Skip to main content

THEO 577 - Seminar in Theology (Wesley)

Teacher Dr. G. Sommer
Semester Spring Duration 8 Weeks
Frequency Every three years
Credits 5 ECTS Workload 150 Hours
Module format Intensive
Applicability There is a focus on the special German history of the Holiness Movement leading to Pentecostalism; in particular, their specific political and social parameters in this country. It is a necessary preparation for THEO 593 Jonathan Paul and the German Pentecostal Movement.
Course structure See module and courses
Contact time 40 Hours Self-Study 110 Hours
Participation requirement See access to the program
Evaluation
Evaluation Hours Weight
Phase 1 60 20%
Required Reading & Journal
60 20%
Phase 2 40 40%
Participation 30 20%
Presentation 10 20%
Phase 3 50 40%
Research Paper 50 40%
Total 150 100%
Content of the Module This course offers a survey of the history and contents of the Holiness movement from John Wesley and the Methodist Church; Holiness preachers in Britain and the USA; the Keswick Higher Life Movement; the Welsh Revival as precursors to the Pentecostal movement.
Learning Objectives
  1. To give a presentation on the development of the Holiness movement.
  2. To explain the present-day situation of the Pentecostal movement considering the history of the Holiness movement.
  3. To analyze certain theological positions, which are important for the development of the Holiness movement. 
  4. To consider the life of selected people, who are important for the Holiness movement.
  5. A detailed study of two different churches and movements, which the Holiness movement has strongly influenced. 
  6. To reflect on the lessons of the history of the Holiness movement for present-day Christian ministry. 
Outline 1. Introduction
2. John Wesley and the Methodist church
3. The Keswick Movement
4. The Holiness Movement and its Impact on Society
5. Three Voices Wake a Sleeping Church (1854)
6. Moody, Terry and Gray
7. Methodists and the Holiness Movement
8. The most important representatives of the Holiness movement in the German-speaking area, Jellinghaus, Jonathan Paul, Baroness von Brasch, Hedwig von Reden etc
9. The Evangelization and Mission movement in the German-speaking area
10. Theological problems of the Holiness movement.
11. The Fellowship movement (“Die Gemeinschaftsbewegung”)
12. The specific difficulties of free churches (“Freikirchen”) in Prussia and the German Empire. 
13. The end of the classic Holiness movement and the formation of Pentecostalism.
Examination See Evaluation
Core Literature Textbooks: 
• Dieter, Easterday Melvin, The Holiness Revival of the Nineteenth Century Metuchen 1980. 
• Synan, Vinson, The Holiness-Pentecostal Tradition. Charismatic Movements in the Twentieth Century, Grand Rapids/ Cambridge2 1997.
• Voigt, Karl Heinz, Freikirchen in Deutschland (19. und 20. Jahrhundert) (KGE III/6), Leipzig 2004. 

Reading List:
• Geldbach, Erich, Freikirchen – Erbe, Gestalt und Wirkung (BenshH 70), 2. völlig neu bearbeitete Auflage, Göttingen 2005. 
• Heimbucher, Kurt: Dem Auftrag verpflichtet – Die Gnadauer Gemeinschaftsbewegung, Gießen, 1988
• Holthaus, Stephan: Heil - Heilung - Heiigung, Gießen, 2005 
• Raedel, Christoph, Methodistische Theologie im 19. Jahrhundert. Der deutschsprachige Zweig der Bischöflichen Methodistenkirche, Göttingen 2004.
• Smith, Timothy L., Called Unto Holiness. Volume One. The Story of the Nazarenes—The Formative Years, Kansas City 1962.
• Sommer, Gottfried: Die “Belowianer” In Hinterpommern – Ihr Weg vom enthusiastischen Aufbruch zur Bildung einer Freikirche, Heverlee (Leuven), 2010
• Vetter, Ekkehart: Jahrhundertbilanz – erweckungsfasziniert und durststreckenerprobt, Bremen 2009.
• Voß, Klaus Peter: Ökumene und freikirchliches Profil. Beiträge zum zwischenkirchlichen Gespräch (FBTh 14), Berlin 2008. 
• Zimmerling, Peter, Die Charismatische Bewegung, Göttingen 2009. 
Other information


Back to top