Wesleyan Sanctification and the Ethic of Self‐Realization

Abstract

Among the related but distinct ideas that comprise contemporary American individualism is the ethic of self-realization, the belief that each person has the moral duty to develop their own characteristic talents and potentialities. Here I argue that although the intellectual sources of this belief are well-understood, we have little knowledge of how this idea became an ethic, how it acquired the emotional force of a moral directive. I suggest that this development can be explained in part by exploring the history of the Wesleyan doctrine of Sanctification, the conviction that the Christian believer can achieve a state of perfection. In the 19th century, debates erupted over whether Sanctification-originally an ecstatic experience occurring in revivals-could also take place as a gradual process, the development of Christian character. By the early 20th century, broader cultural forces conditioned a theological shift whereby Sanctification was increasingly understood in liberal thought as realization of the divinity that dwells within each individual soul. Along this path, Sanctification progressively permeated certain routines of daily life. This history provides an example of gradual transformation within Christianity, an example that can help to refine understandings of the processes of continuity and discontinuity that have been central to discussion in the Anthropology of Christianity. [Concept of Person, Christianity, Self-Realization, Cultural Change, Liberal Protestantism]One of the most important components of contemporary American subjectivity is the conviction that each individual has the right, indeed the moral duty, to cultivate and eventually to realize their own characteristic suite of temperaments, abilities, and talents. Carl Rogers, quoting Kierkegaard, neatly summarizes the belief when he says that the purpose of life is "to be that self which one truly is" (1961:166). This faith in the importance of self-realization is at the foundation of our economy and polity. More broadly, self-realization is a central element of a conception of person that lies at the very heart of our convictions about what human life is about. 1

“The Goal Is Not to Cheer You Up”: Empathetic Care in Israeli Life Coaching

“…In Israeli life coaching, like other projects of self‐realization, emotions are sustaining energies of the life‐long moral quest for self‐improvement (Stromberg ). However, I suggest that their role is controversial among different agents of self‐mastery.…”

“…The neoliberal self has been described by scholars as a bundle of skills managed by the individual as if it were a business and, alternately, as a process of continuous search for authenticity and realization through reflecting on one's feelings and narratives, particularly through relationships with experts (Cushman 1995;Gershon 2011;Giddens 1991;Illouz 2007;Rose 1996;Sa'ar 2016;Stromberg 2015;Urciuoli 2008). Illouz (2007) termed this merger of the therapeutic discourse and capitalist logic in the realm of the self "Emotional Capitalism."…”

“…Illouz (2007) termed this merger of the therapeutic discourse and capitalist logic in the realm of the self "Emotional Capitalism." Stromberg (2015) historicized the Christian origins of self-realization depicting it as a gradual process of routinizing ecstatic emotions into daily self-improvement practices. Wilce and Fengisen (2016) also focus on the centrality of emotions in the production of neoliberal selfhood.…”

“…The neoliberal self has been described by scholars as a bundle of skills managed by the individual as if it were a business and, alternately, as a process of continuous search for authenticity and realization through reflecting on one's feelings and narratives, particularly through relationships with experts (Cushman ; Gershon ; Giddens ; Illouz ; Rose ; Sa'ar ; Stromberg ; Urciuoli ). Illouz () termed this merger of the therapeutic discourse and capitalist logic in the realm of the self “Emotional Capitalism.” Stromberg () historicized the Christian origins of self‐realization depicting it as a gradual process of routinizing ecstatic emotions into daily self‐improvement practices. Wilce and Fengisen () also focus on the centrality of emotions in the production of neoliberal selfhood.…”

Emotion Pedagogies: What Are They, and Why Do They Matter?

“…Emotion pedagogies involve training, but of a different kind, as we shall argue, from traditional forms of emotion socialization that, unlike EPs, emphasize select emotions only. Emotion pedagogies prepare emotional citizens, while departing from older, religiously based, forms of encouragement of emotionalism (Stromberg ).…”