A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, Adapted to the State and Condition of All Orders of ...

      William Law, born inKing's Cliffe, England, in 1686, became a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1711, but in 1714, at the death of Queen Anne, he became a non-Juror: that is to say, he found himself unable to take the required oath of allegiance to the Hanoverian dynasty (who had replaced the Stuart dynasty) as the lawful rulers of the United Kingdom, and was accordingly ineligible to serve as a university teacher or parish minister.

      He became for ten years a private tutor in the family of the historian, Edward Gibbon (who, despite his generally cynical attitude toward all things Christian, invariably wrote of Law with respect and admiration), and then retired to his native King's Cliffe. Forbidden the use of the pulpit and the lecture-hall, he preached through his books. These include - Christian Perfection, the Grounds and Reasons of Christian Regeneration, Spirit of Prayer, the Way to Divine Knowledge, Spirit of Love, and, best-known of all, A Serious Call To a Devout and Holy Life, published in 1728.

      Law's most influential work is A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, written in 1728. In this book, he extols the virtue of living a life totally devoted to the glory of God. Although he is considered a high-churchman, his writing influenced many evangelicals, including George Whitefield, John and Charles Wesley, Henry Venn, Thomas Scott, Henry Martyn, and others such as Samuel Johnson. In addition to his writing, Law spent the final years of his life founding schools and almshouses, and in other practical ministries.

      William Law died in 1761 just a few days after his last book, An Affectionate Address to the Clergy, went to the printers.