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David Shelby Corlett
David Shelby Corlett (November 17, 1890 – January 12, 1969) was an American preacher, educator, and author whose ministry profoundly shaped the Church of the Nazarene through his leadership and writings on holiness theology. Born in Chetopa, Kansas, to Henry W. Corlett and Mary Shelby, he graduated from Peniel College in 1916 with a B.A., earned an M.A. from Pasadena College in 1922, and completed a B.D. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1928, later receiving honorary D.D. degrees from Bethany-Peniel College (1930) and Northwest Nazarene College (1945). Converted in his youth, he was ordained in the Church of the Nazarene in 1915 and began preaching in Texas churches. Corlett’s preaching career included pastoring in Texas and serving as a revivalist before transitioning into education and leadership roles. He was president of Peniel College (1920–1927), dean at Arkansas Holiness College (1927–1928), president of Bethany-Peniel College (1930–1935), and dean at Nazarene Theological Seminary (1945–1952), where he also taught theology. From 1940 to 1965, he edited the Herald of Holiness, the denomination’s flagship publication, amplifying his influence. Author of books like The Baptism with the Holy Ghost (1945) and Forward with Christ (1935), he emphasized sanctification and practical Christian living. Married to Lillie Morgan in 1915, with whom he had two children, he died at age 78 in Kansas City, Missouri, leaving a legacy of holiness preaching and Nazarene scholarship.
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David Shelby Corlett preaches about the enduement of power that comes with baptism, emphasizing that this power is sourced from the Holy Spirit Himself. This power allows believers to be transformed from weak and hesitant individuals into bold and confident children of God, enabling them to trust in the Spirit's ability to work through them. The secret to spiritual power lies in the union of the Holy Ghost with the purified faculties of the human soul, leading to an utter abandonment to and cooperation with the Holy Spirit.
Enduement With Power
Another result of this baptism is the enduement with power. Jesus promised His disciples, "Ye shall receive power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you" (Acts 1:8 R.V.) He had commanded them to tarry until they were endued -- literally, clothed upon -- with power from on high. And what is the source of this power? The Holy Spirit himself. Since the entire life is brought into harmony with God, since the inner struggle with the flesh is removed, God now finds an open channel through which to pour His power. It is not so much the fact that power is resident with us, but rather that God now has an open channel through which to flow to others. To be sure the life of man is energized by the Spirit dwelling in His fullness, his perceptions are quickened, his mind is capable of receiving the deeper spiritual things; but the enduement of power does not find its end in the Spirit-filled individual, it finds its channel there. "The baptism with the Spirit transforms us from being weak and hesitating and questioning believers into bold, confident, and conquering children of God." -- Calkins. The child of God is powerful because he has transferred his confidence from self to God; because he is no longer defeated by the consciousness of his own weakness, but rather he trusts in the power and ability of the indwelling Spirit to accomplish the results. His center of life is transferred from what he. thinks he can or cannot do, to what he has confidence the Holy Spirit may do through him. "The secret of spiritual power consists in the union of the Holy Ghost with the purified faculties and natural energies of the human soul, and, on the human side, it consists in the utter abandonment of the soul to, and a hearty co-operation with, the Holy Spirit ... It is true that heart purity is power in the creature sense of power, but it is not the power of the Holy Ghost in the Scripture sense of it. Jesus is our example, and we read that He received in addition to His pure humanity the power of the Holy Ghost, and that it was 'through the eternal Spirit he offered himself without spot to God,' and that it was 'through the Holy Ghost he gave commandments unto the apostles.' ... Now, if Jesus needed the Holy Ghost united with His holy creature nature in order to give Him the peculiar secret of power in His mission, and if He our example, how much more do we need that we should have our sanctified hearts and mental faculties in vital union with the Holy Spirit, that by that union we may do the work of God?" -- G. D. Watson
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David Shelby Corlett (November 17, 1890 – January 12, 1969) was an American preacher, educator, and author whose ministry profoundly shaped the Church of the Nazarene through his leadership and writings on holiness theology. Born in Chetopa, Kansas, to Henry W. Corlett and Mary Shelby, he graduated from Peniel College in 1916 with a B.A., earned an M.A. from Pasadena College in 1922, and completed a B.D. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1928, later receiving honorary D.D. degrees from Bethany-Peniel College (1930) and Northwest Nazarene College (1945). Converted in his youth, he was ordained in the Church of the Nazarene in 1915 and began preaching in Texas churches. Corlett’s preaching career included pastoring in Texas and serving as a revivalist before transitioning into education and leadership roles. He was president of Peniel College (1920–1927), dean at Arkansas Holiness College (1927–1928), president of Bethany-Peniel College (1930–1935), and dean at Nazarene Theological Seminary (1945–1952), where he also taught theology. From 1940 to 1965, he edited the Herald of Holiness, the denomination’s flagship publication, amplifying his influence. Author of books like The Baptism with the Holy Ghost (1945) and Forward with Christ (1935), he emphasized sanctification and practical Christian living. Married to Lillie Morgan in 1915, with whom he had two children, he died at age 78 in Kansas City, Missouri, leaving a legacy of holiness preaching and Nazarene scholarship.