- 101 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
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A Practical Treatise Upon Christian Perfection
About this book
William Law, born in 1686, became a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1711, but in 1714, at the death of Queen Anne, he became a non-Juror: that is to say, he found himself unable to take the required oath of allegiance to the Hanoverian dynasty (who had replaced the Stuart dynasty) as the lawful rulers of the United Kingdom, and was accordingly ineligible to serve as a university teacher or parish minister. He became for ten years a private tutor in the family of the historian Edward Gibbon (who, despite his generally cynical attitude toward all things Christian, invariably wrote of Law with respect and admiration), and then retired to his native King's Cliffe. Forbidden the use of the pulpit and the lecture-hall, he preached through his books. These include Christian Perfection, the Spirit of Love, the Spirit of Prayer, and, best-known of all, A Serious Call To a Devout and Holy Life, published in 1728.
'Law was about forty years of age when he wrote it and had he written no more, his reputation as a prose writer and ascetic theologian would have been established. The title of the book also Illustrates two dominant traits in his personality, the concern to be practical and the primary importance of growth in holiness. The perfection he recommends 'calls no one to a cloyster, but to a right and full performance of those duties, which are necessary for all Christians, and common to all states of life'. It is the heart that finds expression in our actions, and it is the heart, therefore, that must be made perfect.' (A. Keith Walker, William Law, p. 47; quotation from Law's Introduction, p. 2)
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Table of contents
- Title page
- TABLE OF CONTENTS
- PREFACE
- THE INTRODUCTION
- CHAPTER I-CHRISTIANITY TEACHES US THE TRUE MEANING OF LIFE
- CHAPTER II-CHRISTIANITY REQUIRES A CHANGE OF NATURE
- CHAPTER III-CHRIST REQUIRES THE SAME HOLINESS IN US AS IN HIS FIRST FOLLOWERS
- CHAPTER IV-CONSIDERATIONS ON THE STORY OF THE RICH YOUNG MAN
- CHAPTER V-WE MUST BE IN THE WORLD AND NOT OF THE WORLD
- CHAPTER VI-SOME CONSIDERATIONS UPON THE REASONABLENESS OF SELF-DENIAL
- CHAPTER VII-OF THE NECESSITY OF DIVINE GRACE, AND THE SEVERAL DUTIES TO WHICH IT CALLETH ALL CHRISTIANS
- CHAPTER VIII-ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE SAME SUBJECT
- CHAPTER IX-CHRISTIANITY IS A TEMPER, NOT AN ACT
- CHAPTER X-ON CONVERSATION
- CHAPTER XI-ON CHRISTIANITY AS A COMFORT IN THE LESSER VEXATIONS OF LIFE
- CHAPTER XII-ON READING AND ON SPARE TIME
- CHAPTER XIII-ON AN EARNEST DESIRE FOR PIETY
- CHAPTER XIV-CHRISTIANS ARE CALLED TO A CONSTANT STATE OF PRAYER AND DEVOTION
- CHAPTER XV-ON TRUE LEARNING, AND ON DEVOTION AS A TEMPER OF THE MIND
- CHAPTER XVI-ON TRUE DEVOTION
- CHAPTER XVII-ON FREQUENT PRAYER
- CHAPTER XVIII-ON THE LIGHT AND IMPROVEMENT WHICH RESULTS FROM PRAYING MUCH
- CHAPTER XIX-ALL CHRISTIANS ARE REQUIRED TO IMITATE THE LIFE AND EXAMPLE OF JESUS CHRIST
- CHAPTER XX-OUR IMITATION OF JESUS CHRIST NEED NOT WAIT FOR ANY CHANGE OF LIFE
- CHAPTER XXI-AN EXHORTATION TO CHRISTIAN PERFECTION
- CHAPTER XXII-ON THE REWARD OF CHRISTIAN PERFECTION IN THIS PRESENT LIFE