Wesleyan Theology and the Doctrine of Salvation — Unit 1: The Wesleyan Way of Doing Theology: Scripture First, with Tradition, Reason and Experience

Key Verse

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NKJV)

Learning Objectives

When you finish this unit, you should be able to:

1. Explain why Wesleyans place Scripture first and call it the final authority for faith and practice.

2. Describe the roles that tradition, reason and experience play in Wesleyan theology, and why each one serves Scripture.

3. Explain what the "Wesleyan Quadrilateral" is, who gave it that name, and why historians debate it.

4. State fairly the objections of "Scripture alone" Christians, of Catholic and Orthodox Christians, and of liberal theology, and give the Wesleyan answer to each.

5. Use the four tests in a simple pastoral situation when someone brings a new teaching to the church.

The Voice of This Course

This course is written from inside the Wesleyan tradition, for students who belong to it. It is conservative and evangelical. When it says "we" or "our tradition," it means the churches that follow John Wesley's teaching: the Church of the Nazarene, The Wesleyan Church, the Free Methodist Church, the Global Methodist Church, and Methodist churches in Latin America and Africa that keep Wesley's doctrine. The history of these churches was told in Course 1, and we do not repeat it here. This course asks a different question: what do we teach about salvation, and why?

Other Christians see these matters differently. We state their views fairly and then give our answer. Scripture says, "Test all things; hold fast what is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:21). A faith that has been tested is stronger than one that has never been questioned.

Why Method Comes First

Before we study any doctrine, we must ask how we know what is true. Every church has a method, even if it never states it. Some say, "We believe what our founder taught." If the method is weak, the doctrines built on it will be weak.

John Wesley was an Anglican priest, an Oxford teacher, and the leader of a great revival. He wrote sermons, letters, notes on the Bible, tracts and hymns for ordinary people. His method is found in how he worked. When we watch him work, we see a clear order. Scripture comes first. The other three sources help us understand and apply Scripture. They do not stand above it.

Scripture First

Wesley called himself "a man of one book." He meant that the Bible was the book by which he judged every other book and every idea. In the preface to his first volume of sermons (1746) he said that he wanted to be shown the way to heaven from God's Word. The Bible, for him, was not one voice among many. It was the voice of God.

Our key verse gives the reason. Paul says that all Scripture is "given by inspiration of God." The Greek word behind this phrase speaks of the "breath" of God. Scripture is useful for teaching, for rebuke, for correction and for training in righteousness. It makes the servant of God "complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." If Scripture can do all this, then we need no second source of equal weight.

The Methodist Articles of Religion, which Wesley prepared for the American Methodists in 1784 from the older Anglican Articles, say that the Holy Scriptures contain all things necessary for salvation. They say that whatever is not read in Scripture, and cannot be proved by it, should not be required of anyone as an article of faith. Our churches have held this principle from the beginning.

Wesleyans therefore teach four things about the Bible.

First, it is inspired and trustworthy. Jesus said that Scripture cannot be broken (John 10:35). Where a passage is hard, we study it patiently and humbly.

Second, it is clear on what we need for salvation. Not every verse is easy, but the way of salvation is plain. A farmer, a child and a pastor can all read that Christ died for sinners and that those who believe are saved.

Third, it interprets itself. Wesley often spoke of "the analogy of faith." This means that we read each hard verse in light of the whole message of Scripture. Paul used a similar phrase in Romans 12:6, "according to the proportion of faith." If our reading of one verse breaks the plain teaching of many others, we should read it again.

Fourth, it is the test of every teacher. The Bereans "were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11). They tested even the apostle Paul by Scripture.

The Three Helpers

If Scripture is first, why do we need anything else? The answer is that Scripture is always read by someone, in some place, with some tools. Wesleyans name three helpers. Each one serves the Bible. None replaces it.

Tradition

Wesley was not a man who started from nothing. He loved the early church. He read the writings of the church fathers, both in the West and in the East, and he admired the faith and holiness of the first Christians. He accepted the great creeds, the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed, which state the Trinity and the person of Christ. He also lived inside the Church of England, and he valued its Articles of Religion, its Book of Common Prayer and its Homilies.

Why do we value tradition? Because the Holy Spirit has been teaching the church for two thousand years. We are not the first people to read Romans. When the whole church, across many centuries, has confessed that God is three persons in one being, that confession is a strong witness to what Scripture teaches.

But tradition has a limit. It is a witness, not a judge. Jesus rebuked leaders who set aside God's commandment for the sake of their own traditions (Mark 7:8-9). Councils and teachers can be wrong. We honor tradition when it agrees with Scripture and we correct it when it does not.

Reason

Wesley was a trained scholar, and he believed that God made the mind to be used. In his writing "An Earnest Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion" (1743) he appealed to educated people to think clearly about the Christian faith. He also wrote a sermon on the proper place of reason in religion, "The Case of Reason Impartially Considered." In it he argued that reason has real work to do: it helps us understand the words of Scripture, put ideas in order, and draw right conclusions. But reason cannot create faith, and it cannot make us love God. Only the Spirit does that.

God Himself invites thought: "Come now, and let us reason together" (Isaiah 1:18). We use reason to read the Bible carefully, to notice what a word means, to compare passages, and to avoid contradictions.

The limit of reason is plain. If reason becomes the judge of Scripture, people accept only the parts of the Bible that seem sensible to them. That road leads far from the apostles. Reason is the servant of the Word, not its master.

Experience

Here the Wesleyan tradition is most different from some others. Wesley believed that the gospel can be known in the heart, not only in the head. Paul writes, "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Romans 8:16). Wesley preached that believers can know that their sins are forgiven. Unit 7 will study this teaching. At Aldersgate in 1738, Wesley said that his heart was "strangely warmed" (see Course 1, Unit 3). He did not build a new religion on that evening. He found that the promises of Scripture were true for him.

What does experience do in our method? It confirms. When Scripture promises forgiveness, new birth and the love of God poured into our hearts, we expect to find these things in real lives. And we do. Wesley recorded many stories of changed lives in his Journal. These stories were not the source of the doctrine. They were evidence that the doctrine was true.

But experience also has a limit. Feelings change. People can mistake a strong emotion, a dream or a clever idea for the voice of God. Scripture warns us to test the spirits (1 John 4:1). For this reason, an experience that contradicts Scripture is not accepted. Instead, we test the experience by the Word.

The "Wesleyan Quadrilateral"

In the twentieth century, a Methodist scholar named Albert Outler gave a name to this pattern. He called it the "Wesleyan Quadrilateral": Scripture, tradition, reason and experience. A quadrilateral is a shape with four sides. The name became popular in the Methodist churches of the United States, and many pastors learned it as a summary of how Wesley thought.

You should know three things about this name.

First, Wesley never used it. It is a modern summary, not Wesley's own word. The word is useful, but we must not claim that Wesley drew a diagram.

Second, historians disagree about what Wesley meant. Some say that Wesley gave the four sources equal weight, like four legs of a table. Others say that Scripture is the only true authority for Wesley and that the other three are helpers. Some point out that Wesley's older Anglican teachers, such as Richard Hooker in the sixteenth century, had already spoken of Scripture, reason and tradition together. These scholars say that Wesley added the emphasis on experience, but did not change the place of Scripture.

Third, the name has been used in two very different ways. In some older Methodist bodies, church leaders have used it to say that human experience and modern reason may stand beside Scripture, or even correct it. This use has led some churches away from historic Christian teaching, and it is one reason why conservative Methodists have formed new churches (see Course 1, Unit 9).

Our tradition reads the evidence this way. Wesley's own practice shows that Scripture is the norm. He argued from the Bible and treated it as his final test. The other three sources were real and valuable, but they were never his judge. If we use the name "quadrilateral," we mean a "Scripture-first" quadrilateral: one source that rules, and three that serve. Some Wesleyans prefer to avoid the word for this reason. Either way, the order matters more than the word.

Objections and Wesleyan Answers

A pastor must be ready for the questions other Christians raise. We state each one as its holders would, and then answer.

Objection 1: "Scripture alone" Christians say that Wesleyans give too much to tradition, reason and experience.

Many Baptists, Reformed Christians and other evangelicals hold that the Bible is the only rule of faith. They fear that if we add other sources, we will slowly move away from the Word.

Our answer. We agree with their central concern. Our Articles of Religion state that Scripture is sufficient, and we hold that Scripture is the only final authority. But no one reads the Bible without tradition, reason and experience. A Baptist who reads Scripture also uses the Trinity he learned from the creeds, the logic of his own mind and his own walk with God. The question is not whether these helpers exist, but whether we admit them and keep them under Scripture. Wesley did so openly. We think that this honesty is a protection, not a danger.

Objection 2: Catholic and Orthodox Christians say that tradition stands beside Scripture with equal weight.

They teach that the church, guided by the Spirit, holds the truth in her living tradition and her councils, and that Scripture is rightly read inside that tradition.

Our answer. We respect the early church and keep its creeds. But Jesus judged tradition by the Word of God (Mark 7:8-9), and the Bereans judged even an apostle by the Scriptures (Acts 17:11). If tradition could add new required doctrines, then the church would stand above the Word that made her. We hold that tradition is a faithful guide but never an equal source.

Objection 3: Liberal theology says that modern reason and experience may correct the Bible.

Some in older Methodist bodies hold that Scripture is a record of human religious experience, and that where it conflicts with modern knowledge or with present experience, we should follow the present.

Our answer. This is not Wesley's method. He staked his life on the Bible. Paul says that Scripture is inspired by God, and not a human record only (2 Timothy 3:16). If our own thoughts may overrule the Bible, then the Bible no longer judges us; we judge it. Our tradition answers with the apostle: "Test all things; hold fast what is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Reason and experience are to be tested by the Word.

Pastoral Application

A pastor serves a small church in a town. One Sunday a respected woman in the church tells him that God spoke to her in a dream. The dream told her that Christians must keep a certain day of fasting each month, and that those who do not will lose their blessing. Several people want to follow her. She is sincere, and she is weeping as she speaks.

The pastor does not mock her. He thanks her for taking God seriously and tells her that he will pray with her. Then he asks four questions.

First, what does Scripture say? He opens the Bible with her. He shows that fasting is taught and honored, but that no verse says that those who do not fast on a fixed monthly day lose their blessing. A rule that the Bible does not give cannot be made binding on the church.

Second, what has the church taught over the years? Believers have fasted in many ways, freely, and the church has never made one pattern a test of faith.

Third, is it reasonable? A rule that says that God's favor depends on a date turns grace into a duty to be earned.

Fourth, what does experience show? Her sincerity is real, and her desire to draw near to God is good. But a strong dream is not proof, and the church has learned to test every voice (1 John 4:1).

The pastor invites her to fast as she feels led, as a free gift to God, and to share her desire with the church. He does not allow the dream to become a law.

Summary

Wesleyans do theology with Scripture first. Wesley called himself a man of one book, and our Articles of Religion say that Scripture contains all things necessary for salvation. Three helpers serve the Word. Tradition gives the witness of the church and the creeds. Reason helps us read, compare and defend. Experience confirms the promises of God in real lives. Albert Outler named this pattern the "Wesleyan Quadrilateral," but Wesley never used the name, and historians debate whether he gave the four equal weight. Our tradition holds that Scripture is the norm and the other three are servants. We answer the objections of Scripture-alone Christians, Catholics and Orthodox, and liberal theologians from Scripture itself. In every case, the Word of God stands first.

Further Reading

• John Wesley, Preface to Sermons on Several Occasions (1746).

• John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, with its Preface.

• John Wesley, An Earnest Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion (1743).

• John Wesley, "The Case of Reason Impartially Considered," in the Standard Sermons.

• The Methodist Articles of Religion (1784).

• Richard Hooker, Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, a primary source for the Anglican view of Scripture, reason and tradition.

• The Arminian sections of the CTS Systematic Theology course (CTSST).

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