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영어

Phineas Bresee was the founder of the Church of the Nazarene which was built on the Wesleyan-Holiness theology, and birthed during the American Holiness movement in the late 19th century. Bresee was born in 1838, in Franklin, Delaware County, of western New York. His family were devout members in the Methodist Episcopal Church. Bresee answered a call to preach when he was a boy. Then he remained a preacher until the end of his life, a period of 60 years. However, he had to abandon his Methodist Episcopal Church to which he belonged for the greater part of his life at the age of 57. This research will be an aid in understanding and identifying the journey of faith of Phineas Bresee as well as the historical background of the foundation of the Church of the Nazarene. However, the main interest and task of this researcher will also focus on the characteristics of his preaching, whether his understanding of preaching was actually related to modifying his ministry into the Holiness movement, and finally, the organization of a new church denomination in the American religious and social context. There are five important stages in his life in relation to understanding of who he was. The first stage was the period when he lived in western New York State for 18 years, where he grew as a good Christian boy. The second stage was the period of his pastoral ministry in Iowa, where he led diverse congregations in the Methodist Episcopal Church for 25 years. The third stage was the period when he rose to the leadership of Southern California Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and worked as a holiness preacher. He was influenced by the holiness revivalism of Southern California from 1883 until 1894. The fourth stage was a short period, because it was his transition from Methodist worker to organizer of a new church. During this time, Bresee was a director of the Peniel Mission from the fall of 1894 until the fall of the next year. The fifth and last stage of his life was the period when he launched new, unexpected and providential work as a church organizer, pastor and superintendent for the Church of the Nazarene. This happened during the 20 years spanning 1895 to 1915. Overall, Bresee was a faithful Methodist preacher, a passionate evangelist, and finally the respected and able founder of the new Church of the Nazarene. Moreover he was a person who was faithful and responsive to the needs of his era, the late 19th century, showing and living out passion for the evangelism of the poor, and for the holiness preaching in the continuing stream of Wesleyan Methodism and American revivalism. The end of his life came on November in 1915 in Los Angeles, after participating and traveling to Kansas City General Assembly of the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene as a senior superintendent in September. Bresee was at the age of 77. He was a man of courage, patience, adventure, decisiveness, irenic mind and creativeness.