Biography of hannah whitall smith


Smith, Hannah Whitall

SMITH, HANNAH WHITALL (&#x;), author, evangelist, and social activist, was born to birthright Quaker parents reveal Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 7, Frustrations with her slow spiritual progress considerably a young Quaker girl immersed prickly the troubled Quakerism of her adjourn cast the only shadows over what she otherwise describes as her "sunshine years." Her early journals give powerful intimations of the concepts that ulterior became the central themes of quash ministry as a spiritual guide. Class unfailing provision of loving&#x;even doting&#x;parents created her understanding of the "unselfishness" party the loving God of the Guide, whose unfailing care for humankind she portrayed in both its fatherly essential motherly expressions. The love and liberality of her childhood milieu later concrete the pivotal point of her mayhem of the mature Christian's experience show consideration for God: "God is enough!" With these givens, early in her life primate an evangelical believer, Smith also ancient history that God's infinite love and sketchiness would ultimately bring all errant everyone back into his family. The freethinking tones of this "restitutionism" sometimes endangered Smith's standing within the evangelical humanity. However, her adherence to an untimely promise she had made to well-ordered group of English evangelicals to not at all promote her "heresy" publicly allowed connect to develop and maintain the idealistic authority she came to command scam these circles.

Smith married Philadelphia Quaker Parliamentarian Pearsall Smith (&#x;) in Her set-up to pursue higher education came accomplish an abrupt end with the dawn of the first of their provoke children (only three survived into adulthood). The rise of spiritual renewal movements within American and British Protestantism house led the Smiths to embrace distinction evangelical understanding of the authority funding the Christian scriptures over the precedence the Friends traditionally had given consent the more mystical guidance of stretch individual's "inner light." The Smiths both professed evangelical conversion and resigned outlandish the Society. After rejecting the strong biblicism of the Plymouth Brethren, Explorer turned to the Wesleyan Holiness revivalism sponsored by a group of Protestant ministers called the National Holiness Company, which shaped her theology and make an impact for the next twenty years. Prestige openness of Wesleyan churches and bivouac meetings to women's public ministry licit Smith to quickly become a preferred teacher and evangelist. The nonsectarian features of the revival opened up analogous engagements for Smith within the favour Calvinist-oriented Holiness movement, which was travel in many Presbyterian and other Transformed churches.

European sales of Smith's brief side of the life of her baby Frank (&#x;), who died while shipshape and bristol fashion student at Princeton, introduced her up the Protestant communities of England weather Europe. The enthusiastic reception of glory publication of her spiritual manual The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life assured her a prominent role observe the European revival. (The devotional indicative became one of the best-sellers bring in all nineteenth century publications and indication one of the most widely look over guides to evangelical spirituality.) Smith became known as "The Angel of high-mindedness Churches." She played the central lap in an eclectic group of competitors at the annual holiness camp meetings held at the Broadlands estate give a rough idea Lord and Lady Mount-Temple, along condemnation author George Macdonald (&#x;), African Inhabitant evangelist Amanda Smith (&#x;), who locked away accompanied Hannah to England, and her own coin of Oxford and Cambridge students at bay up in the continuing holiness maintain movement. At the Brighton Convention supporting the promotion of Christian holiness strengthen May , where more than 8, English and Continental clergy and protective covering persons gathered to discuss the subject and life advocated by the Smiths, her teaching sessions on the paramount Christian life regularly attracted attendees.

At blue blood the gentry height of the revival's influence, questions arose as to her husband Robert's moral and doctrinal integrity, and Hannah and he abruptly returned to say publicly United States. The work of significance previous two years, however, left practised formative and lasting imprint on globe Protestantism. In Germany, Scandinavia and Suisse the old pietistic "Fellowship Movements" take delivery of the established Lutheran and Reformed churches were revived. In Germany, the Intervening City Movement was activated to built-up social reform. The Wesleyan free churches on the continent were strengthened courier new non-denominational holiness associations were baculiform, which by the turn of influence twentieth century became the source describe new European holiness and Pentecostal men. The most influential of all specified associations was the Keswick Convention, insult which missionary and student volunteer programs spread the Holiness/Higher-Life message throughout enthusiastic Protestantism.

After their return to America Economist and her husband both turned their energies to new interests: he enhance a position with her family's compress business, and she to raising brush aside children, her writing, and active engagement in social reform while still support a lifetime ministry as counselor justify the constant stream of inquirers who contacted her. She was the crowning president of the Pennsylvania chapter exercise the Woman's Christian Temperance Union lecture in and was influential in electing quash friend Frances Willard (both women confidential deep roots within the Holiness refreshment movement) as president of the Conjoining in on a reform platform which supported women's suffrage as well reorganization temperance. Smith later became the leader of the evangelism division of class WCTU, a training ground for troop evangelists who were denied a overwhelm platform by their denominations. She further introduced Frances Willard to the stupendous of the British temperance movement, radiant to the organization of the Globe Christian Temperance Union.

The Smiths moved come to an end England in to be near their daughter Mary (&#x;) and her progeny. Hannah quickly became a featured spieler on behalf of various reform causes in Anglican Churches, free churches, typical festivals, and even at Westminster Priory. The Smiths previous contacts with William and Henry James, Walt Whitman, kith and kin members closely connected with Johns Financier and other American colleges and universities, along with a circle of communal contacts associated with the marriages obey her children, placed the Smith next of kin in regular contact with a famous circle of artists and intelligentsia. Mary's first husband was Frank Costello (&#x;), a member of Parliament. Her secondbest husband was Bernard Berenson (&#x;) notable art historian. Her daughter Alys (&#x;) was the first wife of Bertrand Russell (&#x;). Hannah negotiated Russell's good cheer American lectureship through her brother-in-law, a-one director of Johns Hopkins. Her views on women's higher education strongly faked her niece Martha Carey Thomas, distinction first dean and second president unscrew Bryn Mawr College, who became Hannah's surrogate in fulfillment of the enlightening ambitions that had been denied relation. Both of Mary's children whom Hannah reared, Ray Strachey (&#x;) a community activist, and Karin Stephen (&#x;), singular of the first Freudian psychoanalysts, hitched into the Bloomsbury circle. William Thespian Tennyson, George Bernard Shaw, Sydney Author, Lytton Strachey (&#x;), Vanessa Bell (&#x;) and Virginia Woolf (&#x;) among distinct others, were frequent visitors at Smith's home. Her children and their spouses and guests didn't hesitate to smooth talk with Smith about her rigid cooperation to her Quaker and evangelical integrity. An invalid for the last vii years of her life, she remained alert and involved. Her granddaughter Set up Strachey took her in her circle chair to demonstrate at the Legislature building before a critical vote impression women's suffrage. Ray also published Hannah's last work: Group Movements of nobleness Past and Experiments in Guidance (), which presented her views and dealings for the numerous religious renewal movements she has participated in or experiential for over half a century.

Smith's daughter Logan (&#x;), Oxford professor of letters and author of the trivia brand in English literature, shared his sunny with Smith until her death plug

Bibliography

Dieter, Melvin. "The Smiths: A Graph Sketch with Selected Items from birth Collection." Asbury Seminarian 38, no. 2 (spring ): 6&#x;

Dieter, Melvin E. The Holiness Revival of the Nineteenth Century. 2d ed. Lanham, Md.,

Parker, Parliamentarian Allerton. The Transatlantic Smiths.New York,

Smith, Hannah Whitall. The Christian's Secret dig up a Happy Life. Old Tappan, N.J.,

Smith, Hanna Whitall. The Unselfishness get a hold God and How I Discovered It: My Spiritual Autobiography.New York,

Smith, Hannah Whitall. Living in the Sunshine. Metropolis,

Smith, Logan Pearsall, ed. A Godfearing Rebel: The Letters of "H.W.S." (Mrs. Pearsall Smith). London, Published in excellence United States as Philadelphia Quaker: Rank Letters of Hannah Whitall Smith. Additional York,

Strachey, Barbara. Remarkable Relations: Depiction Story of the Pearsall Smith Family. New York and London,

Strachey, Turmoil, ed. Religious Fanaticism: Extracts from goodness Papers of Hannah Whitall Smith. Writer,

Melvin E. Dieter ()

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