The term Wesleyan Quadrilateral is a theological method used to study scripture. It was believed that theologian John Wesley studied scriptures in the Bible using three lenses, hence where the Wesleyan Quadrilateral gets its name. These three lenses are tradition, reason, and experience. While quad means four and tradition, reason, and experience are only three terms, they each communicate a way that scripture can be studied, therefore the term scripture completes the quadrilateral. It is important to study scripture using the Wesleyan Quadrilateral because Wesley was known as being a relevant theologian and his views on scripture have lasted over two centuries. The Wesleyan quadrilateral is still relevant today as it provides a method for discovering the things of God, ourselves, and lets us know who God really is. For the purposes of this reflection paper I would like to summarize the four components of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral and then reflect personally upon each term as how it relates to the Christian theologian. The first component of the Wesleyan Quadrilateral is scripture. The term scripture used in the Wesleyan Quadrilateral refers to God’s word. God’s word is found in the Bible. It is from the scriptures in the Bible that when Christians memorize these words and put
Reason can be defined as trying to understand God and the explanation behind his decisions. We can understand God, and reason gives us hope at understanding God through scripture. Reason is a tool that we can use to discern and interpret God’s word and to gain insight into God’s character and personality. The nature of God is eternal, omniscient, omnipresent, and supernatural, and reason provides a lens to look at the behavior of God through his nature. “God is not irrational,” and there is a reason behind everything that he does (WQL 5). Reason is a valuable tool for the Wesleyan Quadrilateral but reason does not stand
Square Peg: Why Wesleyans Aren't Fundamentalists, a book edited by Al Truesdale and published by Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, examines two significantly different ways of understanding the nature and role of the Bible that mark different parts of Christ’s church. The first is represented by fundamentalism; the second by Wesleyan theology. The goal of the book is to help persons in Wesleyan denominations clearly understand the differences between Wesleyan theology and fundamentalist theology, and that even though both are of the Christian faith, how the theology between the two are incompatible with one another. “Without becoming divisive or claiming perfection in Christian doctrine, the various denominations hold theological positions that reflect their Christian experience, history and understanding of the Scriptures.” (loc 124 Kindle, Truesdale) Wesleyans believe that the proof of the gospel reside primarily in how a person lives their life and “not in logic and argumentation.” (loc 160 Kindle, Truesdale) They support the policy of that to get a better understanding of their faith, is the result of all fields of human exploration and research, from scientific to historical.
Humans can think, feel, and reason which differentiate them from the rest of God’s creation. The ability to reason enables human beings to think and reflect on their own nature and the nature of God. The bible teaches us that God created man in his image and likeness. In the beginning of creation human nature was perfect because we were created by God. Genesis 1:31 describes Human beings were created very good by a loving God”. God created humans to operate their lives according to wisdom under God’s kingly reign (Diffey, 2014). God’s purpose in creating mankind was to work and serve (Genesis 2:15), and have dominion over earth (Genesis 1:26-28) The fall of Adam and Eve separated humanity from God and wisdom. This act plunged all of humanity into a history characterized by idolatry (Diffey, 2014), and is the root cause of all human
Walvoord, John F., Roy B. Zuck and Dallas Theological Seminary. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton: Victor Books, 1983.
Brown, David, D, D. Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible. John. Crosswalk Inc. 1996.Byzantine Greek Translation of the Book of John.Harris, Hall. Commentary on the Gospel of John. Biblical Studies Press. 1996. Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry Complete Commentary. www.biblestudytools.net1996.Johnson, Barton W. People's New Testament Commentary. Crosswalk Inc. 1999. www.biblestudytools.net.1999.Bryant, Beauford. Krause, Mark. The College Press NIV Commentary John. College Press. 1998.
As part of revivals in Christian faith during 18th century onward three practices evolved into their own interpretation on the place and authority of Scripture in the Christian faith. The first of these were the Liberals who “viewed themselves as the saviors of a defunct out of date Christianity” (Bingham 149). Their founder, Friedrich Schleiermacher an 18th century pastor, “did not view traditional, authoritative doctrines, creeds and biblical texts as the preeminent sources in theology (150). Instead the Liberal perspective of Christianity put more emphasis on the doctrines of sin and grace and less attention on the holiness of the trinity (Kerr 213). Jesus was viewed as a historical figure that we can learn from spiritually and the Bible is used as a source of knowledge on Christian history (Bingham 152, 153). In this theological movement being a Christian is considered “nothing but feeling and experience” (Lane 238).
Entering the ancient discussion about the tension between faith and reason is not an easy task. Of course, when engaging in tensions it is always important to define terms. For the sake of consistency I will refer to Oxford’s online dictionary for both the definition of faith, as well as reason. Faith is “complete trust or confidence in someone or something.” Reason is “a cause, explanation, or justification for an action or event.” These are the definitions that will be used throughout this paper. From the above definitions, the conclusion that is logically deduced is that reason precedes faith.
"EXPLORING THEOLOGY 1 & 2." EXPLORING THEOLOGY 1 2. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2014.
—. The Unity of the Bible: Exploring the Beauty and Structure of the Bible. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2003.
In today’s modern western society, it has become increasingly popular to not identify with any religion, namely Christianity. The outlook that people have today on the existence of God and the role that He plays in our world has changed drastically since the Enlightenment Period. Many look solely to the concept of reason, or the phenomenon that allows human beings to use their senses to draw conclusions about the world around them, to try and understand the environment that they live in. However, there are some that look to faith, or the concept of believing in a higher power as the reason for our existence. Being that this is a fundamental issue for humanity, there have been many attempts to explain what role each concept plays. It is my belief that faith and reason are both needed to gain knowledge for three reasons: first, both concepts coexist with one another; second, each deals with separate realms of reality, and third, one without the other can lead to cases of extremism.
The first reason focuses on the belief of faith. The following passage is taken from the Bible. It has excellent meaning because it shows that everyone has faith. Having faith is the first sign that shows everyone believes in a religion. There are two good definitions of religion. The first is belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe. The second is a personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief and worship. The passage shows that everyone has an institutionalized system that has belief. The passage is as follows, ?Everyone believes in something. No one can endure the stress and cares of life without faith in God. Atheists cannot prove there is no God. Pantheists cannot prove that everything is God. Pragmatists cannot prove that what will count for them in the future is what works for them now. Nor can agnostics prove that it is impossible to know one way or the other. Faith is unavoidable, even if we chose to believe only in ourselves. What is to be decided is what evidence we think is pertinent, how we are going to interpret that evidence, and who or what we are willing to believe in.? (Luke 16:16)(4) The passage is great proof that there is a God. It shows that everyone has faith. Faith is a big aspect in religion. With every religion, there is likely to be a single holy being, a god.
Aquinas, in the Summa Theologiae, stated that, “Man should not seek to know what is above reason.” His argument was, in very simple terms, that men need reason to understand all of God’s truths. Yet there are certain truths that are beyond reason which men can only understand through Divine Revelation, or faith. And sometimes there might be certain aspects of faith that one day reason might have been able to prove but only a few men would know and understand this, so it is necessary that all men know this through Divine Revelation and faith.
Justification by faith is of great importance, it is the foundation of our whole position and standing with God. Martin Luther wrote, “ When the article of justification has fallen, everything has fallen.” John Calvin called it “ the main hinge on which religion turns.” Thomas Watson said, “Justification is the very hinge and pillar of Christianity.” The issue of Justification was the primary dispute between the reformers and the Roman Catholic Church, and the problem was, and still is, between salvation by faith alone and salvation based on good works. So, why is justification so important to us? Because Justification by faith is the answer to the problem, that has followed human beings ever since the fall of Adam. How can a man be right with God his maker? How can a man stand in the presence of God? This is what Paul wrote in the letter of Romans 5:1 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The act of Justification enables us to be right with our God.
One of the major points stressed by Hodge in this essay is that the scriptures are infallible because they were written by the inspiration of God and the Holy Ghost. Hodge begins to describe the attri...
On Sunday March 30, 2014, the teacher assistants of MC202 held a viewing for the documentary film The Square. This documentary is based upon the 2011 uprising that takes place in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt. It is seen through the eyes of six main characters that live in Cairo and contribute to the revolutionary movement. In the film, each person is united through the idealism and hope of achieving a democratic nation and to get the dictator type of government to change. The brave camera operators are able to capture a first person view that is directly at the front lines of this revolution, shooting from street level and high rise buildings to view the large mass of people gathered at Tahrir Square. This same group of people often find themselves coming back to the square in order for the government to hear their voice and make a change that appeals to the people’s interest. The film focuses on three events that required the people to gather at the square, this includes the removal of dictator Hosni Mubarak, the protest of military rule, and then to rise up against the presidency ...