Chapter
6 Tenents of Methodism:
Organization, Original Sin, Free Will,
Quadrilateral, and Holiness
When it comes to our understanding of
Methodism, there are several things that set us apart from the rest of the
Protestant Denominations. Now saying this, we cannot assume that other
denominations feel entirely different than we do about some things, but suffice
it to say that we feel very strongly about these areas. Some of them have
already been covered. For example we feel that that only through the Grace of
God can we receive forgiveness and salvation. This is the foundation of what we
believe as Christians and United Methodist. And we believe that God’s grace
comes to us though the power of the Holy Spirit, began in the creation of the
world and redeems us through the power of the cross and resurrection. Among
other Protestants you will find little argument. But there is disagreement in
some of the other areas of our faith journey. We will discuss infant baptism a
little later so save that discussion for then.
Original Sin
What of “original sin”? What is it and
why is it so important to our understanding of the need for redemption and
forgiveness? Original sin originated in the Garden of Eden some would say. Some
others might say that it began before the creation of the world when Lucifer
and his followers rejected God as Supreme and then it found its way into the
Garden through the temptation of Adam and Eve. The “when” is really not as
important as the “what” question here. What is then, “original sin?” It is that
part of our nature that constantly fights with obeying the Will of God. We see
it played out in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve are told not to eat from
a certain tree. And even though they may plead ignorance or blame it on the
serpent, the truth is they knew what the rule was when they broke it. We also
have been given rules to obey from the beginning of our lives. The Ten
Commandments that Jesus simplified to two, Obey God with all your heart, mind
and soul and Love your neighbor. And yet we intentionally break them every day.
We break them when we decide we don’t want to love God with all that we are and
turn away from God. We break them when we walk by those who are in need without
offering assistance. We break them when we talk about one another in ways that
are not nurturing or loving. And because this nature is so ingrained in us, it
is impossible for us to ever change it completely.
Free Will
But we do come to our senses, if not
completely at least in a way that asks God for forgiveness. We do this when we
accept Jesus into our hearts and we do then begin to change. Through the power
of the Holy Spirit, we begin to transform into the image of Christ here on
earth. But some fail! Now there are those in other denominations that suggest
that once we accept Christ into our hearts, that’s it! No more concern about
salvation or where we will be when we die. First and foremost, let me say that
I am not God. And only God can decide who ultimately gets in and who does not.
But what the scriptures tell us is that when we accept the offer God has made
through Christ, we also can subsequently reject that offer. As Methodists, we
call that “free will.” In other words, we have the right to choose the offer in
the first place and then we have the same right to reject it at some point
later on. Now simply being sinful and then asking for forgiveness is not in the
same arena as what I am talking about. This should lead you to great discussion
with other Methodists and other denominations.
Personal Holiness and
Social Holiness
Now we come to “Holiness.” As United
Methodists we proclaim to be on paths to perfection. In our daily lives this
plays out in daily and constant prayer, daily bible reading, devotion and
following the ordnances of God in Holy Communion, remembering our Baptism,
Sunday worship and study. Wesley and the early group of Oxford Methodical’ s
would say that when we strive to do these as a part of our lives that we are
working or personal holiness. And personal holiness is a necessary aspect of
being a Christian. If we study the writings of Paul, Peter, James and John in
the Epistles and writings, we clearly see that being a Christian goes far
beyond simply saying “I Do” at the altar of God. It means that we become
intentional followers of Christ. As we study the scriptures of Old and New
Testament, we discover that following God meant more than just believing in
God. It meant devoting our lives to God.
When it comes to devoting our lives to
personal holiness, Wesley would then tell us that when we see injustice in the
world in any aspect or form, that we feel compelled to do something about it.
So for Methodists around the world, holiness also means “social holiness”. We
will study our Social Creeds a little later but let us for a moment explore
what this means. James tells us in 2:17 that faith without works is dead. In
other words, if we say we have faith and yet have no visible fruit of that
faith, then to all who come to know us, we are not Christians. That is a
profound statement that many will argue with. Early Methodist championed great
social causes in the past. What this all means is that as United Methodist, we
are expected to reach out to the poor, work at eliminating social injustice
like bigotry, racial division and programs that hold people in oppressive
situations. We traditionally have been responsible for bringing health care to
areas surrounding our churches, taking food to the hungry and sheltering the
homeless. As a church, the question we must ask ourselves is, “We are United
Methodist. Are the fruits of our faith evident to those outside our church?”
Quadrilateral
The next area is about how we view the
Bible. Some of our brothers and sisters would tell us that we must read the
Bible as the spoken word of God, written down for us in its literal
interpretation. The term that is used most often is Biblical inerrancy. This
term means that there are no errors in the Bible. It is the doctrinal
position that the Bible is accurate and totally free of error, that
"Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is
contrary to fact." Some equate inerrancy and infallibility;
others do not. Another often used adjective to characterize the Bible is
"infallible". Dictionary definitions insist that this is a stronger
term than "inerrant." "'Inerrant' means there are no errors;
'infallible' means there can be no errors." So when you hear someone
talk about inerrancy or infallibility you know what they mean by that. But is
it true? With the exception of certain fundamentalist denominations, most
protestant theologians would tell you that we believe the Bible to be the
inspired word of God. But we also accept that humans wrote, copied and re-wrote
sections of the Bible. In addition, language changes have forced us to translate
the bible in today’s language. In fact the best translations are those that go
back to the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek in today’s language. In
Methodist circles we have found a middle way to explain life’s issues that may
not be explicitly defined in the Bible. We call this process, “the
Quadrilateral.”
Our understanding of the theological
position of the church regarding Scripture, tradition, experience and reason is
that it is the means for how we live our lives in obedience to God. We believe
that Scripture, as defined by our Book of Discipline, “…is the primary, revealing the Word of God “so far as it is necessary
for our salvation.”[i] We
believe that Scripture is the primary authority for our lives. Scripture is the
holy inspiration of God from which we form the foundation of our true Christian
faith and practice.
We often approach Scripture through
the lens of the tradition. These include the traditions passed down from the
church of the first century, the Anglican Church and continuing into our
present Methodist reality. These traditions are found in our doctrines, our
hymns and our liturgies. Each time we use the Apostle’s Creed in worship I take
the opportunity to teach the congregation the rich heritage of the creed that
comes to us across two thousand years of church history. A creed that was used
as an early password by the early follower’s of Christ and an affirmation of
what we as the church believe. Through these traditions and our sacraments we
experience the means of grace of God.
We also may look at Scripture through
the lens of our experience. Through our own experience and the collective
experience of the Body of Christ, we witness the power and will of God working
through the Holy Spirit in our own lives and those of our congregations. Runyon
says, “For Wesley “experience” is not
feeling alone but the combination of feeling plus interpretation.”[ii]
And Wesley says that the interpretation is our experiencing the fruits of the
Spirit as understood through the Scriptures.
Finally, we look at Scripture through
the lens of reason. Early church leaders dealt with the issue of Scripture and
how to deal with issues that appeared to be ambiguous or otherwise unclear. Out
of these discussions, arguments and challenges, our doctrinal foundation was
set by these Anglican Leaders and Theologians. Bishop Jewel wrote, ‘that
tradition is the safeguard against “private interpretation” and “misuse” of the
scripture.”[iii]
Bishop Hooker dealt with the question, “Was
Scripture authoritative and normative for establishing doctrine and all things
necessary for salvation, or did scripture carry absolute authority beyond
theological grounds to include judicial, political, and economical, etc? In the
end he suggested that “…God hath omitted anything needful unto his purpose, and
left his intent to be accomplished by our devising.””[iv]
Therefore Hooker adds a new point, reason to the mix. What is the source of
authority? His answer is law and to Hooker, law is reason, founded in the
inherent governing of the universe.
So we come to this point looking for
an authoritative answer as to how we solve issues of relevant, challenging
questions when the Bible itself or its traditional interpretation does not seem
to resolve the issue. Sometimes the Bible may seem to be ambiguous concerning
events or circumstances on ethical, science or moral questions that we
encounter in our modern world. Obviously we look first to Scripture for the
answer. But what happens when Scripture, open to interpretation seems to leave
the answer unclear? We look then to the traditions of the church and how the
church has dealt with these issues when the church has been consistent in that
dealing. We look to the historical creeds, worship liturgies, and doctrines to
give us a lens to reflect on the Word of God. Through our own experience and
the collective experience of the Body of Christ, we witness the power of God
and the will of God through the Holy Spirit in our own lives and the lives of
the community of believers. At the end of the day, when we struggle with issues
of our modern world including those that modern science (such as cloning) have
created for us to deal with, we use reason to illuminate the truth of the Bible
to determine our view. Does the use of modern technology follow the truth of
the biblical story in regards to how humanity is supposed to interact in love
with one another? Is modern technology used for good or evil? Do we allow
culture to rule the day or acknowledge the supremacy of scripture to rule? All
of these are legitimate questions in an ever changing world. And through the
“Quadrilateral”, with Scripture as the primary source of understanding, we have
been given the tools to live our lives in obedience to God and to discern the
will of God in all things.
Organization
In
order to fully understand the organization of the United Methodist church we
need to look at American history. The American Revolution shaped this country
and defined our government. While the country was defining how it was going to
govern itself, the Methodist movement was becoming a church. So it is simply a
matter of understanding the timeline of our church to understand how we are
organized. We are a conferencing people and that carries itself back to John
Wesley who believed that through conferencing we could share our experiences,
see the work of the Holy Spirit and see the fruits of our faith. So when the
church began, we formed around this concept of conferencing. Our governing body
is the “Conference.” Every four years delegates from across the world gather at
“The General Conference” to define the rules by which as a congregation we are
going to live by. The document that is published is called, “The Book of
Discipline.” In it every four years the General Conference updates by-laws, how
we function, how clergy are determined, etc. The United Methodist Church is
divided into “Annual Conferences”. “Annual Conferences” are determined by
geographic demographics much like congressional districts are defined. “Annual
Conferences” determine the business of their specific District. The Virginia
Annual Conference defines budgets and local organizations and sets appointments
within the conference. At the local church level, each year we have a “Charge
Conference.” The “Charge Conference” sets the business of the local church
including budgets, salaries and committees. The role of the Local Church
Council is to run the day to day operations of the church in accordance with
the “Charge Conference.” All local Boards, Agencies and committees are subjects
of the “Charge Conference.” This may come as a shock to some who believe
differently. Conferencing follows the American tradition of delegates who set
the rules for everyone else, such as our Congress and House of Representatives.
Our leadership also follows the
traditions of American government. Our Executive Branch is represented by the
Bishop, Cabinet and Appointed Clergy. A Bishop is elected for life and has day
to day operational control of the Annual Conference. Bishop’s have limited
authority in that they appoint Clergy but cannot dictate to Clergy how to
define local worship. The Cabinet is appointed by the Bishop to assist in areas
that the Annual Conference and General Conference define. Local Pastors are
appointed by the Bishop and Cabinet in accordance with the rules in the Book of
Discipline. The Pastor who is the Administrative Head of the Local church is
responsible for day to day operation, worship, vision, and spiritual direction.
In our denomination we also have a
Judicial Branch. Each four years a Judicial Council is established by the
General Conference. The Judicial Council rules on issues of law. Methodist law
is simply ruling on the language and intent of the rules and regulations in the
Book of Discipline.
[i] Smith, Judith, 2008, page 77
[iv] Gunter, 1997, page 35
Chapter Six Questions
1. How
do you understand the concept of original sin in your own life? When and where
do you sin?
2. How
does the concept of “Free Will” differ from “Once saved always saved?”
3. Do
you agree with this concept?
4. One
of the basic foundations of being United Methodist is Personal Holiness. How is
this lived out in life?
5. Can
we truly be holy if we only have Personal Holiness? How did Jesus and his
followers live out social holiness?
6. Does
the Quadrilateral fit your understanding of how to use the Bible in your daily
life? What is the difference between saying that the Bible is God’s inspired
word as opposed to saying it is inerrant or infallible?
7. How
does the organization of the UMC make it fair and just?
John Wesley and the Quadrilateral
John Wesley was always struggling with the question, “How
do we come to know God and how do we know that our experience of God is
legitimate?” By developing multiple ways
of examining the truth, Wesley opened us up to discover God in new and
surprising ways. We must never forget this. Often when we come to specific
issues in life, scripture alone is ambiguous or taken in the context of why it
was written does not apply to our need. Or when we read scripture we often ask ourselves
what is a correct interpretation and what is the result of the interpreters
influence. This is where John Wesley said that the first and most important leg
of the quadrilateral. Some historians would say that Wesley would be amused
that his name has been linked to the quadrilateral even though at times he
argued for sola Scriptura—Scripture alone. But scripture alone leaves
out the influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives and would immediately
discount that God continues to work in the world.
It might be helpful to see how the
Quadrilateral works in a specific instance. The War in Iraq
If we examine the war from the point
of view of Scripture, we get a mixed message. We have passages of Scripture
that tell us to be peacemakers and to turn the other cheek Mt. Roman Empire but by instead showing a new way to live—the
way of non-violent unlimited love. However, good Christians differ on which
parts of Scripture should be given the most weight. Looked at as a whole,
scripture is somewhat ambiguous on the issue of war.
So we go to Tradition. Church
scholars down through history have developed differing ideas about war but one
of the most important is the “just war” theory. Some today would say that you
cannot have a preemptive strike and have a “just war.” Others would argue that
a response to September 11 is not a preemptive strike. Still Tradition
encourages us to look at the history of how wars have developed and the ethical
understandings behind this history.
We then come to Experience. Anyone
who has experienced war first-hand is immediately changed by that event. They
know that war can be horrible and that no one truly wins a war, there are
always losses on all sides. The fact that many in the United States
Finally we bring Reason to bear on
this concern. Smart people on both sides of this issue can come up with reasons
why they think this war is wise or not. Personally I believe this war breaks
down at every criteria of Wesley’s Quadrilateral, but that it crumbles the most
from Reason. I believe we have lost the respect and confidence of much of the
rest of the world because they can’t see how this war “makes sense.” This war
raises so many questions, Is Iraq really that great a threat to the U.S.
Now even bringing all these criteria
to bear on a problem like the War in Iraq
Another example: In Normandy during World War Two, there were two GIs who
took their dead comrade to be buried in a cemetery. They went to the cemetery
and asked the Roman Catholic priest for permission to bury him inside the walls
of the cemetery, and the priest, of course, said, "Well, the rule is that
you've got to be Roman Catholic; you've got to be a member of the parish. I
just can't allow it. I wish I could, but I just can't allow it."
And they
begged him. They said, "It would mean so much to us to bury our friend
inside the fence." "I'm so sorry," the priest said. "I just
can't allow it, but bury him outside the fence, just anywhere outside the
fence. Just bury him wherever you like." The two GIs reluctantly dug the
grave, said a prayer and buried their comrade. The next day they came back to
put the grave marker in the ground.
They walked up the side of
the fence, and looked for where the grave had been dug, but there was no grave
there! And they walked all up and down the fence, and they couldn't find where
they'd dug the grave! They knew they'd dug it. They walked all around the
cemetery, all around that fence, and they couldn't find it!
They went in to see the
priest and they said, "Father, forgive us. We were the ones who came
yesterday." and the priest said, "Oh, yes. I remember." They
said, "Forgive us for bothering you, but we asked for permission to bury
our comrade inside the fence, and you said 'Bury him outside,' and we did, but
we can't find the grave. Are we lost? Where is the grave we dug? Do you know
what might have happened to it?"
And the priest said,
"Oh, yes. I know what happened. I was so upset about your visit yesterday
that I spent half the night worrying about what I said to you. And I spent the
other half of the night moving the fence (from a sermons by Thomas K. Tewell
entitled “Coloring Outside the Lines”)."
So what you believe is important,
but when it comes to scripture and how the Bible speaks to you may well be
focused on your own traditions, experience and reason. For a person who comes
from a Fundamentalism background who may take certain biblical passages as
literal who encounters a liberal Christian who also comes with certain
traditions, experience and reasons, these two may not be able to find a common
ground. John Wesley would argue then that both have lost the essence of our
Christian heritage and that is what the quadrilateral gives to us, common
ground in order that we may reestablish God as the central focus in our
relationship.
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