The recent sanctification debates in the broader Reformed world have taken us well back into the 16th century. It’s there where much of our discussions on a law/gospel hermeneutic, union with Christ, and three uses of the law find respective historical beginnings.
But I’ve wondered if our focus on the Reformation and Puritan eras have led us to neglect another era’s teaching on sanctification and its [largely negative] impact on today: Keswick Theology.
THE “W” IS SILENT
Have you heard of Keswick? From 1875-1920 Keswick Theology1 was a major force in the evangelical world. While you may not have heard “Keswick” before, odds are you’ve encountered its effect in American evangelicalism. And it’s usually unhelpful.
The movement’s hallmark is a chronological separation between justification and sanctification. This paradigmatic truth is evident in how many Christians recount their testimony: “I was saved at the age of seven, but it wasn’t until I was sixteen or seventeen that I fully gave myself to the Lord.”
To help you get a simultaneous handle on Keswick’s aberrant understanding of the Christian life and a biblical understanding of sanctification we turn to a living expert: Dr. Andy Naselli.
A DOUBLE DOCTOR
Andy Naselli serves as Assistant Professor of New Testament and Biblical Theology at Bethlehem College & Seminary. He teaches courses primarily at the seminary-level on Greek exegesis, New Testament, biblical theology, and systematic theology. He loves to study and teach how the theological disciplines (exegesis, biblical theology, historical theology, systematic theology, and practical theology) interrelate and culminate in doxology.
Andy earned two PhDs before he turned thirty: a PhD in theology from Bob Jones University and a PhD in New Testament Exegesis and Theology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School under D. A. Carson. He served as Carson’s research assistant from 2006 to 2013 and continues to work with him on various projects, including the theological journal Themelios, for which Carson is editor and Andy is administrator.2
It’s that PhD from Bob Jones we are concerned about because it is a masterful analysis and critique of Keswick Theology. The 100,000 word dissertation was published in 2010 as Let God and Let God? A Survey and Analysis of Keswick Theology. If you have the time and cash money to grab a copy, I’d highly recommend it. Rick Phillips says,
If you are seeking a biblical understanding of the Christian life, read Andy Naselli’s Let Go and Let God? If you wish to avoid sidetracks that can absorb years of your life in fruitless confusion, then pay attention this careful study of the Bible’s doctrine of sanctification and searching critique of the Keswick theology. With this book, Naselli has provided an important service to many Christians who have been or might be led astray by well-meaning but false teaching on the Christian life.
If reading the dissertation sounds daunting, don’t worry, there are two other mediums to get the substance of Naselli’s work.
KESWICK CLIFF-NOTES
In 2008 Naselli gave the William R. Rice Lecture Series at Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary on Keswick Theology. In the course of three lectures he distilled his dissertation down to about 20,000 words . . . a much more manageable count for most pastors! So grab the lecture PDF or mp3s below and grow your understanding of this stream of teaching on sanctification. And your appreciation for a more biblical model of how to grow in Christ.
- PDF of Keswick Theology: A Survey and Analysis of the Doctrine of Sanctification in the Early Keswick Movement
- A Historical and Theological Survey of the Early Keswick Movement (mp3)
- A Theological Analysis of the Early Keswick Movement #1 (mp3)
- A Theological Analysis of the Early Keswick Movement #2 (mp3 with Q & A)
You can download all these resources and more on Naselli’s website.
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