Thomas Tybeck has produced another excellent article in the recent Restoration Herald, underscoring the central fallacies of brother Jay Wilson’s thinking and teaching on perfect holiness. I understand that Jay is a frequent visitor to this thread so I would not be surprised if he responds. Nevertheless, I would like to hear from the rest of you regarding your thoughts about the article and brother Wilson’s teaching. It sounds awfully close to salvation by perfection to me – a doctrine shared by Mormons, 7thDay Adventists, Jehovah Witnesses, Roman Catholics, et al.

I have a particular bone to pick with Wilson regarding his rather blatant integration of humanistic psychology with Christian thought – especially in his booklet “Cleansing The Inside of the Cup”. However, that debate will have to wait for another day for now. Being an isolationist that he is, Wilson appears to totally ignore that his theology is not new. It goes at least as far back as John Wesley and the birth of the Methodist sect. A rather peculiar “holiness” movement that attempted to reform the Restoration Movement during the 40’s and 50’s was the Archie Word group. I suspect that they borrowed heavily on the “holiness” emphasis so rampant among Latter Rain revivalists (William Branham, Oral Roberts, etc.), though not necessarily their doctrine on signs and wonders. The “wordite” movement has virtually died out, although there exists a small remnant scattered mostly in Oregon and various other areas of the Northwest.

-- Anonymous, December 18, 2001

Answers

Philip.....

George Faull from Summit Theological Seminary has also written some excellent stuff vs. the Wilsonite Perfectionism.

-- Anonymous, December 19, 2001

Sure Philip....you can go to their web page.....contact George via e- mail...and make arrangements to get his material.

That web site address is....

www.summit1.edu.

-- Anonymous, December 20, 2001

Philip.....

I read the piece by Tom T. today. An outstanding piece of work!

-- Anonymous, December 21, 2001

John....

A great deal of truth to what you said.

-- Anonymous, December 23, 2001

Philip,

You might find it hard to believe, but I had an article published in the Restoration Herald in September 1998. I have the article online if interested -- CLICK HERE.

-- Anonymous, December 19, 2001

Danny,

Would you care to post the sources for George's material so that we may all benefit from it?

-- Anonymous, December 20, 2001

I think this phenomenon is a reaction to the sad fact that in a majority of Christian churches, it begins and ends at baptism. There is no teaching on nor call for personal sanctification and holiness. Thus many become ignorant pewsitters, stagnant in their walk, or fall away. In the thirty years I have been in the Christian church I can honestly say that I have rarely if ever heard teaching from the pulpit on sanctification, and indeed most sitting in the pews could probably not even define what the word means. Then along comes Jay Wilson to fill the vaccuum. In spirituality as in everything else, nature abhors a vaccuum and something will come along to fill it.

-- Anonymous, December 22, 2001