- voluntary renunciation and mortification of the self-life, which centers in self-indulgence and self-dependence, that God may be all in all. Gal.2:19-20; 4:24,25; Cool 3:5; 2 Cor 5:15.
- Gracious renewal or transformation of the innermost temper and disposition. Rom 12:2; Eph 4:23; 1 Pet 3:4
- Separation unto God for Sanctification, consecration and service. 2 Cor 6:14; 7:1 and 2 Tim 2:19-21
- Endument with power and infilling with the Spirit, the believer claiming his share in the Pentecostal gift. Lk. 24:49, Acts 1:8; Eph 5:18 (Arthur T. Pierson, forward Movements of the last Half Century (London & New York: Funk And Wagnall Co., 1900) 32.)
C. PRIMARY ELEMENTS OF KESWICK
THE PROBLEM OF SIN:
Keswick recognizes the battle of sin which the individual faces, and the defeat that issues from personal sin. Keswick sees man as a slave to sin, a master which holds his mind, emotions and will. By virtue of the Fall man is separated from God and sin is established in the nature of man. Keswick speakers and writers stress the reality of the sin nature and disavows the possibility of sinless perfection. Keswick’s understanding of sin involves six propositions:
(1) Sin is an offense to God’s and rebellion against his purity and goodness.
(2) Sin is a ruling principle in man. Man is totally depraved. Romans 6nad 7 describe this deplorable condition:
Chapter 6 shows man’s enslavement to the sin principle, to be freed only through the New Master, Christ (6:6-7). Chapter 7 is seen through the eyes of a Christian, still helpless in the grip of sin. Many Christians find an all-sufficient atonement in Christ’s death, yet have not found the secret of personal purity which lies therein. Sin remains as the ruling principle. (D. L. Pierson, Arthur T. Pierson, a Biography (London: Nesbet & Co., 1912) 287)
(3) Sin is moral defilement.
Sin has made man unclean, and unfit to approach a holy God. Even as a Christian “one small act of disobedience will throw him out of communion.” (Hopkins, 16)
Numerous OT passages are adduced to support this proposition, among them Isaiah 6:5: “Woe to me for I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” The power of sin is so intense that it is never broken
(4) Sin is a spiritual disease.
The strength of the sin nature is central to Keswick.
(5) Sin is an acquired habit
(6) Sin is an indwelling tendency
It is a tendency which remains throughout life. Keswick explicitly disavows eradication of the sin nature. Keswick’s answer to this is its doctrine of counteraction. It is by the power of the Spirit that the power of sin is counteracted. The tendency to sin remains with the believer, but is the greater force of the spirit dispels this darkness of sin. If one walks in the Spirit the Spirit carries the burden of Sin. If one sins, the Spirit no longer counteracts the tendency to sin and the believer is caught in a spiral of sin. He has no more help in overcoming sin than the unbeliever
GOD’S REMEDY FOR SIN: THE KESWICK MODEL.
The remedy for sin stems from the new relationship which the believer enjoys with Christ as Master. Emphasis is placed upon the power of the risen Christ and the union of the believer with Him. Recognition of the believer’s new identity in Christ is key at this point. “The heart and core of the Keswick teaching is its doctrine of sanctification by faith. The Keswick position is that in Scripture, sanctification comes by faith, and not in any other way.” (Barabas, 100)
In the Keswick model there are four parts to Sanctification
- “gift” (positional sanctification) 1 Cor 1:30.
- experiential:
the day to day transformation which begins at regeneration and continues throughout this life. - crisis:
“By a deliberate and decisive act of faith, one may step into his rightful heritage of sustained victory over known sin; this we believe is what the word teaches as the normal Christian life. Constant defeat, grinding bondage and restless worry can be exchanged for a life of ‘perfect peace’. The Bible shows that in Christ there is liberty and rest. This is to be obtained not by a lifetime of struggle, but by surrender to the Spirit of God.’ (Charles F. Harford, ed. The Keswick Convention: Its message, Its Method, Its Men. (London: Marshall Brothers, 1907) 6)
At the time of the crisis comes a realization that Christ is our Sanctification. (1 Cor 1:30) He must be accepted as such by an act of faith.
“Christ must be definitely accepted as our sanctification; if we wish to make any progress in holiness, we have to give up belief in the value of self-effort in holiness. The gift of holiness must be worked out in our daily life, but we work from holiness, not to holiness. To become holy we must possess the holy one. It must be Christ in us.” (Hopkins, 68)
In the Keswick crisis the will is broken, and the believer sees his sin as willful rebellion against God. It may be accompanied by emotional remorse. As an biblical example of a Keswick crisis, Hopkins turns to Jacob . Jacob had wrestled with the angel all night. Now he no longer wrestles but clings and entreats Him to bless him. :”This act of clinging symbolizes for us the life of victorious faith after we have yielded in a spirit of entire submission. You cannot cling until you have ceased to resist..” (65-66)
- Ultimate Sanctification.
Transformation into the likeness of Christ after death.
CONSECRATION:
By this is meant full surrender. As a result of this surrender all areas of life are changed. Through this experience the power of God will begin to flow in the life of the believer
This full surrender is necessary because the self is totally sinful. and worthless. “We must hate and utterly lose our own life. . . So long as I myself am still something, Jesus cannot be everything. . . When your life is cast out, God will fill you; your life must be expelled.” (Andrew Murray, Full Blessing of Pentecost, 69)
Keswick understanding of human nature in the regenerate man is dualistic. There exists the old nature which is totally sinful and is to be identified with the self. Beside the Old nature there dwells the new nature which is the part of the individual which has communion with God.
Keswick holds no hope for a transformation of the individual throughout this life. Instead it must be crucified, through the painful step of consecration
“Consecration is a sad and often painful episode, but one which needs to be faced frankly. Breaking away from the carnal conformity to the world and its bondage is not easy. But the alternative is to have a lack of power in ones testimony. . . partial dedication is always fatal.” (Aldis, 54)
The crisis of consecration is passive. an abandonment of self which is springs directly from Hannah Whitehall Smith’s teaching on abandonment. This abandonment is an act whose sole responsibility rests with the believer. The result of this total self-abandonment is the fullness of the spirit and rest. Scroggie explains:
“Feverish service will be at an end. Not that we will cease to work, but there will be rest in toil, so that we may accomplish incredible things quietly and restfully. Then we shall have joy for “the fruit of the Spirit is joy.” Another product is love for the Lord and his people. There will also be power–in Christian work, in secular work, wherever the Lord has put us. And there will be victory–consistent victory over sin.” (Wm. Graham Scroggie, The Fullness of the Holy Spirit, 19)
THE FILLING OF THE SPIRIT:
This emphasis flows from consecration. The Keswick understanding of the filing of the spirit is rooted in Ephesians 5:18 as seen through the exegetical lens of human sinfulness and absolute surrender.
Pardington illustrates the Keswick concept of the Spirit’s control Thus:
A young art student sat in a national art gallery in Europe, trying to copy a famous painting by one of the old masters. He struggled and his word was poor. Finally he fell asleep over the canvas. He dreamed that the spirit of the old master took possession of his brain and his hand. Eagerly the old master seized the brush and rapidly reproduced the masterpiece before him. His work received the highest praise. It had a touch of genius. Then he awoke, only to be bitterly disappointed.
But beloved, your dream may come true Spiritually. We try to imitate Christ, struggling after perfect obedience. but at every turn we fail. Finally we give up. Then God gives us the vision of the indwelling Christ. He will unite himself to us, blending his life with ours. Christ will think through our minds. Christ will keep the law within us! He will destroy the dominion of sin and dethrone self in us. (George Pardington , The Crisis of the Deeper Life (Harrisburg Pa.: Christian Publications, n.d.) 149)
Keswick teaches basically that it is the believer’s duty to take leave of his own personality so that Christ can make all the decisions.
D. CRITIQUE
VIEW OF SIN:
Keswick operates with two views of sin, one theoretical and one practical. One sees this in some measure in McQuilkin, but it is even more evident in the older Keswick writers. As noted above, from the perspective of the system, man is utterly and hopelessly sinful, sinful to the point that the self of even the redeemed individual cannot please God. Hence the necessity for the control of the Spirit (in the most literal sense) 1 John1 John
From a practical perspective however, Keswick reverts to Wesley’s definition of sin as volitional. Note the continues emphasis on known sin for one to retain the victory over sin arising form the spirit’s control fullness/power/control
Consecration: I believe that the Keswick insistence on total abandonment of self amounts to an essential denial of the dignity of man as created in the image of God, an image which man retains even in his sinful state. If the self is worthless, why is it worth redemption to begin with? Teaching which asserts the need of the mystical Christ to do everything is tantamount to spiritual suicide. The New Testament clearly places value on the individual because he is justified, and it clearly respects the personality of the individual.
WORK OF THE SPIRIT: CONTROL
In Keswick the Spirit’s control or the filling of the Spirit is key to any relationship with God. However the Keswick concept of is filling akin to demon possession; While this may sound harsh and even shocking this is exactly the analogy McQuilkin uses to describe the Spirit’s filling ministry
“When a person was said to have a devil (or demon), Scripture meant more than the person was devilish, or characterized by devil-like thinking or behavior. It meant that Satan, and his forces were the dominant influence in that person’s life, at least at that point in time. Since the holy Spirit, like the unholy spirits is a person, this use of the term “filled with the Spirit” would seem to be appropriate. The figurative expression would then literally mean that the Holy Spirit dominated, had full control, possessed imperious claim to the whole being, though the domination would be gracious, by invitation only, and would not, like demon possession, displace or override one’s personal choice.” (177)
McQuilken then appeals to Romans 8:9 as an example of such control (the NIV here used the term control but the Greek text uses the term este .. .en pneumati.) However the context of Romans 8 is clearly drawing the contrast between believer and unbeliever, not between Spirit-filled and carnal (. . . if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 8:9b)
CONTROL:
The New Testament never uses the terminology of control to describe the believer’s relationship to the Spirit. The terminology is more subtle, e.g. leading. In fact, a result of the Spirit’s ministry on our lives is self-control, this would hardly seem possible if the regenerate self were still totally evil as Keswick claims.
PRACTICAL PERFECTIONISM:
The goal of Keswick is the peace and joy arising from victory over all known sin. While Keswick expressly disavows that a Christian can be sinless (perfect)for a lifetime, it expressly embraces a moment by moment perfectionism. As Packer notes: “The Keswick promise of complete victory over all known sin goes beyond anything that the New testament permits us to expect in this world. (see 1 John 1:8-10; Galatians 5:17; Romans 7:14-25. . . ). The Christian’s present righteousness is relative; Nothing he does is sinless perfect yet. Behind his best performances lies a heart too little fervent and motives too mixed, and as Jesus’ judgments on the Pharisees show, it is morally unreal to evaluate an agent’s acts without regard for his motives and purposes (see Matt 6:1-6; 6-18; 23:25-28)
QUIETISM:
NATURES & THE CARNAL CHRISTIAN:
As seen above Keswick sees the old nature as something which is not subject to transformation, but retains its full force throughout one’s life. No transformation by the spirit is to be expected. This clearly is in contradistinction to Pauline teaching which speaks of the progressive transformation of the believer into the likeness of Christ (2 Cor 3:18; Rom 12;2)
Hand in hand with this is the Keswick teaching concerning the carnal Christian, i.e. a Christian out of fellowship with God. Keswick basis its teaching on a misreading of 1 Corinthians 3:1-3. As Hokema rightly notes:
. . . There is no biblical basis for the distinction between “carnal” and “spiritual” Christians. The New Testament does distinguish between people who have been born again and those who have not (John 3:3,5), between those who believe in Christ and those who do not (v.36), between those who live according to the flesh and those who live according to the Spirit” (Rom 8:5 RSV), and between the “unspiritual man” and the “Spiritual man” (1Cor. 2:14-15 RSV). It never speaks of a third class of people called “carnal Christians.”
The reference in 1 Cor 3:1-3 is not to such a third class of people but to immature Christians, to “mere infants in Christ” (v. 1). Though they are still infants, they are “in Christ.” Their carnality is a behavior problem, which they must outgrow. Since they are in Christ, they are indeed “new creatures”,(2 Cor 5::17 KJV), “sanctified” (1 Cor 1:2’ 6:11), and are spiritually rich (3:21-23) (187)
Holiness: In the Keswick model holiness is freedom from sin, not conformity to God’s character, or even perfect love as Wesley contended. Thus, Keswick is very much anthropocentric rather than theocentric.
Packer notes: “. . this makes it against rather than for, growth in moral and spiritual sensitivity. To make present happiness one’s present purpose is not the path of biblical godliness. (151)
INTROSPECTION:
Another great problem with Keswick teaching in its various forms is the tendency to morbid introspection. If one’s spiritual relationship to God is dependent upon confession of known sin, and absolute yieldedness, how can one be sure that he has actually confessed all sin. If a sin has been missed somewhere, the individual is still out of fellowship with God and devoid of spiritual power. Thus instead of a relationship with God producing holiness, Keswick demands holiness before communion. This mentality Harold Bussell rightly labels as cultic (Unholy Devotion, )
SPIRITUAL ELITISM:
As with Wesleyanism the post conversion crisis gives rise to the haves and the have nots mentality. Those who have experienced this crisis have a tendency to look down upon those who haven’t as unspiritual.
SPIRITUALITY BY FORMULA:
While there is an insistence that the siritual life is a matter of a relationship with the Spirit & Christ (e.g. McQuilken) the means of establishing that relationship is formulaic. For Trumbull it was “Let go and let God.” Andrew Murray gives a different list:
“The three steps in this path are these: First the deliberate decision that self shall be given up to the death; then, surrender to the Christ crucified to make us partakers in his crucifixion; “knowing that our old man is crucified”, the faith that says, “I am crucified with Christ;” and then the power to live as a crucified one, to the glory of Christ.” (Holy In Christ, 182)
Perhaps the most familiar formula is Campus Crusade’s Holy Spirit booklet. These lists cold be multiplied, but the point is the same. Spiritual victory s offered through the means of a formula. The test of one’s spirituality is not the fruit of the Spirit in one’s life but whether one has by faith fulfilled the conditions of the formula. This opens up another veritable Pandora’s box. The whole point of Keswick/Victorious Life theology is to gain victory over sin and have a feeling of victory and the presence of God. Frank notes:
Naturally some who followed the steps very carefully felt no difference; to this the Victorious Life teachers replied that feelings did not count. This I believe , was the source of a great deal of confusion in the Victorious Life message, and it is also where one begins to smell the rat of charlatanism. The victorious life was offered to Christians, especially by Trumbull, as a whole new way to feel. What else can we make of the promises that worry anxiety and anger would be replaced by constant joy and peace. What is “happiness” if it is not a feeling? Any yet when confronted by a woman who said, “I have surrendered, but nothing has happened”, Trumbull quoted C. I. Scofield: “ ‘there are so many people waiting for some feeling to confirm the action of God. . . ‘ Dear friends do not wait for another moment for feeling to confirm the Word of God. If you are resting on your feelings you are resting on quicksand. . . Victory has nothing to do with feelings; God’s Word is true whether we feel it or not.” (Frank, 149)
IV. Conclusion
Wesleyan-Holiness and in Keswick one finds two models of Sanctification which although they differ in detail are based upon the same bifurcation of justification and sanctification. Wesleyanism actually calls this post-conversion crisis a second work of grace. Keswick calls it a second blessing, although in practice there is a one to one correspondence with the second work of grace of Wesleyanism. Both models are ultimately perfectionistic, in the sense that they redefine sin, limiting it to volitional acts of rebellion (at least with reference to one’s ongoing fellowship with God). The result is that an individual may at any point in time be described as sinless. Holiness sanctification historically gave birth to a legalistic mentality which often saw sin in terms of cultural norms. Keswick in effect made surrender and faith works, which had the effect of moving the legalism from the objective sphere to the subjective.
Having said all this, it still must be remembered that both positions had their positive features (Packer lists these, 136-137; 148-150) while they fall short in crucial areas. Both offered what Christians long for, a closer relationship with Christ. As Packer says “. . . When Christians ask God to make them more like Jesus, through the Spirit’s power, He will do it, never mind what shortcomings appear in their theology. He is a most gracious and generous God.”
Erick Chepkwony, TH.D 