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Our Watchword and Song: The Centennial History of the Church of the Nazarene
This study of the growth of the Church of the Nazarene traces the denomination s doctrinal roots to the English Reformation and then explores the church's historical, intellectual, and doctrinal development. Giving special attention to the church's distinctive belief in entire sanctification and emphasis on education, the authors colorfully retell the story of the church from its humble origins in Pilot Point, Texas, to its expansion into an international community reaching the world through a warm-hearted faith.
736 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 28, 2013
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February 26, 2021
I read Part I "The Wesleyan Heritage" (approx. 200 pages) of this massive book for my Nazarene Heritage course under Dr. Randy Cloud at MidAmerica Nazarene University. It was informative and very helpful in filling in my gaps in understanding regarding the roots and founding of the Church of the Nazarene. I appreciated that it began by explaining the English Reformation and then traced the historical narrative from the Anglican Church to the Methodist Church to the 19th century Holiness Movement to the combination of the various holiness groups into the Church of the Nazarene in 1908.
I would give it somewhere between 2 and 3 stars due to it being not particularly exciting. 2 seems too judgemental, 3 seems too generous. I settled on 2. Here is the reflection paper I wrote for my class:
As much as one may think reading 200 pages of Nazarene history might be boring, I really enjoyed this book. I think that over the past several years, I have learned a lot about the Nazarene Church today but have struggled to piece together in my head the true origins of the church just over a hundred years ago. I was grateful that the author began by giving a history of the English Reformation. This was helpful in a whole different way for understanding the Anglican Church of which I am now a part. Then reading about John Wesley and the expansion of the Methodist Church in the United States made much more sense of that era (I did not realize the Methodist Church was the largest Protestant denomination in the country in the mid-1800s!). It was also sad and revealing to see how Methodists, as they continued to institutionalize and grow affluent, largely lost or forgot their original message of holiness.
It is interesting how many Protestant denominations have their roots in “movements.” Things that were intended simply to revive or reemphasize or reform the church so often end up splitting the church because the institutions are unwilling to change or because the zealots calling for change or preaching a new emphasis won’t back down, for better or for worse. But this call for holiness was picked up again in the 19th century holiness movement. I was most intrigued by how the evangelical American revival tradition and the holiness movement combined into camp meetings where entire sanctification was called for and claimed to be experienced in an instantaneous act—even for those who were not previously Christians! Today in the Nazarene Church, while this line of thought certainly isn’t gone, leaders (particularly younger ones) tend to shy away from such bold and revivalist preaching.
The most amazing part of the historical narrative in this book certainly is the fact that the three strands of the holiness movement (Northeast, South, and West) came together into one group in 1908, the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene. Given the proclivity we Protestants have for splitting from one another over small matters AND the fact that the Civil War was less than 50 years prior, this is truly miraculous, and I cannot help but believe it was done by the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Despite this being an incredible event, I am struck with the feeling that the intense legalism which eventually saturated the Nazarene Church was due in large part to the influence of the Southern holiness movement. Although, it is true that holiness people in general already had a proclivity for legalism. By nature of preaching a message of the necessity of living a holy life, we expose ourselves to the trappings of strict rule following. But I understand the good motivation they had in their work and preaching.
I thought the fairly quick shift from the name Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene to simply Church of the Nazarene was very interesting also. I did not previously know anything about the interaction between Pentecostalism and the Nazarene Church. It is curious to me that the wild and noisy worship of the early Nazarenes did not mesh with Pentecostal worship. I would like to learn more about why Nazarenes rejected speaking in tongues. As I recently read in the Wesleyan Theological Journal for this class, the Christian and Missionary Alliance—which shares roots in the holiness movement with the Nazarene Church—was also distinguishing itself from Pentecostalism at this time. I want to understand better what specific issues these groups had with Pentecostalism.
Overall, this book definitely helped me understand and appreciate the history and founding of the Church of the Nazarene better. I am grateful for the contributions they have made for the gospel across the world, and I look forward to learning more in class about their work and ministry.
I would give it somewhere between 2 and 3 stars due to it being not particularly exciting. 2 seems too judgemental, 3 seems too generous. I settled on 2. Here is the reflection paper I wrote for my class:
As much as one may think reading 200 pages of Nazarene history might be boring, I really enjoyed this book. I think that over the past several years, I have learned a lot about the Nazarene Church today but have struggled to piece together in my head the true origins of the church just over a hundred years ago. I was grateful that the author began by giving a history of the English Reformation. This was helpful in a whole different way for understanding the Anglican Church of which I am now a part. Then reading about John Wesley and the expansion of the Methodist Church in the United States made much more sense of that era (I did not realize the Methodist Church was the largest Protestant denomination in the country in the mid-1800s!). It was also sad and revealing to see how Methodists, as they continued to institutionalize and grow affluent, largely lost or forgot their original message of holiness.
It is interesting how many Protestant denominations have their roots in “movements.” Things that were intended simply to revive or reemphasize or reform the church so often end up splitting the church because the institutions are unwilling to change or because the zealots calling for change or preaching a new emphasis won’t back down, for better or for worse. But this call for holiness was picked up again in the 19th century holiness movement. I was most intrigued by how the evangelical American revival tradition and the holiness movement combined into camp meetings where entire sanctification was called for and claimed to be experienced in an instantaneous act—even for those who were not previously Christians! Today in the Nazarene Church, while this line of thought certainly isn’t gone, leaders (particularly younger ones) tend to shy away from such bold and revivalist preaching.
The most amazing part of the historical narrative in this book certainly is the fact that the three strands of the holiness movement (Northeast, South, and West) came together into one group in 1908, the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene. Given the proclivity we Protestants have for splitting from one another over small matters AND the fact that the Civil War was less than 50 years prior, this is truly miraculous, and I cannot help but believe it was done by the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Despite this being an incredible event, I am struck with the feeling that the intense legalism which eventually saturated the Nazarene Church was due in large part to the influence of the Southern holiness movement. Although, it is true that holiness people in general already had a proclivity for legalism. By nature of preaching a message of the necessity of living a holy life, we expose ourselves to the trappings of strict rule following. But I understand the good motivation they had in their work and preaching.
I thought the fairly quick shift from the name Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene to simply Church of the Nazarene was very interesting also. I did not previously know anything about the interaction between Pentecostalism and the Nazarene Church. It is curious to me that the wild and noisy worship of the early Nazarenes did not mesh with Pentecostal worship. I would like to learn more about why Nazarenes rejected speaking in tongues. As I recently read in the Wesleyan Theological Journal for this class, the Christian and Missionary Alliance—which shares roots in the holiness movement with the Nazarene Church—was also distinguishing itself from Pentecostalism at this time. I want to understand better what specific issues these groups had with Pentecostalism.
Overall, this book definitely helped me understand and appreciate the history and founding of the Church of the Nazarene better. I am grateful for the contributions they have made for the gospel across the world, and I look forward to learning more in class about their work and ministry.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review