Books on the Holy Spirit and on various movements which emphasize His person and work, books on Wesley and Wesleyanism, books on the holiness movement and its social and historical relationships, books on sanctification and holiness-all of these are multiplying before our eyes. It is impossible within the limitations of this Journal to adequately review all of the books which would be of interest to members of the Society. But we have had a growing conviction that the Journal should help keep members aware of the most significant publications. With this issue we are attempting to make a beginning. There follow editorial reviews of eight books which should be of direct interest to the Society. Several are written in whole or in part by members of the Society. While some are written from positions which vary widely from that of the Society, none can be ignored in terms of importance to our interests.

Colonel Agnew begins with a study indicated by the book’s title, a study of the "mystic" member of the Trinity, primarily from Scripture; he concludes that the Holy Spirit is the "Executive" or "Administrator" of the Trinity. The rest of the book is given to combating what the author believes to be erroneous understandings of how the Spirit works in the church and in individual believers, and to establishing and clarifying what he believes to be the scriptural view. Approximately one-third of the book is given to responding to the charismatic movement. While he gives strong commendation to the real accomplishments of the movement, he seeks to refute its distinctive presuppositions. In a surprising departure from the traditional views of those holiness writers who understand Spirit-inspired "tongues" always to be bonafide human languages, Agnew believes that the biblical gift of tongues has been withdrawn from the church. The author identifies baptism with the Holy Spirit with entire sanctification. The book ends on a very practical note, dealing with the frailities of sanctified humanity and the ongoing walk in the Spirit.

One can only respond in awe to the scope and labor involved in the Oxford Edition of the Works of John Wesley. Of the projected thirty-four volumes this is the second to be published. It is the first of seven volumes of letters which will be incorporated in the set. It covers the period from Wesley’s late teens through the years at Oxford and in Georgia, and past Aldersgate to the beginning of his field preaching. Without a doubt, the seven volumes will provide the student of Wesley with more ready access to the "feelings" of the Oxford don as expressed in his letters than ever before. This volume begins with 140 pages of introduction, covering virtually every conceivable aspect about correspondence and mails in the eighteenth century, about the people Wesley corresponded with, about Wesley as he is seen in his letters, and about the letters themselves-the details of editing them and their literary value. Following the introduction are hundreds of Wesley’s letters from the 1720’s and 1730’s, interspersed in the proper sequence with full or partial letters written to Wesley. This volume concludes, as will each of the seven, with an appendix listing all letters known to have been written by Wesley, or for which strong evidence exists that they were written, during the period covered. For this period 2,150 are listed. All of those seeking to know John Wesley and his message will need to read his letters. We are forever indebted to those whose superb scholarship and prodigious labors have made these materials available.

Dr. Grider views entire sanctification as the clearest term and the most distinguishing aspect of the message proclaimed by the holiness movement. He holds that the holiness movement has come to differ from John Wesley’s teaching at two points: (1) In its teaching that entire sanctification is effected by the baptism with the Holy Spirit; (2) in its teaching that original sin is cleansed away only in an instantaneous crisis, with any "progressive sanctification" referring to something other than this expulsion of carnality. He believes that these two departures from Wesley are scriptural, and that this kind of correction is thoroughly Wesleyan since Wesley also amended his earlier understanding of sanctification. The book concludes by attempting to answer questions frequently asked about entire sanctification.

The author’s doctoral dissertation at Temple University has been slightly revised in this form which will be more readily available to the average reader. Dr. Dieter sees in the pre-Civil War American holiness revival a fusing of historic pietism, of the immediacy of American revivalism, and of Methodist perfectionism. He traces the post-Civil War holiness revival as it intensified in America and spread to Europe; he holds that it permanently stamped its emphasis on the thought and life of all of evangelical Protestantism around the world. He follows it until the movement institutionalized in a multitude of holiness sects at the close of the nineteenth century. Studies in Evangelicalism is a series edited by Donald W. Dayton and Kenneth E. Rowe which seeks to explore the roots and development of evangelicalism in all of its forms and in its interaction with related groups. Dr. Dieter’s work is especially fitting as the initial volume of the series since he holds that contemporary evangelicalism cannot be understood in isolation from the holiness movement of the past two centuries.

Marsden traces fundamentalism from its origin within the respected evangelical establishment of the post-Civil War era, through its dark valley of the 1920’s when it was "laughed out of court," to its reorganization and resurgence as a significant factor in the neo-evangelicalism of the 1950’s and later. He sees it as an essentially religious movement which nevertheless was shaped by cultural factors. In his own words, "Three themes recur in this work." First is the paradoxical tendency of fundamentalism to identify at times with the "establishment" and at other times with the "outsiders." The second is the tensions produced within the movement by a mixture of early revivalism and pietism with "holiness" teachings (particularly Keswick and D. L. Moody forms) in the context of a largely Reformed tradition philosophically and theologically. The third is the tension between trust and distrust of the intellect. Marsden gives surprisingly thorough coverage to the relationship of the holiness movement (Wesleyan, Keswick, and Pentecostal branches) to fundamentalism. His analysis will provide a starting point for holiness historians in studying the interaction of fundamentalism and the holiness movement.

This book is a commentary on the "Junaluska Affirmation," which was drawn up in 1975 by members of the Good News Movement in the United Methodist Church. The Affirmation was intended to be a confession of faith by the Good News people both to their fellow Methodists and to evangelicalism at large. The Affirmation’s authors included such familiar names as Dennis F. Kinlaw and Frank Bateman Stanger. It is a beautiful statement of faith. Dr. Mickey’s commentary takes up the Affirmation section by section, and virtually phrase by phrase. He quotes John Wesley frequently and John Calvin perhaps even more frequently. Approximately one-fifth of the book is given to the section on "The Holy Scriptures" and particularly to the question of inspiration and authority. "Accurate" and "accuracy" are the words chosen in the Affirmation in preference to "infallible" and "inerrant." Dr. Mickey promotes this choice on the basis that the essential meaning is the same, "accurate" is a positive and affirming term rather than a negative and defensive one, it more faithfully reflects the divine/human interaction, and it is more fitting to Wesley’s concept of sanctification. The concept of inspiration expounded is plenary and dynamic. The most obvious weakness of the commentary relates to entire sanctification as a crisis. While the Affirmation makes repeated references to perfection, holiness, and sanctification, and the commentary refers to both "crises" and progression, there is nowhere a clear statement about the crisis. The final section of the Affirmation and commentary do restore a Wesleyan emphasis by attempting to deal briefly with ethical matters including social concerns.

Most of the eleven chapters were presented originally to the Sixth Oxford Institute on Methodist Theological Studies, held at Lincoln College, Oxford, in the summer of 1977. Three of the contributors are WTS members: Donald W. Dayton, Nancy A. Hardesty, and Timothy L. Smith. And to those Journal readers introduced to a comparison of Wesleyanism and liberation theology by Dr. Harold B. Kuhn’s paper in the Spring 1980 issue, this book provides a stimulating sequel. There is certainly no common thread of agreement through the chapters. Some writers find varying degrees of correspondence between Wesley’s doctrine of sanctification as both an individual and a social perfectibility in this present age on the one hand and liberation theology on the other. Dr. Runyan goes so far in the introduction as to say "that the anthropology implicit in Marx’s doctrine of alienated labor can provide a helpful perspective-in spite of the seeming contradictions-from which to view the anthropology implied in Wesley’s doctrine of sanctification." Other writers concentrate on Wesley’s doctrine, or his social concern, or the social concern of his followers. Some writers virtually ignore Wesley and sanctification and concentrate on various phases of liberation. Latin American liberation theology is represented by one Latin American theologian and a sympathetic North American observer. Two British Methodists provide analysis and a history of British views of sanctification. One American writer analyzes Wesley’s view of holding property as essentially stewardship. Two articles deal historically with sanctification and social concern in the American holiness and evangelical streams. Other articles touch on women’s liberation, American black theology, and mainstream Methodism’s impact on Africa.

The author holds that the twofold sequence of Israel’s redemption through the Exodus from Egypt and the Conquest of Canaan was part of a divine pattern seen again in Jesus’ resurrection (Easter) and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost); in the believer the sequence is justification and sanctification. But the Exodus-Conquest theme as here presented is not to be confused with traditional allegorizing. Dr. Wood is attempting to deal with many questions which are being discussed in Wesleyanism today: Can Pentecostal language be used as descriptive of Christian perfection? Was Wesley open to such usage? Is Christian perfection realizable in this life? In what sense is Christian perfection a second work of grace? Is circumcision of heart related to Christian perfection? Does Christian perfection involve a radical cleansing from inbred sin? Is original sin to be conceptualized in substantialist or relational categories? Dr. Wood arrives at answers to all of these questions which are largely compatible with the traditional answers of the classic American holiness movement. But he does so from fresh perspectives and with a wealth of supporting evidence from Scripture, church history, and contemporary scholarship such as has rarely been seen. The result of this study should be very helpful to one seeking sound answers. The last two chapters should be familiar to readers of the Journal as they represent revisions of Dr. Wood’s articles which appeared in Volume 15, Number 1, and Volume 14, Number 2, respectively.