METHODIST

Methodists use a fourfold approach to learn about our

Christian faith and apply it to life:

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1. Scritpure: We seek to discover the word of God through reading the Bible. There are different understandings among Methodists about the Bible's authority in our lives making it important for us to use resources like different Bible translations, commentaries and Bible reading notes to understand it. 

 

2. Tradition: Traditions are the wisdom and creativity of Christians over time and across the world and there is value to honoring tradition in our practice. It includes inspirational material like hymns, songs, prayers, poetry, Christian art and devotional books,. There are also formally agreed teachings. 

 

3. Reason: We are called to love God with our minds as well as with our hearts. To the best of our ability we need to think things through in the light of reason, become aware of different points of view, and use our own critical thinking to make sense of God's world.

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4. Experience: Methodism particularly stresses the importance of our own experience of God's grace working in our lives. We gain wisdom and maturity from life experience and seeing through the lens of our own life adds to our understanding of God.