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Religion Forum Index » Christian Methodist Forum » United Methodism & the Bible
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 Posted: Mon Apr 05, 2004 5:47 am |
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What Does the United Methodist Church say about the Bible?
The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church gives us some
excellent guidance on how to approach the Scriptures -- and how we can
best learn from them. The material below is directly from the 1996 Book
of Discipline.
United Methodists have a very high regard for Scripture, but we also
affirm that Scripture must be understood historically. We believe that
Scripture is the primary source for our Christian beliefs. We believe
that the focus of the Scripture's teaching is Jesus Christ.
I have broken up the material from the Discipline into sections, and
given each section a heading. Craig.
----------------------------
1.) Here is the United Methodist doctrinal position on the Bible. These
are the original doctrinal statements of the church, and have never been
altered.
From the Articles of Religion:
Article V--Of the Sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures for Salvation.
The Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation; so that
whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be
required of any man that it should be believed as an article of faith,
or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation. In the name of the
Holy Scripture we do understand those canonical books of the Old and New
Testament of whose authority was never any doubt in the church. The
names of the canonical books are:
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth,
The First Book of Samuel, The Second Book of Samuel, The First Book of
Kings, The Second Book of Kings, The First Book of Chronicles, The
Second Book of Chronicles, The Book of Ezra, The Book of Nehemiah, The
Book of Esther, The Book of Job, The Psalms, The Proverbs, Ecclesiastes
or the Preacher, Cantica or Songs of Solomon, Four Prophets the Greater,
Twelve Prophets the Less.
All the books of the New Testament, as they are commonly received, we do
receive and account canonical.
From the Confession of Faith:
Article IV--The Holy Bible.
We believe the Holy Bible, Old and New Testaments, reveals the Word of
God so far as it is necessary for our salvation. It is to be received
through the Holy Spirit as the true rule and guide for faith and
practice. Whatever is not revealed in or established by the Holy
Scriptures is not to be made an article of faith nor is it to be taught
as essential to salvation.
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2.) Scripture is the primary source and criterion for Christian beliefs.
For Christians, the focus of the Bible's message is Jesus Christ. Our
faith grows as we open our minds and hearts to the message of the Bible.
United Methodists share with other Christians the conviction that
Scripture is the primary source and criterion for Christian doctrine.
Through Scripture the living Christ meets us in the experience of
redeeming grace. We are convinced that Jesus Christ is the living Word
of God in our midst whom we trust in life and death.The biblical
authors, illumined by the Holy Spirit, bear witness that in Christ the
world is reconciled to God. The Bible bears authentic testimony to God's
self-disclosure in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as
well as in God's work of creation, in the pilgrimage of Israel, and in
the Holy Spirit's ongoing activity in human history.As we open our minds
and hearts to the Word of God through the words of human beings inspired
by the Holy Spirit, faith is born and nourished, our understanding is
deepened, and the possibilities for transforming the world become
apparent to us.
3.) What books of the Bible do United Methodists recognize? Is anything
beyond the teachings of the Scriptures necessary for salvation?
The Bible is sacred canon for Christian people, formally acknowledged as
such by historic ecumenical councils of the Church. Our doctrinal
standards identify as canonical thirty-nine books of the Old Testament
and the twenty-seven books of the New Testament.Our standards affirm the
Bible as the source of all that is "necessary" and "sufficient" unto
salvation (Articles of Religion) and "is to be received through the Holy
Spirit as the true rule and guide for faith and practice" (Confession of
Faith).
4.) What is the role of the Church and of Biblical scholarship in
understanding the Bible? How do we read the Bible faithfully?
We properly read Scripture within the believing community, informed by
the tradition of that community. We interpret individual texts in light
of their place in the Bible as a whole. We are aided by scholarly
inquiry and personal insight, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. As
we work with each text, we take into account what we have been able to
learn about the original context and intention of that text. In this
understanding we draw upon the careful historical, literary, and textual
studies of recent years, which have enriched our understanding of the
Bible.Through this faithful reading of Scripture, we may come to know
the truth of the biblical message in its bearing on our own lives and
the life of the world. Thus, the Bible serves both as a source of our
faith and as the basic criterion by which the truth and fidelity of any
interpretation of faith is measured.
5.) What is the role of tradition, experience and reason in relation to
our understanding of the Bible? How do all these sources work together?
While we acknowledge the primacy of Scripture in theological reflection,
our attempts to grasp its meaning always involve tradition, experience,
and reason. Like Scripture, these may become creative vehicles of the
Holy Spirit as they function within the Church. They quicken our faith,
open our eyes to the wonder of God's love, and clarify our
understanding. The Wesleyan heritage, reflecting its origins in the
catholic and reformed ethos of English Christianity, directs us to a
self-conscious use of these three sources in interpreting Scripture and
in formulating faith statements based on the biblical witness. These
sources are, along with Scripture, indispensable to our theological
task. The close relationship of tradition, experience, and reason
appears in the Bible itself. Scripture witnesses to a variety of diverse
traditions, some of which reflect tensions in interpretation within the
early Judeo-Christian heritage. However, these traditions are woven
together in the Bible in a manner that expresses the fundamental unity
of God's revelation as received and experienced by people in the
diversity of their own lives. The developing communities of faith judged
them, therefore, to be an authoritative witness to that revelation. In
recognizing the interrelationship and inseparability of the four basic
resources for theological understanding, we are following a model that
is present in the biblical text itself.
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-- This statement is composed of excerpts from the 1996 Book of
Discipline of the United Methodist Church.
--
Craig L. Adams
adamsfmmac@earthlink.net
Weidman United Methodist Church
<http://www.methodist.net/weidman> or <http://www.gbgm-umc.org/weidman> |
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