Holiness and mediation: Pneumatology in pietist perspective

Abstract

In contemporary Christian theology, Pietism denotes a form of Christianity that rejects mediation in favor of the Holy Spirit's direct, unmediated infusion of grace into the human heart. In this article, I contend that this reading of Pietism is deeply flawed. Drawing on recent scholarship, I show that Pietism, especially in its Methodist, Wesleyan-holiness and Pentecostal forms, embraces and promotes mediation through a wide range of places, materials, persons and practices. From a Pietist perspective, God's holiness precludes presumption, not mediation per se. It also leads Pietists to underscore the significance of waiting for the Christian life. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.