The beauty of his holiness

Abstract

The founder of the Keswick Convention (KC) once was asked to put in a sentence that has brought such a joy into his life and made the name of Keswick fragrant over the whole world. The answer was in the words of the Psalm 16:8, ‘I have set the Lord always before me’. Keswick theology, emphasising sanctification, arose within the concept of the holiness tradition in America with the higher Christian life movement in England during the second part of the 19th century. The merging of several theological traditions formed a way of expressing oneself and a way of life, which was determined as typical ‘Keswickian’. It also found expression in other theological (conservative) movements, in new founded institutions and gave a boost to missionary enterprise. The language and the teaching of Keswick until today clarify the pattern of evangelical piety of the 20th century.