"Perpetuating the American Ideal"

In chapter one of Quanstrom’s book A Century of Holiness Theology he writes that the Nazarene Church came into existence by the merging of different denominations and churches into one. Quanstrom writes that the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene “had come into being as a result of intentional and aggressive merging of the many independent Holiness denominations and associations that were in existence in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.” He says that the Church of the Nazarene’s history “is a history of unions.” He also says that this “new denomination…inherited the theological tradition of the 19th- century Holiness Movement.” The beliefs of the early Nazarenes about holiness were similar to these. They believed that they could be freed from the power of sin through a second work of grace, or be entirely sanctified. Quanstrom writes, “These holiness people believed that persons could be freed from sin through a work of grace called entire sanctification. In short, their distinctive doctrine stated that subsequent to initial salvation there was a second work of grace that cleansed one from all inbred sin.” The early holiness people believed that much could be accomplished. Quanstrom says that they “not only believed that individuals could be freed from inbred sin but that society could be freed from sin too. Several anticipated nothing less than a society made holy as a consequence of sanctified individuals.” They believed in “the dream of an interdenominational crusade for a national Pentecost.” In 1907 the Los Angeles Church of the Nazarene and the Association of Pentecostal Churches of America merged to form the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene, Chicago. Their “state of the church” proclaimed, “The Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene has a brief but glorious history….Upon us has fallen the task and privilege of uniting the Holiness people of America, so they may accomplish the grand work of re-christianizing the continent.” They believed that God has called them specifically to unite the holiness churches so to unite the entire continent under the name of Christ. They believed that they would not exist for a long time before this goal had been accomplished. They wrote, “The time is near at hand when He will shake this continent and manifest Himself to this people on a more stupendous scale and with more glorious power than the world has ever before witnessed. Indeed, he has commenced to do it already. The great reforms which have recently taken place in our political and commercial institutions, the wonderful and sweeping advance of prohibition, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Wales, India and Korea, the steady growth of the Holiness movement, and the rapid rise and progress of the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene, all unite in attesting and proclaiming that this is true.” The interpreted the events of the times a signs that God was going to accomplish His will through them. Some other manifestations of the optimism of the age were both political and social reform in the United States. They believed in a sort of Christian socialism that would usher in the “millennium.” Slavery had been abolished, prohibition was established, and women’s suffrage came into being. Also, people viewed WWI, or “The Great War” as “the war to end all wars.” Quanstrom uses an image to symbolize the Nazarene Church in his book. It is the image of The Liberty Memorial, which “was built to commemorate the war that was supposed to end all wars.” This memorial was built in Kansas City, just a few miles from Nazarene headquarters. It represented the optimism of the age. However, the memorial fell into disrepair because of neglect and was closed in 1994. Quanstrom uses this image as an “appropriate commentary on the unrealized hopes of those who inspired it.” Quanstrom says that the purpose of his book is to follow the historical and gradual change of the doctrine of entire sanctification and its understanding of sin and holiness in The Church of the Nazarene.