William Law and Religious Revival: The Reception ofA Serious Call

William Law’s A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life (1729) was one of the most widely disseminated religious works of the eighteenth century. In this essay, Isabel Rivers explores three main aspects of its history: how it was regarded by those members of the clergy who were profoundly affected by Law but who disagreed with his theology; how it was popularized and altered through abridgments that made it widely available to a very different kind of audience; and how Law and his successors thought devotional books such as this should be read, and to what extent the demands of such reading were inconsistent with a thirst for wider knowledge.