I found this entry today searching “Keswick..higher life” on the web. I recently have read several casual and deragatory comments about the same, by popular Reformed and evangelical authorities. I wanted to see where they were coming from. Your blog came up high in the search.

What seems obvious to me, and correct me if I’m wrong, is that you have probably read few if any of the great classics by popular Keswick teachers. Profound theologians and thinkers often participated. Eradication of sin in one’s life was something the mid and latter Keswick movement intentionally distanced themselves from, actually. It became more and more influenced by reformed thinking.

Before I ever had heard of the historical Keswick conventions, I had already read many of the great devotional works by Andrew Murray, F.B. Meyer, A.B. Simpson, Amy Carmichael, Hudson Taylor, G. Campbell Morgan, and the like.

Anybody who has not read several titles by these great Christians is speaking out of turn, if they think they are qualified to give an overview of Keswick ‘teachings’.

It saddens me to read such confident assertions by those who really do not even know what most of these people taught. Most reformed authorities criticize Keswick, because all they’ve actually read are the caricatures of Keswick they’ve seen on blogs like this one!

Not trying to pick a fight. It just grieves me to know how profoundly some of these great theologians of Christ’s fullness are unfairly criticized by people who have seldom if ever actually read their works!

I was pretty excited to see the paragraph that discussed the transition from childhood to adulthood. You are very much on target. It seems to me that a great majority of Christians nowadays adhere to this particular view. This is sad to me. It’s pretty evident that so many children are emerging into adulthood (physically) but are not taught how to handle the many responsibilities that go with adulthood. They’re severely lacking in wisdom and maturity. It almost seems as if it’s easier for parents to blame their children’s irresponsibility and disrespectfulness on the “teenage years” when parents should be guiding their children. But like I said, you were dead on.

“Rather than influencing the culture, Christians have been influenced by the culture.” The secular definition of love seems as if it’s slowly becoming what many Christians will also define as love. So many hold on to this perverted definition, choosing to only gratify themselves in a relationship and don’t even stop to think of whether or not the relationship is glorifying God. This is shallow and disgusting, but true and very unfortunate. It’s so easy to get distracted from what the bible really defines as true love. Philippians 1:9-10 says that love abounds in knowledge and insight so obviously we are to use our heads as well as our hearts.

Great entry, Joel. It’s always a pleasure to read different materials where this matter is being discussed. Thanks for posting!

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