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Phoebe Palmer Books: A Guide to All 4 and Where to Start

Holiness

Phoebe Palmer (1807–1874) was the New York Methodist who led the Tuesday Meeting for the Promotion of Holiness and became the best-known voice of the Holiness movement. She wrote for ordinary Christians who longed to be wholly the Lord's and didn't know how to begin. TheWay Library has four of her books, all free to read: her own story, two books of counsel, and a life she edited. For her life story, see who was Phoebe Palmer.

All four teach the same thing in different ways. Give yourself wholly to God, laying everything on the altar, which is Christ. Believe His word that "the altar sanctifieth the gift." And don't wait for feelings before you believe.

Where to start

Start with The Way of Holiness. It's her own story of how she found "the shorter way," and every other book of hers grows out of it.

After that, choose by what you need:

Every quotation below is checked against the book it comes from. For many more, see our collection of Phoebe Palmer quotes.

The Way of Holiness

Palmer published this in 1843. She compares it to the travel books of her day: it's a traveler's account of the way of holiness, written for those who want to walk it. She tells her own experience in the third person, as "the sister."

The book opens with a brother asking whether there isn't a shorter way into the blessing of holiness than many think. The sister answers that there is, and tells how she found it. The nine sections trace her years of longing, her resolve to be a "Bible Christian" and settle every question by Scripture, her discovery that she had been seeking feeling before faith, and finally the day she laid all on the altar and took God at His word.

She now perceived that she had been much more solicitous about feeling than faith — requiring feeling, the fruit of faith, previous to having exercised faith.

The Way of Holiness, Section V

The second half, "Notes by the Way," is longer. It mixes prose, hymn verses and diary entries: early rising for prayer, trials, answers to prayer, visits to the sick, and how the soul laid on the altar is kept clean. You can read the first half in an evening. Take the notes slowly. Read The Way of Holiness.

Present to My Christian Friend on Entire Devotion to God

A small book written as a gift, opening with a letter to a friend. Palmer says she wrote it to present holiness as the great doctrine of the Bible, not the doctrine of one church. It answers three questions in turn:

  1. What is gospel holiness, or sanctification? A state in which all the powers of body and soul are consciously given up to God.
  2. How may we enter into it? By presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice through Christ and believing, on God's word, that the offering is accepted.
  3. What are its advantages, to ourselves and to others?

Holiness is the mark; that state of soul in which all the powers of soul and body are consciously given up to God, And here you have it.

Present to My Christian Friend, Chapter III: How May We Enter into the Enjoyment of Holiness?

Then come short chapters with stories and examples: "Charlotte," "The White Robe," "Young Converts May Be Holy," a chapter that explains sanctification simply enough for a child, a covenant of dedication you can make your own, and counsel on how the blessing may be kept. It closes with letters from the East, South, West and North on the power of faith, and a last chapter on the altar. It's about three hours of reading. Read Present to My Christian Friend.

Faith and Its Effects

Fifty-five letters to friends and strangers who wrote to Palmer for help. She names them only by initials. Some aren't yet Christians; others are believers stuck waiting for a feeling; others are ministers and a bishop. She answers them one by one, with patience and with Scripture.

The letters to a "Mrs. W." are the most personal. In them she tells her own story: the loss of her children, her resolve to give up even her dearest earthly love to God, and what followed on July 26, 1837. Other letters take up whether sanctification can come gradually, how to know you've given up all, and why you should speak of what God has done.

God will never do our part of the work, neither does he require that we should do his.

Faith and Its Effects, Letter XXIV: To Mr. P——

The preface opens with a question every reader should face: "What is faith?" A note on this edition: it was restored from a scan and has scattered misread words. Read Faith and Its Effects. For more on the subject, see our guide to the best Christian books on faith.

The Useful Disciple: A Narrative of Mrs. Mary Gardner

This one isn't Palmer's own story. Mary Gardner was born in New Jersey in 1796. Her friend Lydia Baily took down the story from her own lips, and Palmer edited it and wrote the preface.

Gardner lost her husband, her grandmother and all her children. At their graves she gave herself wholly to God and resolved to live a useful life. She went looking for poor children who had no schooling, started schools and Sunday schools, and saw a revival begin among children who held their own prayer meetings in the woods. Later she received the witness of sanctification at a Methodist love-feast, went blind, and spent months in a poorhouse, still trusting God.

To go or stay was the same to me, so long as I felt assured that the will of God was done.

The Useful Disciple, Chapter IX: Her Success in Looking Up Destitute Children

Palmer dedicated the book to the afflicted, hoping it would help people with weak bodies or few chances find some way to be useful. It's short, about three hours. Read The Useful Disciple.

Why read Phoebe Palmer today

Palmer is direct. She won't let you say you want to be holy and then put it off. She takes God at His word and asks you to do the same. Begin with The Way of Holiness, then give Present to My Christian Friend to someone who needs it. All four books are on the Phoebe Palmer author page, and our guides to the best Christian books on holiness and sanctification suggest where to go next.

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