Biographies
8 authors · 27 books
Teachers of the "higher Christian life": that a believer can walk in daily victory by trusting Christ rather than by struggling. Their conventions at Keswick and in America, and the Salvation Army, carried the message around the world.
Born to formerly enslaved parents, Julia A. J. Foote was a holiness evangelist who was excommunicated for preaching as a woman and later became the first woman ordained a deacon in the A.M.E. Zion Church.
Andrew Murray Jr., born in 1828 in South Africa, served as a minister and theologian, influencing many through his teachings on prayer. He established educational institutions, authored over 240 works, and profoundly impacted Christian thought until his death in 1917. His books on deeper spiritual life continue to guide believers worldwide.
Catherine Booth, born in 1829 in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, England, was co-founder of The Salvation Army alongside her husband William Booth. A powerful preacher and advocate for women's rights, she challenged Victorian conventions by preaching publicly and advocating for women's ministry. Catherine authored "Female Ministry: Women's Right to Preach" and was instrumental in shaping The Salvation Army's theology and social programs.
William Booth, born in 1829 in Nottingham, England, was the founder of The Salvation Army. Originally a Methodist minister, he felt called to serve the urban poor and began his ministry in London's East End. In 1865, he established the Christian Mission, which later became The Salvation Army in 1878. Booth and his wife Catherine pioneered innovative approaches to evangelism and social welfare, establishing shelters, rehabilitation centers, and soup kitchens.
Hannah Whitall Smith, born in 1832 in Philadelphia, was a prominent Quaker speaker and writer during the Holiness movement. Her influential book "The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life" became a classic of Christian devotional literature. Despite personal tragedies, she maintained a vibrant faith that influenced generations of believers until her death in 1911.
Amanda Berry Smith (1837–1915) was an African-American holiness evangelist who was born into slavery in Maryland and freed when her father bought his family's liberty. A washerwoman by trade, she became one of the most widely traveled preachers of the Wesleyan-Holiness movement, ministering across the United States, Britain, India, and for eight years in West Africa as an independent missionary.
Canadian-born preacher and founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, whose "Fourfold Gospel" — Christ as Saviour, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King — called readers past every blessing to Christ Himself.
Frederick Brotherton Meyer was born on April 8, 1847, in Clapham, London, to Frederick Meyer, a business owner, and his wife, Ann. Raised in a deeply religious household that cherished the authority of Scripture, Meyer became a prominent Baptist pastor, teacher, and evangelist, based primarily in London. He was known for his expository preaching and devotional writings. Meyer pastored several prominent churches including Christ Church in London and Melbourne Hall in Leicester.
Keswick is a town in England's Lake District where an annual convention for "the promotion of practical holiness" began in 1875. Speakers such as Andrew Murray and F. B. Meyer taught that holiness is received by faith and surrender.
The holiness movement grew out of Methodism in nineteenth-century America and taught a second work of grace that cleanses the heart and fills it with love. Amanda Berry Smith and Julia Foote preached it, and Catherine and William Booth built it into the Salvation Army.
Hannah Whitall Smith's The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life is the classic statement of the higher Christian life and still widely read.
