Peter Wiley Philpott

Peter Wiley Philpott (18651957), a Canadian Christian fundamentalist and evangelist, founded the United Christian Workers, a working-class religious movement later known as the Associated Gospel Churches of Canada.

Biography Early life Philpott was born in 1865 on a farm in Elgin County, Ontario. He attended grammar school till the age of 13, and was then apprenticed to a blacksmith in Chatham for a few years.

Philpott rose to the high rank of brigadier, and was appointed a member of the Canadian Commissioner's advisory committee. He married Jessie Menzies, a fellow Army officer, in 1887; The secessionists created a new religious organization, the United Christian Workers, with Philpott its elected president.

Later that same year, Philpott was ordained by the Christian & Missionary Alliance, and went on to establish congregations of Christian Workers in Hamilton and Toronto. The Hamilton church was known as the Gospel Mission;

In 1896, Philpott became minister of the Hamilton church, a position he held till 1922. He changed its name to the Gospel Tabernacle, and organised the construction of a large new church that opened in 1906 (it was renamed the Philpott Tabernacle in 1926).

While ministering in Hamilton, he remained affiliated with the Christian & Missionary Alliance, serving successively as its superintendent for Western Canada (18991900) and associate superintendent for Eastern Canada (19011902). overseeing the construction of a massive new church building as a memorial to Dwight Moody. On many occasions thereafter, he spoke during services at the church, including in 1956, when he was ninety.

Draper (2003), drawing on Philpott's sermons and articles, observes that Philpott made many references to the importance of "honest toil and labouring" and saw "all of life as a 'service' to God". Draper adds that the vocabulary of the Christian Workers made considerable reference to waged employment in its metaphors and imagery.

His intervention came amidst debates in Hamilton about how best to "Canadianize" (assimilate) its many immigrants. Failing to win over the board of education, he turned to the city's newly established chamber of commerce, which secured funding for English-language evening classes.

Fundamentalism Philpott was a speaker at the 1919 World Conference on Christian Fundamentals. In his presentation, he said that critics of the Bible should be ignored, and asserted the importance of conversion and a Keswickian approach to living a more holy life. At its seventh annual convention in 1923, along with the American politician William J. Bryan, the Canadian fundamentalist leader Thomas Shields, and others, he signed a statement of fundamentalist principles that concluded:

Pietsch (2015) labels Philpott a "dispensational modernist"someone who did not view the Bible as literally true, but saw it as a text requiring methodical, systematic analysis and interpretation in order to reveal its meaning. He notes

Works

An account of the circumstances leading up to Philpott's resignation from the Salvation Army.

Describes political, spiritual, and other signs of the Second Advent. A second address, "Will There Be Any Tears in Heaven, and Why?", pp. 233241, analyses the concept of the Last Judgment.

A short homily on relationships between Jesus and his followers and apostles.

Asserts that personal experience of conversion cannot be reasoned against or argued away.

Is Healing in the Atonement of Christ? Chicago: Bible Institute Colportage Association. c. 1920. Discusses the connection between physical healing and the Christian concept of atonement.

A collection of sermons.

In this short booklet, Philpott describes his own religious conversion and how he converted others.