Pilgrim Library Christian Classics
An Humble, Earnest, and Affectionate Address to the Clergy

An Humble, Earnest, and Affectionate Address to the Clergy

William Law (1686–1761) was an English Anglican priest and spiritual writer. A fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, he lost his post as a nonjuror, refusing to swear allegiance to George I, and spent his later years in devout retirement at King's Cliffe. His A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life (1729) deeply influenced John Wesley and Samuel Johnson; our library also holds The Spirit of Prayer and his treatise on Christian perfection.

Free

Free: get it — here or in the Christian Classics app — and it's yours to read and listen to on every device you sign in to. About a tenth of it can be read here first, free.

First published
1761
Length
122k words · about 8 hours
Chapters
44

About this book

William Law's late address pleads with the clergy of his day to recover the inward devotion they were appointed to teach. The author of A Serious Call argues that learning and office cannot substitute for humility, prayer, self-denial, and a holy life. Earnest and searching, it treats the minister's own spiritual state as the first concern of pastoral ministry.

Contents

  1. The Works of the Reverend William Law, M.A.
  2. Prefatory Advertisement
  3. An Humble, Earnest, and Affectionate Address to the Clergy
  4. Advertisement.
  5. An Address to the Clergy · Part 1
  6. An Address to the Clergy · Part 2
  7. An Address to the Clergy · Part 3 🔒
  8. An Address to the Clergy · Part 4 🔒
  9. An Address to the Clergy · Part 5 🔒
  10. An Address to the Clergy · Part 6 🔒
  11. An Address to the Clergy · Part 7 🔒
  12. An Address to the Clergy · Part 8 🔒
  13. An Address to the Clergy · Part 9 🔒
  14. An Address to the Clergy · Part 10 🔒
  15. A Collection of Letters 🔒
  16. A Collection of Letters · Letter I. 🔒
  17. A Collection of Letters · Letter II. 🔒
  18. A Collection of Letters · Letter III. 🔒
  19. A Collection of Letters · Letter IV. 🔒
  20. A Collection of Letters · Letter V. 🔒
  21. A Collection of Letters · Letter VI. 🔒
  22. A Collection of Letters · Letter VII. 🔒
  23. A Collection of Letters · Letter VIII. 🔒
  24. A Collection of Letters · Letter IX. 🔒
  25. A Collection of Letters · Letter X. 🔒
  26. A Collection of Letters · Letter XI. 🔒
  27. A Collection of Letters · Letter XI. 🔒
  28. A Collection of Letters · Letter XII. 🔒
  29. A Collection of Letters · Letter XIII. 🔒
  30. A Collection of Letters · Letter XIV. 🔒
  31. A Collection of Letters · Letter XV. 🔒
  32. A Collection of Letters · Letter XVI. 🔒
  33. A Collection of Letters · Letter XVII. 🔒
  34. A Collection of Letters · Letter XVIII. 🔒
  35. A Collection of Letters · Letter XIX. 🔒
  36. A Collection of Letters · Letter XX. 🔒
  37. A Collection of Letters · Letter XXI. 🔒
  38. A Collection of Letters · Letter XXII. 🔒
  39. A Collection of Letters · Letter XXIII. 🔒
  40. A Collection of Letters · Letter XXIV. 🔒
  41. A Collection of Letters · Letter XXV. 🔒
  42. Letters to a Lady · Letter I. 🔒
  43. Letters to a Lady · Letter II. 🔒
  44. Letters to a Lady · Letter III. 🔒

Reading groups

🌐 Public discussionOpen to every reader of this book

More by William Law

View all

More in Sermons & Preaching

View all