Title

An Existential Interpretation of the Doctrine of Holiness

Authors

Mildred Bangs Wynkoop, Olivet Nazarene University

Files

Author Biography

Mildred Bangs was born in Seattle, Washington, September 9, 1905, into the Christian home of Carl Oliver and Mary Dupertuis Bangs. She attended Northwest Nazarene College in Nampa, Idaho, and then attended Pasadena College in Pasadena, California, where she received the A.B. and Th.B. degrees. While there she met and married Ralph Carl Wynkoop, a minister in the Church of the Nazarene. In 1934 she was also ordained an elder and led an active ministerial life with her husband. Then in 1952 she received a B.D. degree from the Western Evangelical Seminary in Portland, Oregon, and in 1953 an M.Sc. degree from the University of Oregon in Eugene with a major in philosophy, followed in 1955 by a Th.D. from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lombard, Illinois.

Wynkoop first taught at Western Evangelical Seminary, which later became George Fox Evangelical Seminary, in Portland, Oregon, as Professor of Theology from 1956 to December 1960. During that time she wrote this book. She then taught in Japan from 1961 to 1966 where she was the founding President of Japan Nazarene Theological Seminary. After serving briefly in Taiwan, she taught at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tennessee, from 1966 to 1976 as Professor of Theology and Director of the Department of Missions. From 1976 to 1979 Wynkoop held the position of Theologian-in-Residence at Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri. She died on May 21, 1997 in Lenexa, Kansas. A Theology of Love: The Dynamic of Wesleyanism was her magnum opus.

Description

The purpose of this book is three-fold. First, to analyze and evaluate the status of the "holiness" message today. In this analysis the problems raised by the preaching of holiness will be faced squarely. Then, a fresh examination of the Scriptures will be attempted upon which the holiness message is based. Finally, a constructive theological statement will be proposed in which, it is hoped, some of the most serious questions will find a satisfactory answer.

This is not a book for the scholar primarily though it is hoped he will find it worth his time to examine either to approve, or, preferably to be challenged to a more adequate work in this field. It is first of all a study for the thoughtful and questioning minister and laymen of whom there are so many, who, desirous of maintaining theological loyalty are beset by problems raised by the preaching of holiness. Many of our most gifted young people have felt that intellectual honesty required their withdrawal from the "holiness ranks", however emotionally reluctant they may have been, because of insurmountable rational problems. It is the conviction of the author that many of these problems have acceptable solutions.

Document Type

Book

Publication Date

3-2015

Publisher

Olivet Nazarene University

City

Bourbonnais, Illinois

Keywords

Wesleyan theology, holiness, santification, exegesis, preaching, morality, faith and works, Holy Spirit, sin, psychology

Scholarship Domain(s)

Scholarship of Discovery, Scholarship of Faith Integration

Disciplines

Biblical Studies | Christian Denominations and Sects | Christianity | Comparative Methodologies and Theories | Religion | Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion

Comments

This 1958 unpublished book manuscript by Mildred Bangs Wynkoop, Th.D., has languished for decades in the University Archives of Olivet Nazarene University, Bourbonnais, Illinois, and the Church of the Nazarene Archives, Lenexa, Kansas. It is published here for the first time, on March 23, 2015. Why this manuscript was never published is unknown. Also unknown is why the manuscript can be found elsewhere bearing various titles. While this early manuscript was retitled a number of times (at least twice), the rest of the monograph remained unchanged. The last title that Dr. Wynkoop used for this monograph was "A Theology of Depth." This published manuscript maintains the earliest title as it is found in our archives.

Recommended Citation

Wynkoop, Mildred Bangs, "An Existential Interpretation of the Doctrine of Holiness" (2015). Wesleyan Holiness Books. 3.
https://digitalcommons.olivet.edu/arch_wesleybk/3