The Meta Chestnutt Sager Collection presents mostly one-sided correspondence. Specifically, the archive contains letters written by Meta to her great-niece, Eva Heiliger, most of which directly reply to letters from Eva. But the archive includes none of the letters Mrs. Heiliger wrote to her Aunt Meta. These circumstances create problems for the historical sleuth. In some cases, for example, it seems impossible to know the referent of a certain word, phrase, or question in one of Chestnutt Sager's letters. In other cases, however, determining what she is replying to is simple.
Religious questions, especially matters on which Sager and Heiliger disagreed, are a frequent topic. What seems clear is that Heiliger did not understand, and sometimes differed with, the views of her Aunt Meta. What was the source of their disagreements?
When Heiliger died in 2009, her brief obituary mentioned that she was "an active member of the Community Church of the Nazarene where she taught children's classes."[1] Likewise, when Eva's husband, Richard C. Heiliger, died in 2002, his obituary noted that a memorial fund had been set up at the very same church.[2] The denomination known as the Church of the Nazarene resulted from a series of mergers from 1895 to 1908. All of the merging bodies had roots in the nineteenth-century Holiness Movement, which advanced the doctrine of Christian perfection taught by John Wesley (1703-91), the founder of Methodism.
True to their name, Holiness churches emphasize above all the expectation and goal of the complete sanctification of believers.[3] According to the Church's sixteen "Articles of Faith," God grants "full pardon" and "complete release" from the penalty of sin "to all who believe on Jesus Christ and receive Him as Lord and Savior."[4] The section on baptism describes it as "a symbol of the new covenant" and affirms that it "may be administered by sprinkling, pouring, or immersion." In addition, "young children may be baptized upon request of parents or guardians who shall give assurance for them of necessary Christian training."[5]
In a letter she wrote to Eva Heiliger on February 11, 1945, Meta Sager, then 81 years old, discussed each of these ideas and then some. In my next post, I'll say more about what she said.
Notes
[1] "Eva Heiliger, March 15, 1915--Feb. 2, 2009," Sedona Red Rock News, accessed January 30, 2021, https://www.redrocknews.com/2008/05/14/eva-heiliger/.
[2] "Richard C. Heiliger," Glendale News-Press, accessed January 30, 2021, https://www.latimes.com/socal/glendale-news-press/news/tn-gnp-xpm-2002-10-19-export23732-story.html.
[3] H. E. Raser, "Church of the Nazarene," in Dictionary of Christianity in America, ed. Daniel G. Reid, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1990), 274-75; J. Gordon Melton, Nelson's Guide to Denominations (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2007), 385-401, esp. 388 and 391. See also Church of the Nazarene, Articles of Faith, https://nazarene.org/sites/default/files/2019-09 /ArticlesOfFaith%28English%29_0.pdf, accessed January 30, 2021. According to article "X. Christian Holiness and Entire Sanctification," members affirm that "subsequent to regeneration" and "preceded by consecration," that is, the absolute devotion of the individual, a person may be completely filled with the Holy Spirit. This experience, described by phrases like "Christian perfection," "the fullness of the blessing," and "perfect love," brings the believer into a state of entire devotion to God.
[4] Church of the Nazarene, Articles of Faith, "IX. Justification, Regeneration, and Adoption."
[5] Ibid., "XII. Baptism."
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