“I regard myself as the most wretched of all men, stinking and covered with sores, and as one who has committed all sorts of crimes against his King. Overcome by remorse, I confess all my wickedness to Him, ask His pardon and abandon myself entirely to Him to do with as He will. But this King, filled with goodness and mercy, far from chastising me, lovingly embraces me, makes me eat at His table, serves me with His own hands, gives me the keys of His treasures and treats me as His favorite. He talks with me and is delighted with me in a thousand and one ways; He forgives me and relieves me of my principle bad habits without talking about them; I beg Him to make me according to His heart and always the more weak and despicable I see myself to be, the more beloved I am of God.”
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Hannah Whitall Smith (1832 - 1911)
Was a lay speaker and author in the Holiness movement in the United States and the Higher Life movement in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. She was also active in the Women's suffrage movement and the Temperance movement. Hannah Whitall Smith’s book The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life (1875) is an extremely popular book of Christian mysticism and practical Holiness theology. It is still widely read today. She wrote her spiritual autobiography, The Unselfishness of God And How I Discovered It, in 1903.In 1870 Hannah Whitall Smith wrote what has become a classic of joyous Christianity, The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life. The title barely hints at the depths of that perceptive book. It is no shallow "four easy steps to successful living." Studiously, the writer defines the shape of a full and abundant life hid in God. Then she carefully reveals the difficulties to this way and finally charts the results of a life abandoned to God. What is the Christian's secret to a happy life? It is best summed up by her chapter entitled "The Joy of Obedience." Joy comes through obedience to Christ, and joy results from obedience to Christ. Without obedience joy is hollow and artificial.
Hannah Whitall Smith1832-1911
Hannah Tatum Whitall Smith was a lay speaker and author in the Holiness movement in the United States and the Higher Life movement in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. She was also active in the Women's suffrage movement and the Temperance movement.
Hannah Whitall Smith's book The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life (1875) is an extremely popular book of Christian principles and practical Holiness theology. It is still widely read today. She wrote her spiritual autobiography, The Unselfishness of God And How I Discovered It, in 1903. Many publications of that book omit the three chapters which explain how she became a Christian universalist.
Hannah Whitall Smith was a Quaker born in Philadelphia in 1832. Her book 'The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life' has become a classic. Published in 1870, it was a beacon of encouragement in the age in which it was written, and continues to inspire men and women to a more joyful life with Christ. It has sold nearly 2 million copies.
Smith was by no means a dour servant of Christ but rather, her life expressed the joy found in complete surrender. The 'secret' to a happy life, is to trust implicitly in the promises of the Bible. Her goal was not to impress the scholar but to elevate the simple man or woman who longed for a more consecrated way of living.
On a theological level, the sad climax of Hannah's life and ministry was similar to that of her husband. She was raised in the Society of Friends (Quakerism), and for some time was associated with the Plymouth Brethren. She was probably saved under their influence, and thus came to know something of the growth truths.
US evangelist, reformer, suffragist, author. She championed feminist causes and the right of young women to attend college; co-founded Women's Christian Temperance Union. Deeply practical, her writings deal directly with the day to day struggles of ordinary people. She weaves her scriptural theology in and out of the stories of people's lives.