Principles of the Interior or Hidden Life: Designed Particularly for the Consideration of Those Who Are Seeking Assurance of Faith and Perfect Love

Principles Of The Interior Or Hidden Life: Designed Particularly For The Consideration Of Those who Are Seeking Assurance Of Faith And Perfect Love by Thomas Cogswell Upham is a nineteenth-century treatise on the Christian interior life. It explores the inward, sanctified life as a distinct stage of faith, arguing that holiness is attainable in the present life through a disciplined program of consecration, faith (including personal, appropriating faith), and the assurance of acceptance with God. The work is structured in parts and chapters that examine the inward life in relation to faith and love, the life of faith followed by the crucifixion of the natural life, and, finally, inward divine guidance. Upham discusses the distinction between justification and sanctification, the regulation of desires and affections, the role of the Holy Spirit, the use of providences as interpreters of inward experience, and the dangers of seeking signs or manifestations. It advocates humility, self-denial, and a life of simple faith, aiming at a mature, sustained union with God and love for neighbor.