The Holiness Revival of the Nineteenth Century

by Melvin E. Dieter

This new edition expands and updates the only general interpretation of the rise and influence of perfectionist revivalism in America and Europe. Fifteen years of expanding research on the holiness movement reinforce this volume's continuing seminal value to cultural and social research. The new concluding essay describes the history of the revival through the turn of the century. This book expands our understanding of the fragmentation and coalescence of American religion by analyzing the factors which created numerous new holiness denominations. Dieter also outlines the historical and theological factors that separate this largely Wesleyan and Methodist wing of evangelicalism from the fundamentalism of Reformed evangelicals. The identification of such nuances will prove especially helpful to those struggling with the extreme diversity in American religion, especially in evangelicalism. For students and scholars of American religious movements as well as students of the feminist, temperance, abolitionist, and populist movements in American society.

328 pages, Paperback

First published April 9, 1996

About the author

Melvin Easterday Dieter is an American Wesleyan Church minister and educator.

Reviews

[James Pedlar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a classic account of the holiness movement - should be read by anyone who wants to understand holiness traditions, 19th C revivalism, and 19th C American Protestantism in general. Dieter traces the history of the movement from the mid 1830s to the 1880s, charting a trajectory towards eventual schism and institutionaliztation.

[Dan Gobble · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dr. O'Malley's class at Asbury