Westlake Taylor Purkiser (April 28, 1910–July 18, 1992) was an American

preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who Open-air preaching, preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach com ...

, scholar, and author in the

Church of the Nazarene The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged in North America from the Wesleyan-Holiness movement within Methodism during the late 19th century. The denomination has its headquarters in Lenexa, Kansas. and it ...

. Purkiser held a PhD from the University of Southern California; he was a lecturer in New Testament Theology at Nazarene Theological Seminary and president of Pasadena College. Olivet Nazarene University website, ''Tribute to a man who knew God'', published in Herald of Holiness, Volume 81, Number 09 (1992), page 18
/ref> He was also the editor of ''Herald of Holiness'' for 15 years. Purkiser authored a book entitled ''The Gifts of the Spirit'' (Beacon Hill Press:Kansas City. 1975). In the book, Purkiser discussed the ministry of the

Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creati ...

in the life of the individual Christian and the gathered congregation of the Church (as understood and practiced within the

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan–Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...

Arminian Arminianism is a movement of Protestantism initiated in the early 17th century, based on the Christian theology, theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed Church, Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic supporters known as Remo ...

families of the church). He was married to Arvilla and they had three daughters.

Works

*''Know Your Old Testament'' (1947) *''Some Concepts of the Datum in American Realism'' (1948) *''Toward a Definition of Christian Education; Inaugural Address Delivered May 31, 1949, Nazarene Memorial Auditorium, Pasadena College Campus'' (1949) *''Conflicting Concepts of Holiness'' (1953) *''Exploring the Old Testament'' (1955) (with C. E. Demaray, Donald S. Metz, Maude A. Stuneck) *''Security: The False and the True'' (1956) *''The Basis of Religious Authority'' (1956) *''First Theology Workshop'' (1958) *''Beliefs that Matter Most'' (1959) *''Exploring our Christian Faith'' (1960) *''Adventures in Truth: A Biblical Catechism for Christian Youth'' (1960) *''Sanctification and its Synonyms: Studies in the Biblical Theology of Holiness'' (1961) *''Leviticus, Deuteronomy: Leader's Guide'' (1961) *''Joel, Jonah, Amos, Hosea, and Micah: Leader's Guide'' (1963) *''The Message of Evangelism: The Saving Power of God'' (1963) *''Spiritual Gifts, Healing and Tongues: An Analysis of the Charismatic Revival'' (1964) *''I and II Samuel'' (1965) *''Search the Scriptures: Old Testament'' (1967) *''Give Me an Answer: Significant Questions Selected from "The Answer Corner" of the Herald of Holiness'' (1968) *''The New Testament Image of the Ministry'' (1969) *''Genesis'' (1969) *''Survey of the Old Testament'' (1968) *''Search the Scriptures: Old Testament'' (1969) *''Search the Scriptures; Bible Study Plan, Church of the Nazarene'' (1965-1970) *''Is There a Prayer Language?'' (1971) *''Interpreting Christian Holiness'' (1971) *''God, Man & Salvation: A Biblical Theology'' (1971, 1977) Goodreads website, ''W. T. Purkiser''
/ref> *''Adventures in Bible Doctrine'' (1972) *''The Church in a Changing World: A Symposium'' (1973) *''When You Get to the End of Yourself'' (1973) *''The Paradox of Prayer'' (1974) *''Our Wonderful World'' (1974) *''God's Spirit in Today's World'' (1974) *''Hebrews, James, Peter'' (1974) *''The Gifts of the Spirit'' (1975) *''What is Eternal Security?'' (1960-1975) *''Psalms'' (1980) *''Called Unto Holiness: Volume 2: The Second Twenty-Five Years, 1933-58'' (1983) *''Exploring Christian Holiness (with Paul M. Bassett and William M. Greathouse)'' (1983-1985) *''These Earthen Vessels: The Christian and His failures, Foibles, and Infirmities'' (1985) *''The Lordship of Jesus: A Study in Christian Discipleship'' (1986) *''A Primer on Prayer'' (1987) *''Holiness as Crisis and Growth'' (n.d.) *''Christmas Joy: God's Silent Gifts'' (n.d.) *''Thanksgiving: The Memory of the Heart'' (n.d.) *''The Meaning of Thanksgiving'' (n.d.)

References

External links

Wesleyan Holiness Digital Library website, ''God, Man and Salvation'', online copy

Wesleyan Holiness Digital Library, ''W. T. Purkiser'', list of resources
1910 births 1992 deaths American Christian theologians American Nazarene ministers Arminian ministers Arminian theologians Nazarene theologians Systematic theologians {{Nazarene-stub