“It cannot be that the people should grow in grace unless they give themselves to reading. A reading people will always be a knowing people.”
-John Wesley
Wallace Thornton, Jr. pursues the vocation of writing history with three underlying purposes in mind, as follows:
Resources — Books and other print materials provide numerous advantages over oral communication for study and preservation. Church of the Nazarene pioneer Phineas F. Bresee thus encouraged ministers: “Get books; get them at any sacrifice. Be a student. Be systematic. The Holy Ghost will take all this equipment and use it to teach and win souls for the kingdom of God.”
Roots — Historical writings connect us with our heritage, as Free Methodist founder B. T. Roberts observed, “[Books preserve] the principles which led to the formation of the church. Preachers and people may backslide; but the literature remains to remind them of what they once were.”
Reach — By their portable, yet durable, nature, written publications can connect with readers where their authors may never travel. Thus, Martin Wells Knapp, founder of God’s Bible School, explained his own publishing ministry: “With the pen and press we can preach to multitudes far beyond the reach of our personal presence and also for centuries after ‘Our poor lisping stammering tongues lie silent in the grave.’”
Lighting From the Past
Camp Meeting Sermons By Early Twentieth-Century Holiness Revivalists
When the Fire Fell
Martin Wells Knapp's Vision of Pentecost and the Beginning of God's Bible School
Available in Korean - from Seoul Theological University Press
What readers are saying
"Thornton presents a generally balanced view of the data and retains the scholarly detachment from the material required of a good historian . . . [and] has gone a long way toward establishing the framework within which the tradition can understand its own heritage, both its strengths and weaknesses, and within which the tradition can be interpreted as part of the larger Christian traditions. This is truly an important book . . ."
- Dr. David Bundy, Wesleyan Theological Journal (Vol. 33 No. 2 Fall 1998)
“Thornton’s essay is a very helpful exercise ... concerning the relationship between ‘holiness of life’ and holiness of heart.’ The result is a clear and thoughtful statement about the place of lifestyle standards.”
- Dr. Stephen J. Lennox, President, Kingswood University
“For the answer to ‘Why Standards?,’ read this book for a wonderful, profitable understanding of the critical connection between content and form of holiness, to wit, of heart and life; beautifully illustrated with the unique analogy of heart and skin. Every chapter, paragraph, sentence and word is inspirational and written unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith and will redound to the glory of God and to your benefit.”
- J. George Lawrence, M.D., Author of Sovereign Scriptural Segues
About
Wallace Thornton Jr.
Wallace Thornton, Jr. is a historian of the Christian tradition with special interest in the radical holiness networks. He earned the MA in Church History from Cincinnati Bible Seminary, holds membership in the Wesleyan Theological Society, is a charter member of the Wesleyan Historical Society, and serves on the advisory board of the journal World Christianity and the Fourfold Gospel. He has taught church history at three colleges and presented at numerous conferences. His publications include the books Radical Righteousness: Personal Ethics and the Development of the Holiness Movement (Schmul Publishing, 1998) and When the Fire Fell: Martin Wells Knapp’s Vision of Pentecost and the Beginnings of God’s Bible School (Emeth Press, 2014, also published in Korean by the Seoul Theological University Press, 2015), as well as contributions to several other books and periodicals.
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