Keswick Convention

Background

In Korean, the Keswick Convention is called sagyeonghoe (査經會), a term meaning a gathering for searching and studying the Scriptures. The Keswick movement arose within the Higher Life movement, which took its name from The Higher Christian Life, published in 1858 by the American William Boardman. The American Robert Pearsall Smith and his wife brought this message of holiness to Britain. A series of meetings for the promotion of holiness followed at Broadlands and Oxford in 1874 and at Brighton in 1875. Scholars hold that this movement drew on several influences, including Wesley's doctrine of holiness and American Oberlin perfectionism.

History

• 1875: Thomas Harford-Battersby, the Anglican vicar of St. John's Church in Keswick, had been influenced by the Oxford and Brighton meetings. With his Quaker friend Robert Wilson, he pitched a tent on the vicarage lawn and held the first convention on June 28. About 400 people attended. The motto adopted at that time, "All one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28), remains the convention's motto today. Pearsall Smith, who had been scheduled as the main speaker, withdrew shortly before the convention because of a scandal, and the convention drew criticism as a result.
• 1875–1882: Harford-Battersby served as chairman. Early speakers included the Anglicans Evan Hopkins and Handley Moule and the Baptist F. B. Meyer, and Hudson Taylor frequently addressed the convention.
• 1901: A large tent was erected for the first time.
• From 1965: John Stott is reported to have served for many years as a leading speaker.
• 2025: The convention marked its 150th anniversary.

Results and Influence

The central teaching of Keswick is that sanctification (the process of being made holy) is also received by faith. The Wesleyan tradition taught a doctrine of "eradication," holding that the sinful nature can be rooted out in this life, but Keswick speakers distanced themselves from this view. Instead, they used the term "counteraction" to describe the Holy Spirit's continual enabling of the believer to overcome the power of sin. For this reason, some have judged Keswick to be closer in character to Calvinism than to the Wesleyan Holiness movement.

Amy Carmichael is reported to have committed herself to missionary service after hearing Taylor preach at Keswick. The convention's format spread to "Keswick" conventions in Australia and other countries. In accounts of their denominational history, churches of the Assemblies of God state that Keswick's understanding of the baptism in the Holy Spirit had a major influence on the American Pentecostal movement. In Korea, the convention was introduced from the 1980s onward, chiefly through the Korea Evangelical Fellowship, and Keswick conventions have since been held in a number of churches.

Assessment

Criticism from Reformed theologians was substantial. B. B. Warfield criticized the teaching, and in a 1955 article J. I. Packer criticized Keswick's doctrine of sanctification as Pelagianism (a view that emphasizes human ability in salvation and sanctification). This article is regarded as a turning point in the declining influence of Keswick teaching on sanctification among young evangelicals. Packer later took a more moderate position. Defenders of Keswick counter that its critics misrepresented its teaching. Keswick leaders themselves have acknowledged that there was no agreed doctrinal system and that speakers differed in emphasis. Today the Keswick Convention is described as an annual Bible exposition convention attended by British conservative evangelicals.