WHAT THE HOLY SPIRIT CAN AND CANNOT DO:
THE AMBIGUITIES OF PHOEBE PALMER'S THEOLOGY OF EXPERIENCE

Charles Edward White

Phoebe Palmer played an important role in the sanctification of Thomas Upham, and they maintained a cordial relationship throughout their lives,1 but in 1851, Mrs. Palmer wrote Professor Upham a strongly worded letter denying that the Holy Spirit had done what Upham claimed he had done. This paper will discuss Mrs. Palmer's certainty about the activities of the Paraclete. It hopes that in so doing it will shed light on a neglected area of women's theology and spirituality.

Phoebe Palmer never thought of herself as a theologian. She did not like "theology": to her it signified a complex, man-made substitute for God's simple truth. Theology had long kept her from understanding God's word:

I was, for years, hindered in spiritual progress by theological hair-splitting and technicalities, and it was not until I resolved to let all these things alone, and take the simple, naked word of God, . . . that the steady light of truth beamed upon my heart.2

Mrs. Palmer loved to picture herself as a simple believer in contrast to the erudite theologians. She said, "It has been my aim to avoid most carefully everything like a display of theological technicalities. . . . I have aimed to follow the simple Bible mode of teaching."3 She did not waste her time in abstruse or otiose discussions, but simply obeyed Christ by witnessing to the truth:

. . . we have never felt it [our] duty to sermonize in any way, by dividing and sub-dividing with metaphysical hair-splitting in theology. We have nothing to do more than Mary, when by the command of the Head of the Church, she proclaimed a risen Jesus to her brethren-. . . [John 20:17-18]4

Despite these disclaimers, Phoebe Palmer wag a theologian. If she were not a systematic theologian like Calvin, an occasional theologian like Luther, or even a polemic theologian like Wesley, still she was a popular teacher of Biblical truth, whose various ideas may be fitted into a consistent pattern. That pattern may not qualify as academic theology, but Mrs. Palmer and thousands of her followers found it adequate to explain their faith.

Mrs. Palmer never published an analysis of how she arrived at theological formulations, but scattered through her writings are many comments about the various ways to discover God's truth. >From these occasional remarks, one may induce the method of her theology. Not surprisingly for one who imbibed Methodism with her mother's milk, her method turns out to be the Wesleyan quadrilateral of Scripture, reason, experience, and tradition.

1 Scripture

Phoebe Palmer's theology began with the Bible. As an eleven-year-old child, she had written a poem claiming God's guidance through His word,5 and she returned to this theme in the introduction to her first book. There she asserted that "the BIBLE was the all commanding chart by which the propriety of each successive step [in her spiritual journey] was determined."6

Phoebe could trust the Bible as her chart through life because it was the authoritative word of God. The foundational tenet of her theology was that when the Bible speaks, God speaks. She said that human language failed to express how deeply she was convinced that "the Bible is the living voice of the living God." Mrs. Palmer believed:

The Bible was as much the WORD OF GOD as though she could hear Him speaking in tones of loudest thunder every moment, or as though she could see it written in a sign arching the heavens.8

Phoebe was fond of repeating, "The voice of the Scriptures is the voice of the Holy Ghost."9 Actually, Mrs. Palmer thought the voice of the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures wag even more reliable than a heavenly voice. She pointed out that Peter heard the heavenly voice at the Transfiguration, and yet called the Scripture "the more sure word of prophecy" (2 Peter 1:17-19).10 To her, the word of God in its inscripturated form was as valid as if "the Word were again made flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14).11 Every word in the Bible was given at the "express dictation of the Holy Spirit" and thus, the Scripture was "the One Infallible standard" to which believers must subject "our own and all human opinions."12

2 Reason

After the Scripture itself, the second locus of theological authority for Phoebe Palmer was human reason. She taught that the proper way to learn how to think and act was first to ask the Holy Spirit to teach through the Scripture, and then to urge rational hermeneutical rules to interpret that Scripture. Only the Bible, reasonably interpreted, could be trusted to confirm or deny one's impressions of the Holy Spirit's leading. Nothing which was absurd or unreasonable could be part of God's truth, so people should use their common sense when trying to determine the Bible's meaning: "There are no . . . inconsistencies in the Bible, and sensible people are not required to go beyond their senses and believe there are."13 God is not unreasonable, so He never contradicts Himself, or commands us to do what is impossible.14 Because God is reasonable, and because He is the source of the believer's mind, Christians may trust their regenerated intellects:

I saw that the God of nature, as the giver of every good gift, had given me judgment, the power to perceive, through a sanctified medium, whatsoever things were pure and lovely. That grace did not take away my power to reason, but turned it into a more refined, sanctified channel, and then required the full use of a renovated intellect.15

Discovering theological truth by examining one's own spiritual experiences and learning from those of others was the third part of Phoebe Palmer's theological method. She revealed her own convictions about the value of experience in a paragraph she and Walter wrote about Bishop Hamline: "Lastly, Mr. H[amline] was convinced that to know anything satisfactory of religion, we must experience it. To speculate upon it is like laboring to ascertain the flavor of a fruit without tasting it."16 She taught that the things which people learn from experience were "more deeply written on the heart than what is learned by mere precept."17 Phoebe wrote books relating her own spiritual experience, and published biographies which explained the experience of others because "[theological] difficulties, in many minds, may be met by observing how other minds, similarly constituted, were helped out of [their] difficulties."18

Even more than her comments about the value of experience, or the books she published about it, the existence of the Tuesday Meeting for the Promotion of Holiness shows the value Phoebe Palmer placed on experience as a teacher of theological truth. After singing, prayer, and some brief introductory remarks, the meeting was opened for anyone there to relate her or his spiritual experience. Sometimes seekers told of their uncompleted search for holiness, and requested those present to pray for them. At other times, the sanctified would explain how they had received the blessing, and tell about the difference it made in their lives.19 Often the simple testimony of one who found full salvation would cut through the clouds of perplexity that surrounded others. Mrs. Palmer related the story of "a teacher in Israel of some celebrity, and a professor in a neighboring literary institution" who was sanctified after listening to the testimony of the timid wife of a minister. "Never," he said, "did I see the simplicity of the way to be saved from all sin, as by hearing the simple testimony of Mrs._."20 Besides holding the Tuesday Meeting in her home, Mrs. Phoebe Palmer was careful to promote "social meetings" for the relation of experience whenever she held revival meetings. She also devoted a section of the Guide to Holiness each month to publishing the testimonies given at the Tuesday Meeting in an effort to widen their influence.21

While her practice of holding social meetings and publishing books of testimonies shows that Mrs. Palmer thought that experience was a powerful way to discover theological truth, her explicit teaching warns of its dangers. If experience were not tested against the standard of the Bible, it could lead to false conclusions. Mrs. Palmer blamed much of her early confusion about her spiritual state on "the fault of taking the feelings and experience of others as a standard for my own, in place of going to the word of the Lord."22 Especially when she heard others speak of their assurance of pardon or of their reception of sanctification, she was convinced that they had been given some "luminous" revelation which "constrained [them] irresistibly to believe." Because she had received no such revelation, she became uncertain and depressed about her spiritual state.23 Only when Phoebe resolved to disregard her feelings, and to take the Bible as her authority did she begin to make progress in her spiritual life.24 She thus concluded that God was "persuasively directing her mind away from the uncertain traditions and example of the fallible creature, to the only INFALLIBLE STANDARD- the ONE STANDARD of the only wise God," that is, the Bible.25 She was fond of repeating that the Bible must be the Christian's authority, and not the experiences of fallible men.26

The irony of Mrs. Palmer's position about experience is that experience taught her that Scripture is superior to experience. She seems to be trapped in the logical cul-de-sac of arguing on the basis of experience that experience may not always be valid. Like one who reasons to the conclusion that we may not trust reason, this would be an absurdity. Phoebe Palmer's position is not absurd, however. True, experience did lead her to Scripture, but her reliance on Scripture was not dependent on her experience. When Phoebe learned that she could not depend on experience, she turned to the Scripture for her authority. Convinced of its divine origin, she accepted its truth as the axiom of her existence, and began to rebuild the structure of her faith on this foundation. It was as if she had been following a greenhorn guide through some unknown territory. The guide often misled her and finally, they both became hopelessly lost. The guide then admitted that the task was too difficult for him and pulled a map from his pocket. "You can't always trust me," he confessed, "but you can trust this map." Phoebe was not so foolish as to trust the map on the word of the unreliable guide, but when she saw for herself the signature of the chief surveyor on it, she decided to follow its directions.

Mrs. Palmer was careful to subordinate experience to Scripture and reason because of the ill effect their inversion had had on her own life, and also because of a new doctrine which arose among some of her followers. She had taught the traditional Wesleyan doctrine of two distinct "works of grace" justification and sanctification. Some of her followers, however, claimed to have experienced a "third work of grace."27

In its quietistic form, taught by Thomas Upham, this doctrine holds that the third work of grace annihilates the human will, and produces a holy indifference in which the heart is free from all personal desires and passions: "We have no pleasure of our own, we have no desires of our own, we have no will of our own."28 Temptation therefore loses all its appeal, and only the will of God has any attraction for the Christian in this state. No desire that does not come from God will arise in the heart of the perfected one. Thus Satan can no longer subtly seduce the one who had gone beyond sanctification by placing unholy longings in the heart. Instead, he "must come boldly up and make his attack face to face, as he did in the temptation of the blessed Savior." And Satan may expect similar results, Upham implies.29

Mrs. Palmer learned of Upham's ideas from an article he wrote entitled "Divine Guidance." She disagreed vigorously with his idea of the death of the will and reported that reading the article pained her heart, and made her head ache so severely that it took her several sittings to finish it. Evidently she had not known of his views until she read this article in the spring of 1851, but the concept of a work beyond sanctification which annihilates the human will had appeared in both his earlier books on holiness written in the mid-1840s.30

The antinomian form of this doctrine, taught by some unnamed disciples of Phoebe Palmer, began with Upham's assertion that every desire in the perfected Christian's heart comes from God. They went on to argue that sin is impossible because the believer is united with God. If sin is no longer possible, ordinary spiritual discipline is unnecessary. Because every desire comes from God, anything which attracts the believer is right. Thus the believer is free to do anything she or he desires. If such a Christian feels an attraction for an action which breaks one of the Ten Commandments, that believer could take the desired action, confident that God is leading into "sin" for His own greater glory, and that He actually approves of the deed.31

Mrs. Palmer pronounced her anathema on both forms of the "third work of grace" doctrine. In response to Upham's published views, she wrote the Professor and his wife a personal letter, gently pointing out the errors she thought he had made. She did not reject his words about union with God, rather her gravamen was that he had gone beyond Scripture in speaking about the death of the will. She inquired, "Now, where does the Bible speak of 'the death of the will?'"32 She went to argue that the Scripture gives no instance of one who experienced this level of spirituality; even Jesus Himself had a human will which was never dead, but always "in subjection to the will of His Father."33

Mrs. Palmer knew that one of Upham's sources for the doctrine of the death of the will was the writings of the Roman Catholic mystics, such as Madame Guyon and Archbishop Fenelon. She argued that the experience of these writers is suspect, because of their neglect of the Bible. Those who look to the mystics, instead of to the Bible, for guidance "have missed the mark," she said. She was equally suspicious about private revelations from God as another source of this new doctrine: "The Holy Spirit never takes us beyond the written Word." Citing the traditional proof text for the closing of the canon, Revelation 22:18, "If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues written in the book," she argued that the Holy Spirit no longer gives authoritative revelations. Because Satan can transform himself into an angel of light [2 Corinthians 11:14], one must test every experience against the standard of Scripture. "How exceedingly dangerous," she warned, "not to bring every new phase in experience to the law and the testimony." Besides all this, Phoebe is most concerned that Upham's quietistic form of the third blessing will lead others to accept the doctrine in its antinomian form.34

Professor Upham does not appear to have been totally convinced by Mrs. Palmer's arguments. A later edition of his work on Madame Guyon carries unchanged the provocative statement that every desire of a perfected person comes from God.35 Whether Upham was unable or unwilling to change the text of this treatment of the annihilation of the will in this book, he evidently did modify his ideas about temptation. A few years after Phoebe Palmer wrote to him opposing his views on the death of the will, she cited his opinion against those who taught the "third work" doctrine in its antinomian form. Some of those who had been led into the second work of grace under Mrs. Palmer's ministry later returned and attempted to lead her into the third. When these erstwhile disciples claimed they were free from Satan's touch, she quoted Upham, "He now assaults thee, by not assaulting thee, and knows that he shall conquer when thou fallest asleep."36 Her argument against these misguided followers was the same one she used against Upham's ideas, but now she stated it more forcefully and publicly. The "third work" teachers held that they did not need stated seasons of prayer, instruction from human teachers, or reminders of ordinary Christian duties because their spirits were entirely one with God. In reply Phoebe pointed to the Biblical injunctions about prayer, instruction, and obedience, urging her opponents to test themselves by Scripture. They taught that one who relies on the Bible is still in a lower state, and cannot appreciate the 'holy liberty which the Spirit gives to those who are made free indeed." Mrs. Palmer answered this argument with the reminder that Satan transforms himself into an angel of light, and the Christians must test the spirits [l John 4:1] to see if they come from God. Her would-be teachers inquired whether she would be willing to sin, if God required it. She responded, "No! no! no! . . . God never wanted any one to sin," and pronounced this a "doctrine of devils." She concluded that all of the Holy Spirit's teachings were found in the Bible and that every article of belief needed explicit Scriptural foundation:

For anyone to imagine, that the Holy Spirit will lead him into a state, beyond where the teachings of the WORD may be specially needful, or lead him into a state or a belief, for which an explicit "thus saith the Lord," may not be given is erroneous. And wherever such a device has obtained, whether among ministry or laity, we fearlessly, in the name of the Lord, pronounce it a device of Satan.37

Although Mrs. Palmer thought quietistic and antinomian mysticism were of the devil, she did not entirely dismiss all that was not rational. If an experience had a precedent in Scripture, and if its content did not contradict the Bible's teaching, she might accept it as a valid message from God. For example, she was sure that God spoke with His children through dreams and visions, and such communications were an important part of her spiritual life.38 As a thirteen-year-old she had a dream which assured her of God's love, and other significant dreams and visions continued to occur at critical junctures throughout her adult life.39 Dreams and visions must not be taken at face value, however. Because Satan may speak through these means, every communication must be tested by the Bible: "To the law and the testimony; if not according to these it is because there is no light in them" [Isaiah 8:20].40 If the content of the dream or vision reinforced some Biblical truth, the dream came from God; if it contradicted the Scriptures, it came from Satan. When the message did not directly relate to the Bible, the task of discernment was more difficult. "Some dreams are manifestly foolish" and may be disregarded, but others should be considered in the light of their circumstances.41

Sometimes the circumstances led Phoebe to trust her dreams. Near the end of Mrs. Palmer's life, a friend wrote her about a dream announcing Jesus' imminent return. Phoebe had been too busy to give much attention to eschatology, so she prayed that if her friend's dream were correct, the Lord would confirm the message. Shortly after that prayer Mrs. Palmer had a dream herself in which she saw the Lord return. Because the dream followed the prayer so quickly, Phoebe concluded that she should trust its message.42 At other times the circumstances led her to dismiss her dreams. In 1838 Phoebe had a dream that informed her that she would die soon. The next day she was faced with a decision about the long-term future, so she asked the Lord to let her know if the dream had been correct. If she were to die soon, she wanted the Lord to deepen the impression the dream had made. If not, then let the Lord take the impression away, she prayed. From that moment, the dream began to seem unreal, and Phoebe concluded from this circumstance that the dream's message was not correct.43

Phoebe Palmer considered her spiritual impressions a valuable source of divine guidance. She urged her readers to give "the most minute attention to impressions," and gave examples of how the Spirit had guided by this means.44 Especially if they were repeated should one obey them.45 Like dreams and visions, however, impressions could be misleading. The believer should test them by the Scripture, and if still not sure whether they came from God, should go to some experienced Christian for help in knowing what they mean.46

4 Tradition

Because she read about dreams, visions, and impressions in the Bible, Mrs. Palmer could accept these mystical experiences as valid communications from God. About most other kinds of mystical experience she was doubtful. There were, however, five other experiences of extra biblical mysticism which she seemed to accept without question. The first was her sense of close approach and even union with God which she felt on "the day of days," the day she was sanctified. She testified: "My spirit returned consciously to its source, and rested in the embrace of God,"47 and continued, "I felt that I was but a drop in the ocean of infinite LOVE, and Christ was all in all."48 Another mystical experience of Mrs. Palmer's for which there is no Biblical precedent is a dream in which she had died and was being judged.49 A third was the "near communion and distinctness of perception of the persons of the Trinity" which she recorded in her diary on September 9, 1838.50 The fourth was regular communion with her mother through dreams for years after Mrs. Worrall's death.51 Lastly she once reported going to heaven in a vision and seeing the mansion that was prepared for her.52 This was the woman who taught: "Think no experience desirable, however luminous, [except] as you may have a 'Thus saith the Lord' for it," yet she publicized these five spiritual experiences for which she had no scriptural precedent.53 How could she accept and publicize these extra biblical experiences? Why could she believe that the Holy Spirit had given her these experiences, when she disbelieved that He could have performed a third work of grace?

For some reason she did not mistrust these five experiences as she did the experiences of those who claimed the third work of grace. Mrs. Palmer never recognized this seeming inconsistency in her theology, so she never explained why she was prepared to accept some extra biblical experiences while rejecting others. Although Mrs. Palmer never answered this question, she left enough data for the historian to construct a solution. The reason is not that she trusted her own experiences and mistrusted those of others. As her response to her dreams shows, she was prepared to reject her personal experience as counterfeit. The key to her acceptance of these mystical experiences is rather to be found in Mrs. Palmer's early reading. Four of the five extra biblical experiences Mrs. Palmer reported are recorded in the journals of the early Methodist women that Phoebe Palmer knew so well; evidently their theology and spirituality became a model for her own. Some of the early leaders of Methodism had kept diaries in which they recorded the events of their spiritual lives. Beginning with Wesley's Journals, many of these works were published in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Three women were especially prominent among these diarists. These were Hester Ann Rogers, Mary Bosanquet Fletcher, and Darcy Lady Maxwell. Each made outstanding contributions to the Methodist movement, and each had a mystical strain. Phoebe Palmer was familiar with the biographies of all three women.54

Hester Rogers may have been the least mystical of the three, but still she recorded a dream of her judgment day. Mrs. Palmer also dreamed about her judgment day, but it would be stretching the evidence to claim a causal connection between the two women's dreams. The historian may be on firmer ground to suggest that Mrs. Rogers' devotional practice influenced the spirituality of Phoebe Palmer. Both Phoebe and her sister, Sarah, had been helped toward sanctification by following Hester Rogers' example of reckoning themselves dead to sin; it may be that Phoebe copied Hester's piety as well.55 Mrs. Rogers read the Bible on her knees, and followed the schedule of reading the Old Testament in the morning, the Gospels at noon, and the Acts or Epistles at night. She also was careful to commemorate the anniversary of the day of her sanctification. Because this is exactly the practice Phoebe Palmer followed, one wonders if she did it in imitation of Hester Rogers.56 The experience of Mary Bosanquet Fletcher probably also encouraged Phoebe Palmer to be less distrustful of mysticism. She believed that the dead in Christ were still concerned with the "dear fellow pilgrims they have left behind" and that these departed saints come to the aid of believers still left on earth. In addition, she recorded in her journal how God communicated with her through a dream and a vision.57

Lady Maxwell probably influenced Phoebe Palmer's mysticism more than any other person. As Lady Maxwell neared the end of her life, she began to write of mystical experiences. As her desire for entire sanctification increased, she frequently spoke of "sinking down into God" and experiencing a particular closeness with the Deity. She also recorded the ability to distinguish the approach of the three separate persons of the Trinity, and claimed to be often "on the borders of immortality, holding converse with its heavenly inhabitants."58

We know that Mrs. Palmer had read about union with God, dreams of judgment day, communion with the three separate persons of the Trinity, and conversation with the inhabitants of heaven in the lives of the leading Methodist women. We also know that she experienced these extra biblical phenomena, and accepted them without her customary distrust of mysticism. If it is true that Mrs. Palmer accepted her extra biblical mystical experiences because she had read about them in the lives of the early Methodist female saints, then this fact reveals the fourth locus of authority in her theological method. This fourth means of discovering theological truth may be called "tradition," if one remembers that it refers only to the experience and usages of the people called Methodists.

Phoebe Palmer never mentions tradition as a source for her theology. In fact, all of her concern is to point people to the Bible and away from merely human authority. In one letter she explicitly tells her reader not to trust even Mr. Wesley's theology, but to go directly to the Scripture for herself. Of course she hastens to add that when her friend goes to the Bible for herself, she will find in it exactly what Wesley taught.59 Despite this outspoken insistence on the authority of the Scripture alone, her reliance on Methodist tradition is shown by her acceptance of traditional Methodist mystical experiences.

Her problem with Upham was not so much that he claimed an extra biblical experience, but that the one he claimed was not endorsed by the pillars of early Methodism. True, there were early Methodists who claimed to have experienced what we have called the third work of grace, but they were males, and they inevitably made trouble for John Wesley. George Bell and Thomas Maxfield taught what we have called antinomian mysticism. They claimed that they had reached a state in which it was no longer possible for them to sin, and that thus they had no further need of the disciplines of the Christian life. They went on to disparage Mr. Wesley's spiritual state and his ability as a teacher of righteousness. Consequently, Wesley was forced to remove them from his connexion.60 It seems that the extra biblical mysticism did not form an important part of the spirituality of the men who remained loyal to Wesley. Neither John Fletcher, William Bramwell, nor John Nelson reported the kind of mystical phenomena which the leading female Methodists experienced.

Thus there seems to be a line of benign mysticism running through female Methodism, while the males contract a malignant strain. Phoebe Palmer is in that line of female spirituality which runs through Hester Rogers, Mary Bosanquet Fletcher, and Lady Maxwell. This finding raises several interesting questions: Why was it that male mysticism led to breaks with Wesley, while female mysticism drew him closer to those who experienced it? Is there a difference in male and female spirituality? Should historians who are becoming aware of women's contributions to Christianity look for such differences in spiritual life, and then try to trace their causes and consequences?

Notes
1 Phoebe Palmer, Diary, 3 Jan 1840, in Richard Wheatley, The Life and Letters of Mrs. Phoebe Palmer (New York: W. C. Palmer, Jr., 1876), pp. 238-241. [Hereafter citations from Mrs. Palmer's diary printed in Wheatley will appear as Diary, date, and pages in Wheatley. Letters which Wheatley prints will appear as A to B, date, and pages in Wheatley]; George Hughes, Fragrant Memories of The Tuesday Meeting and its Fifty Years' Work for Jesus, introduction by W.F. Mallalieu (New York: Palmer & Hughes, 1886), pp. 26-28 [Hereafter TM]; Phoebe Palmer, Faith and Its Effects: or, Fragments from My Portfolio (New York: Joseph Longking, Printer, 1852), p. 170. [Hereafter F & E].

2 Phoebe Palmer, Incidental Illustrations of the Economy of Salvation, Its Doctrines and Duties (New York: Foster & Palmer, Jr., 1855), p. 308. [Hereafter II].

3 Guide to Holiness 29 (1856): 155. [Hereafter GTH. See appendix for further information.]

4 GTH 44 (1863): 97.

5 Young Phoebe apostrophizes the Bible: "Henceforth I take thee as my future guide." See GTH 66 (1874): 161 (WCP).

6 Phoebe Palmer, The Way of Holiness with Notes by the Way; Being A Narrative of Religious Experience Resulting from a Determination to be a Bible Christian, 2nd. ed. (New York: G. Lane & C. B. Tippet, 1845), p. 6. [Hereafter WOH].

7 GTH 82 (1882): 148.

8 II, p. 190. See also F & E, pp. 17, 20, and GTH 30 (1856): 33.

9 Ibid, p. 309. See also F & E, pp.125, 152, GTH 48 (1865): 137, GTH 51 (1867): 8, and Phoebe Palmer to Mrs. Hamline, 22 May 1848, Wheatley, p. 516.

10 F & E, p. 126.

11 Ibid, p. 241.

12 WOH, p. 44; GTH 59 (1871): 152. See also WOH, p. 132 and F & E, p. 6.

13 [Phoebe Palmer], Promise of the Father; or, A Neglected Speciality of the Last Days (Boston: H. V. Degen,1859- reprinted., Salem, Ohio: Schmul Publishers, 1981), p. 165.

14 WOH, p. 32. See also F & E, p. 144, and GTH 4 (1842-3): 74, GTH 47 (1865): 25, and GTH 60 (1871): 88.

15 Beauty of Holiness 9 (1858): 209.

16 Walter C. Palmer, Life and Letters of Leonidas L. Hamline, D. D., Late One of the Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Introductory Letters by [T. A.] Morris, [Edmus S.] Janes, and [E.] Thompson (New York: Carlton & Porter, 1866), p. 62.

17 WOH, p. 95.

18 II, p. vi.

19 TM, pp. 39-42.

20 II, pp. 284-5.

21 See, for example, GTH 49 (1866): 32ff.

22 F & E, p. 67.

23 WOH, pp. 74-5.

24 F & E, p. 67.

25 WOH, p. 113.

26 See for an instance F & E, pp. 67, 143, 319, and GTH 1 (1839-40): 127.

27 Neither Mrs. Palmer nor her opponents refer to this experience as a "third work of grace." The phrase is merely a useful name for the concept of a further work of God in the soul beyond entire sanctification.

28 Thomas C. Upham, Principles of the Interior Hidden Life: Designed Particularly for the Consideration of those Who are Seeking Assurance of Faith and Perfect Love, 3rd. ed. (Boston: Waite, Pierce, and Company, 1845), pp. 364-5.

29 Thomas C. Upham, Life and Religious Opinions and Experience of Madame de la Mothe Guyon: Together with Some Account of the Personal History and Religious Opinions of Fenelon, Archbishop of Cambray, 2 vols. (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1847), p. 344.

30 See Phoebe Palmer to Professor and Mrs. Upham, 30 April 1851, Wheatley, pp. 518-23. I have not been able to locate the article to which Mrs. Palmer refers in her letter, nor is it listed in Salter's bibliography. Upham's books, however, contain several of these passages about the extinction of the human will which would have made Mrs. Palmer's head ache if she had read them. Besides the passage quoted above, in his second book on sanctification, Upham speaks of the "annihilation of the will," which allows a person "to find a passage, as it were, into God Himself, and to become one with Him, in a mysterious but holy and glorious union." The one in this state has no personal desires, nor is such a one even disquieted at the worst misfortune. See Thomas C. Upham, The Life of Faith in Three Parts, Embracing Some of the Scriptural Principles or Doctrines of Faith, the Power or Effects of Faith in the Regulation of Man's Inward Nature, and the Relation of Faith to the Divine Guidance (Boston: Waite, Pierce and Company, 1845), pp. 210-25. See also Darius Salter, "Thomas Upham and Nineteenth Century Holiness Theology," Ph.D. dissertation, Drew University, 1983; Ann Arbor: University Microfilms International, 83-17858, 1983, pp. 177-9 for a further discussion of Upham's doctrine of a work of grace beyond sanctification.

31 For he teaching of the unnamed believer, see II, p. 56. See also, GTH 65 (1874): 112-3.

32 Either Upham used the phrase "death of the will" in the article, or else the phrase is Mrs. Palmer's way of referring to the annihilation of the human will taught in Upham's earlier works. Despite the change in terminology, the concept is the same.

33 Phoebe Palmer to Professor and Mrs. Upham, 30 April 1851, Wheatley, pp. 518-23.

34 Ibid

35 Thomas C. Upham, Life and Religious Opinions of Madame de la Mothe Guyon: Together with Some Account of the Personal History and Religious Opinions of Fenelon, Archbishop of Cambray, 2 vols. (Harper & Brothers, 1864), p. 344

36 II, p, 124. Once again I have not been able to locate the writing of Upham from which Mrs. Palmer quotes these words. If she is quoting him accurately and fairly, and if Upham wrote these words after 1851, then they represent a much more cautious attitude about temptation, if not a substantial change from the attitude expressed in 1845.

37 Ibid, pp. 56-9, 121-33.

38 WOH, pp. 209-12.

39 Ibid., pp. 76-77.

40 GTH 27 (1855): 74.

41 GTH 69 (1876): 47.

42 GTH 69 (1876): 75-76. Perhaps if Mrs. Palmer had better followed her own injunctions about testing dreams by Scripture, she would not have come to this erroneous conclusion.

43 GTH 69 (1876): 47; GTH 70 (1876): 5; WOH, p. 195.

44 II, p. 251-4; Phoebe Palmer, Four Years in the Old World: Comprising the Travels, Incidents, and Evangelistic Labors of Dr. and Mrs. Palmer in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, 3rd ed. (New York: Foster & Palmer, Jr., 1866), p. 541, [Hereafter FY]; See also F & E, p. 261.

45 GTH 72 (1877): 106.

46 Ibid., p. 107.

47 GTH 1 (1839-40): 146.

48 Diary, 27 July 1837, Wheatley, pp. 43-44.

49 WOH, pp. 108-10.

50 Diary, 9 September [1838], Wheatley, p. 48.

51 GTH 61 (1872): 18.

52 GTH 41 (1862): 118.

53 [Phoebe Palmer], The Parting Gift to Fellow Laborers and Young Converts, New York: Walter C. Palmer, [1869], p. 32.

54 FY, p. 28; GTH 43 (1863): 82-83; GTH 4 (1843-4): 133.

55 John Roche, The Life of Mrs. Sarah A. Lank ford Palmer Who for Sixty Years Was the Able Teacher of Entire Holiness, introduction by John P. Newman (New York: George Hughes and Co., 1898), pp. 32-33; GTH 1 (1839-40): 125.

56 For Mrs. Rogers' dream and devotional practice, see Hester Ann Rogers, An Account of the Experience of Hester Ann Rogers. . . (New York: S. & D. A. Forbes, 1830), pp. 18ff., 43, 51, 53, 196-7. For Phoebe Palmer's devotional practice, see GTH 27 (1855): 73; WOH, p. 124; F & E, p. 155.

57 Henry Moore, The Life of Mrs. Mary Fletcher. . . (New York: J. Emory and B. Waugh for the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1830), pp. 174ff., 205, 236.

58 Lady Maxwell's letters to Alexander Mather, written in the late 1790s, contain her most mystical language. For her description of sinking down into God, and other similar experience of closeness with the Deity, see John Lancaster, The Life of Darcy, Lady Maxwell . . . (New York: T. Mason and G. Lane for the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1837), pp. 285-310. For the experience of the Trinity and her communion with departed saints, see pp. 247-8.

59 She comments, "It is now no small satisfaction for me to know, that the views received, by thus carefully testing every onward movement by the law and the testimony, are so fully in accordance with Mr. Wesley's views of Bible truth." F & E, pp. 251-2.

60 John Wesley, The Journal of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M., edited by Nehemiah Curnock, Standard ed., 8 vols. (London: Charles H. Kelly, 1909-16), 1 November 1762-23 January 1763, 4:535-5:7.

Appendix

The Guide to Holiness, edited by Mrs. Palmer from 1864 to her death in 1874 bore several names. Founded by Timothy Merritt in 1839, it was called the Guide to Christian Perfection until 1846. From then, it was called Guide to Holiness until the Palmers bought it and merged it with Beauty of Holiness and Sabbath Miscellany in 1864. This new combined magazine was given the inelegant title, Guide to, and Beauty of Holiness and Revival Miscellany. The title was streamlined in 1867 to Guide to Holiness and Revival Miscellany, a title it bore until Sarah Lankford Palmer died in 1898. From then until the fall of 1901, it was called Guide to Holiness and Pentecostal Life, and ended its career as the Consecrated Life and Guide to Holiness in December of that year. For ease of reference I have referred to this magazine as Guide to Holiness throughout.

From its beginning until July of 1844 each volume covered a full year, beginning in July. Thus citations of volumes 1-5 will include both years. From volume 6 on, each volume had only six issues. Volume 7 began in January, 1845, and volume 8 began in July of that year. This practice of having two volumes a year was maintained throughout the life of the publication. Two other points might cause confusion. One is that volume 48 (July 1865) is also called new series volume 3. The two previous volumes are not called new series volumes 1 and 2 but after 1865 most volumes have both numbers. I will refer to the volumes by their old series number, even when that number is not printed on the magazine. The other confusing thing about the numbering of the volumes is that sometimes the volume numbers listed on the issues themselves are wrong. For example, the January issue of 1882 says it is volume 79, when it is actually part of volume 81. In these cases I will cite the correct volume number. Unfortunately these kinds of editorial lapses were not uncommon in the Palmers' work. Volume 49 for 1866 apologizes on page 95 for mislaying a manuscript, and volumes 58 and 59 in 1870 and 1871 print the same editorial twice within six months (pages 183 and 182 respectively). Mrs. Palmer once even included the same illustrative story twice in one of her books. See Faith and Its Effects, pp.57, 198. The string of Theseus that will guide the reader through this confusing labyrinth of volumes and years is to locate each reference by its year. Most collections of the Guide to Holiness are books bound according to year. After 1844 each binding contains at least one year. Because in these books the monthly issues are not separated, it does one little good to know the month in which the article the reader seeks appeared. However, the page numbers do increase sequentially throughout each volume, and the odd-numbered volumes are for the first half of the year (January to June) and the even numbered volumes are for the second half of the year (July to December). Thus, if one wishes to verify a reference that is cited GTH 81 (1882) 16, the reader should find the book containing the volumes for 1882, note that since 81 is an odd number, it refers to the first half of the year, and find page 16 at the beginning of the book.

When the Guide to Holiness is cited, and the article has been written by someone outside the Palmer family, the author's name will appear in parentheses after the page number. Articles written by Walter C. Palmer will have (WCP) after them, and those by Sarah Lankford Palmer will have (SLP). Phoebe Palmer is the author of the citations that have no other author indicated.

After Phoebe's death in 1874, the editors of the Guide to Holiness continued to print articles she had written, along with some of her letters and diaries. Unfortunately they rarely gave the dates of these compositions. These posthumous writings will therefore be cited in the same way as Mrs. Palmer's other contributions to the Guide to Holiness. Thus one of her undated letters, obviously written before her death in 1874, but not published until 1882 will be cited: GTH 81 (1882): 151.

Edited by Jason Gingerich
for the
Wesley Center for Applied Theology
at Northwest Nazarene University
© Copyright 2000 by the Wesley Center for Applied Theology

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