In this 68-page sermon, Bishop William White of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania explored the topic of salvation and the Christian promise of heaven.
White's sermon, titled "Of Anticipation of Heaven" and numbered 159 in a series, concerns doctrines of salvation and the promise of heaven. White discussed related topics such as good works, the "fruits of the spirit," and spiritual changes within recent converts.
William White made annotations to the sermon; some revisions appear on tipped-in or pasted-in pieces of paper and others were made in red ink. Passages from scripture are identified by notes in red ink at the bottom of each page. George Macpherson, White's great-grandson, had the original pages re-bound in the late 19th century, pasted White's autograph onto the front cover, and presented the volume to George W. Childs as a gift. His February 26, 1882, letter bequeathing the book to Childs is laid into the volume.
William White was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Colonel Thomas White and Esther Hewlings on April 4, 1748. After graduating from the College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania) in 1765, he studied religion with Episcopal minister William Smith, and was ordained in England on April 25, 1772. He served as rector of Philadelphia's Christ Church from 1779 to 1836, and eventually became a figurehead within the North American Episcopal community. A strong advocate for the consecration of bishops in American constituencies, he was consecrated as the bishop for the Pennsylvania diocese in 1786, and he served as the Protestant Episcopal Church's presiding bishop from 1795 until his death. He and his wife, Mary Harrison, married in 1773 and had eight children. Bishop William White died in Philadelphia on July 17, 1836.
