Samuel Chadwick (1860–1932) was a Wesleyan Methodist minister. He served as President of the Wesleyan Methodist Conference, 1918–1919.

Early life

Samuel Chadwick was born in

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

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in the industrialised

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into a devout

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

family. His father worked in a

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning (textiles), spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Althou ...

and, at the age of 8, Samuel joined him, working 12-hour shifts. At the age of 21, he became a lay

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

at nearby

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Epiphany

After a major awakening and deepening of his faith in his late twenties via a personal

epiphany Epiphany may refer to: * Epiphany (feeling), an experience of sudden and striking insight Religion * Epiphany (holiday), a Christian holiday celebrating the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ ** Epiphany season, or Epiph ...

after which he burned all his early sermons, he moved on to larger congregations and greater popularity. After a few years preaching in

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and at a new chapel in

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he was ordained in 1890 and returned to England as Superintendent of the

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

Mission.

Cliff College

In 1904 Chadwick began lecturing weekly at

Cliff College Cliff College is a Christian theological college in Calver, Derbyshire, that teaches Biblical Theology at the undergraduate level and a number of mission courses to postgraduates. There are currently about 30 full-time undergraduates, 80 part-tim ...

, a Methodist

lay Lay may refer to: Places *Lay Range, a subrange of mountains in British Columbia, Canada *Lay, Loire, a French commune *Lay (river), France *Lay, Iran, a village *Lay, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community People * Lay (surname) * ...

training centre, commuting from

. In 1907, he was appointed to a faculty position as a biblical and

theological Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

tutor. Although he was doing mission work in the

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when the Principal of Cliff died in 1912, he immediately returned to the school and was formally appointed principal in 1913, remaining in that post for the rest of his career. Famed outdoor evangelist

Leonard Ravenhill Leonard Ravenhill (18 June 1907 – 27 November 1994) was an English Christian evangelist and author who focused on the subjects of prayer and revival. He is best known for challenging western evangelicalism (through his books and sermons) t ...

was educated at Cliff College during Chadwick's tenure. At Cliff, Chadwick wrote ''The Way to Pentecost'', which went to print as he was dying in 1932. He also wrote ''The Call to Christian Perfection''. Chadwick's works have been reprinted often since his death, and continue to be reprinted in new editions under various titles for modern study. ''The Way to Pentecost'' contains this popular quote:

The soul's safety is in its heat. Truth without enthusiasm, morality without emotion, ritual without soul, make for a Church without power. Destitute of the Fire of God, nothing else counts; possessing Fire, nothing else matters.

Another of his most widely published quotes is:

The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom, but trembles when we pray.

Influences and theology

Chadwick was strongly influenced by the

Arminian Arminianism is a branch of Protestantism based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609) and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the ''Re ...

stance of Wesleyan Theologian

William Burt Pope William Burt Pope (19 February 1822–5 July 1903) was an English Wesleyan Methodist minister and theologian, who was president of the Methodist Conference. Biography Early life William Burt Pope was born at Horton, Nova Scotia, on 19 Feb ...

Works

This is not an exhaustive list. Numerous editions under various titles have appeared since Chadwick's death. *''Humanity and God'' (1905), 356 pages, ASIN B00089ZBA2. *''The Path of Prayer'' (2001), 132 pages, . *
The Way to Pentecost
' (1932) 64 page e-book in PDF format, accessed 31 May 2008. Also see 170 page reprint (2001), . *''What is Meant by Conversion'' (1905)

Posthumous

*''The Gospel of the Cross'' (1935) *
The Call to Christian Perfection
' (1936) 44 page e-book in PDF format, accessed 22 October 2006. *
Complete Works of Samuel Chadwick
(2016)''

References

Citations

Sources

External links

Cliff College
home of the Samuel Chadwick Memorial Library.

a paper by Ian Randall hosted by the Wesley Center Online, placing Chadwick in the mainstream of Methodism and "traditional Wesleyan spirituality." {{DEFAULTSORT:Chadwick, Samuel 1860 births 1932 deaths Arminian ministers Arminian writers English Methodists Methodist theologians Methodist writers People from Burnley