William Law: A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, The Spirit of Love (Classics of Western Spirituality) [Paperback]

William Law (Author), Paul G. Stanwood (Editor, Introduction)

Book Description

Series: Classics of Western Spirituality | Publication Date: June 1978

Often called the greatest of the post-Reformation English mystics, William Law was born in King's Cliffe, England, became a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge and was ordained a priest in the Anglican Church. After losing his position at Cambridge for refusing to take the Oath of Allegiance to George I, he became the center of a small spiritual community. He was a religious guide to the Gibbon family and included among his disciples John and Charles Wesley.

His practical work as a spiritual director-as expressed in this, his best-known piece, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life-deeply influenced the English Evangelical Revival. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church says this of the book: "The simplicity of its teaching and its vigorous style soon established the work as a classic, which has probably had more influence than any other post-Reformation spiritual book except the Pilgrim's Progress." In his later years Law became an intense admirer of the teaching of Jacob Boehme on the coincidence of opposites. He gave this doctrine an original turn in his little-known but exquisite mystical treatises-the most important being The Spirit of Love. This double selection, edited from first texts instead of reprints, demonstrates the range of Law's thought and his development as a genius of style and devotion.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

William Law, the 18th-century Anglican priest who heavily influenced the theology of John and Charles Wesley, lambastes pious hypocrisy and the corruption of the church in A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, the latest reissue in Vintage's Spiritual Classics series. Law's prose is fresh and vivid as he illustrates the holy Christian life as one lived wholly for God. His thoughts on prayer, personal holiness and service to the poor will resonate with many contemporary readers.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

"If Mr. Law finds a spark of piety in a reader's mind, he will soon kindle it into a flame." —Edward Gibbon --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Paulist Press (June 1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809121441
• ISBN-13: 978-0809121441
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,193,611 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Law makes a solid case for pious living, February 14, 2004

By 

D. Keating (Bristow, VA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life (Paperback)

I read this book when I heard Jack Hayford mention it during one of his sermons. Given the title and era in which it was written, I expected it to contain some pretty weighty material about Christian living. I was not disappointed.

In this book, Law challenges the reader to respond to his "serious call" (and he was very serious when he wrote it) to devout living. The author makes a very solid case for this approach to Christian living for two main reasons. First, he is dead right about most topics he covers. His main point is that many Christians (I fall into this category) take for granted what God has done for us. There is no higher call than to love and serve Him. Yet we do not place as much value on spending time in devotion (prayer, reading scripture, praising, worshiping, serving) to God as we should. Instead we lived unbalanced lives in which God has a secondary role, instead being the primary focus of our existence.

Secondly, as another reviewer mentioned, his message is as relevant today, if not more so, than when it was written. We live in a day were modesty and pious living are completely ignored. It was refreshing to read a book which calls Christians to a much higher standard - we should not crave the things of this world. It is something I have struggled with, and continue to struggle with everyday that I live in overly abundant America. This book has helped me regain a more proper perspective on the importance of living for God (and what that means) versus living for the world.

I highly recommend this book to any Christian looking for a well written resource about living a life devoted to God. Law provides a lot of deep thought about the subject, and practical ways to try and live it out. At times, he goes a little bit too much into legalism for my taste, but overall he is on the mark with his approach and logic for his "serious call".

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An awesome spiritual classic as timely today as in 1728., June 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life (Treasures Form the Spiritual Classics Series) (Paperback)

I read this book because Hannah Hurnard, author of Hind's Feet on High Places and other allegorical and devotional works, credits it with revolutionizing her spiritual life. Law exhorts Christians to offer all aspects of one's life and work as holy to God - work, finances, relationships, worship, prayer, etc. He reminds us of the Christian virtues of love, humility, peace, simplicity and conforming ourselves to God's will. This is a work which should not be forgotten or neglected by modern Christians.

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This is not the book William Law wrote, August 9, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Fall River, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Devout And Holy Life (Paperback)

This "edited" version is a great disappointment. William Law's elegant prose has been dumbed down for "reading comprehension," and is dull as a junior high civics textbook. In Chapter VII, which talks about Miranda and Flavia, Flavia has been omitted. Presumably to keep everything "positive." The very spirit of truth so eloquently championed by Law in HIS book has been made a mockery of, because there are no warning labels to tell us that some anonymous hack has tampered with his text. O tempora, o mores! This book doesn't even deserve one star.