Our Methodist Standards and Heritage

David M. Battle

Description

Believe! Love! Obey! is the Methodist Standard and Heritage.
Our Methodist Standards and Heritage calls all Methodist back the roots of Methodist teaching as shown in the General Rules of the Methodist Societies and in the Articles of Religion that John Wesley sent to America.
The book can be divided into three parts. The first two parts are for all Methodists, regardless of denomination. They cover the General Rules that governed the behavior of Methodists before the establishment of any Methodist church. These rules were actually an evangelistic tool that demonstrated our need for the grace of God. The second part explains how the Articles of Religion are an expression of basic Protestant Christian beliefs and how they still apply today. The last section begins by describing distinctive Methodist doctrines found in the Other Beliefs. Finally, Southern Methodist particulars are articulated and discussed.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Protestant
• Philosophie et théologie
• Protestantism
• The Methodist Church
• Confessions
• United Methodist Church
• Methodism
• History of Christianity
• Evangelicalism
• Christianity
• History
• Les Confessions
• Protestantisme

Informations

• Publié par: WestBow Press
• Date de parution: 16 avril 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781664296794
• Langue: English

Extrait

Our Methodist Standards and Heritage
 
A Catechetical Commentary on the General Rules of the Methodist Societies and The Articles of Religion, as well as the Other Beliefs of the Southern Methodist Church
 
 
David M. Battle
Cover Art by D. Curtis Hale
 
 

 
 
Copyright © 2023 David M. Battle.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.
 
 
 
WestBow Press
A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan
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Bloomington, IN 47403
www.westbowpress.com
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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the King James version of the Bible, public domain.
 
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
 
The text of the General Rules, the Articles of Religion, and the Other Beliefs comes from the 2022 Discipline of the Southern Methodist Church. The General Rules and Articles of Religion are the same as those found in 1808 Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church with the exception of Article XXI.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6642-9678-7 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-9680-0 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-9679-4 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023907040
 
 
 
WestBow Press rev. date: 04/11/2023
Contents
Reading Roman Numerals
Preface
Surveying This Catechetical Study
Section 1: Obey!
The General Rules
Introduction
Background
Function
Rules for Living
Rule for Seeking
The Rules in the Life of the Believer
Section 2: Believe!
PART ONE: Grades of Doctrine
PART TWO: The Articles of Religion
The Substance of Faith: Articles I-IV
The Rule of Faith: Articles V-VI
The Life of Faith: Articles VII-XII
The Household of Faith Articles XIII-XXV
The Nature of Ministry in the Church: Articles XIII-XV
The Sacraments: Articles XVI-XX
The Church and Civil Society: Articles XXI-XXV
PART THREE: Other Beliefs
Methodist Distinctives: Articles I-VIII
The Doctrines of Grace: Articles I-VI
The Efficacy of Grace: Articles VII-VIII
Evangelical and Fundamental Distinctives: Articles IX-XIV
Southern Methodist Distinctives:Articles XV-XVII
Section 3: Love!
Summation
Apendencies
Apostles’ Creed and the Lord’s Prayer
Lord’s Prayer
Beatitudes
The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments- Metrical
Bibliography
Reading Roman Numerals
One of my readers asked me about changing the Roman numerals. I decided to keep the customary way of numerating the articles. Occasionally in the past, some disciplines have used paragraph numbers, but these numbering systems vary. The problem with Roman numerals is that many educated people cannot read them. So, here is a short introduction. As most know, Roman numerals are written with what appear to be letters. In the Articles, the capitals of I, V, and X are used.
I represents a one.
V represents a five.
X represents a ten.
To read Roman numerals requires the reader to add and subtract the values. When numerals of the same value are grouped together, they are added.
II is 1 + 1 = 2
III is 1 + 1 +1 = 3
We also add if the first numeral in the sequence has greater value than the following numeral.
VI is 5 + 1= 6
VII is 5 + 1 + 1 = 7
XI is 10 + 1= 11
XVI is 10 + 5 + 1 = 16
On the other hand, if a numeral with a smaller value comes first, it is subtracted from the following number with the greater value.
IV is 5 -1 = 4; IX is 10-1= 9; and XIX is 10+10-1= 19
Finally, Roman numerals are built around the following units of I, V, X and so forth.
IV = 4; V = 5; VI = 6; VII = 7; VIII= 8.
IX=9; X = 10; XI = 11; XII = 12; XIII = 13; XIV = 14; XV = 15
Fortunately, we only need to count to XXV in this work, unless of course we are consulting Wesley’s LII Sermons. L represents a fifty.
Preface
We live in an age when doctrine is considered unimportant. People often do not care what a denomination teaches just as long as they “preach Jesus” and are friendly. Most post-truth church members do not have a systematic theology by which to evaluate contemporary preaching and movements. Many people do not even know what they believe, and some even believe in mutually exclusive teachings. A fellow graduate student once confided to me that he believed that there was only one God. Then he went on to describe how he believed in many of the Hindu gods and goddesses. Yet, he claimed to be a good Southern Baptist. The basic problem with his theology was that he sincerely believed he was a Christian while most of his core beliefs were Hindu. He was not a Baptist and much less a Christian, though he could not bring himself to accept his true identity. Such eclectic theological identities are common in the post-truth age. In the same graduate school, one professor, who was an ordained United Methodist preacher, affirmed Buddhism. Many denominations are not concerned about what their people or preachers believe, just as long as they support the denominational institutions with money.
This current situation is a tragedy because people are thrown about by every wind of teaching (Eph. 4:14). They have no consistent moral compass, and their only reference point is their personal perceptions, gut reactions, and the emotions of the crowds. The people perish because they do not have a sure word from the Lord (Pro. 29:18; 2 Peter 1:19). Without the knowledge of the holy and pure, the people lose discernment to anchor their thoughts or to guide their actions.
Historically, the Church maintained and transmitted orthodoxy and doctrinal clarity through the catechism. It was a natural extension of discipleship and began early in the history of the Church (See Gal. 6:6). New believers and Christian youth received instruction in the Word and doctrine of the Faith so that they could live the Christian life in a pagan world. Catechisms helped preserve the Church under pagan rule, preserved the purity of the Church when it became popular during the late Roman Empire, enabled the Faith to survive the barbarian invasions and the resulting “Dark Ages”. The practice of catechizing flourished during the Reformation with the Lutheran Heidelberg Catechism and Luther’s shorter catechism, which was designed for young children. Calvinists developed the Westminster Catechism. Wesley even edited the Westminster Catechism for use by Methodist teachers. 1 While learning a catechism does not give salvation, it is a means of grace that exposes one to the pure Gospel. 2
This catechetical commentary is an attempt to give Southern Methodists in particular, but also Methodists in general, an anchor for their theology and ministries. If we understand where Methodism fits within Christianity, we may have a clearer understanding of the Christian religion and of the Christian’s place in the world. My prayer is that no longer will the Methodist people be tossed about by a plurality of belief, by every social movement, or by whims of the world. Instead, Methodists should navigate the challenges of their age as wisely and precisely as John Wesley did in his own age. We will know the apostolic doctrines and hold firm to them. We will be loyal to our Methodist distinctives and our Anglican and Protestant heritage while being gracious to brothers and sisters who share the same evangelical or catholic spirit, though they come from other denominations or other Christian traditions. The goal of this commentary is to catechize Methodist leaders and laity in the primary doctrines of our heritage. We are seeking not only to teach Christian doctrines and Methodist distinctives, but to also provide a sound framework for Methodists to relate with other Christians and the world without losing either our Methodist or Christian identity. As Rev. Dr. William R. Dean said:
“The creeds make us Christian. The Articles of Religion make us Protestant, and the four Methodist doctrines make us Methodist.” 3
Before concluding this section, I want to thank those who helped with this work. The project began as a Wednesday night Bible study at Johns Island Southern Methodist Church. The give and take between me and Mrs. Doris Hiot, Mrs.Mary Lott, and Mr. Ray Walton contributed to the formulation of the commentary on Articles of Religion. Others whom I want to thank are Dr. Vic Reasoner, Rev. Dan Plunkett, and Rev. Ellison Evans III. Brother Reasoner helped with the “Introduction to the Other Beliefs”. He, Dan Plunkett, and Rev. Ellison Evans reviewed the work