I have just finished a six-week short course in an adult Sunday School class, explaining where United Methodist doctrine and practice comes from, and how our standards have evolved. Herewith are my teaching outlines from each of these classes, for the benefit of others who might be interested in doing something of the same sort.
One quirk of my approach: Rather than beginning with four (five) documents themselves -- the Articles of Religion of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Confession of Faith of the EUB Church, John Wesley's Standard Sermons, John Wesley's Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, and the General Rules of our United Societies -- and then giving the backstory on all of them, I chose to explain the English Church Tradition beginning from earliest times, then taking them through the Reformation and the beginnings of Methodism, so that we ended up with the standards we have.
UNITED METHODIST DOCTRINAL STANDARDS: SOURCES
SESSION ONE: THE ENGLISH CHURCH TRADITION
The English Church was thoroughly orthodox, thoroughly catholic; however, it had certain characteristics that made it stand out (observed at the time by others).
1. Christianity had penetrated the English people completely. They were thoroughly converted and deeply spiritual.
a. Disappearance of Anglo-Saxon paganism almost without a trace2. At the same time as devotional life had spread both deep and broad, the English Church was immensely sophisticated – from the beginning, almost – and produced many leading thinkers and artists admired across Europe.
b. Monasticism very popular
c.Mysticism in both lay and clergy* The Cloud of Unknowingd. A tradition of devotional literature
* Julian of Norwich (SHOW COPY)
* Margery Kempe* Sawles Warde, Ancrene Wisse, etc.e. Carols and Drama
* English language prayer books
f. Lay involvement in parish life
a. Bede (SHOW COPY)3. From the very beginning, the English people were greatly attached to the Bible, and wanted it in their own language.
b. Alcuin
c. Alfred (SHOW COPY OF ALFRED'S BOETHIUS)
d. Anselm (Yeah, I know he’s a Norman)
e. Early missionary impulse
f. Narrative poetry (The Dream of the Rood, Piers Plowman, Pearl) (SHOW COPY OF PEARL)
g. The question of the virtuous pagan
h. Oxford University
i. The music of the Chapel Royal
a. Lindisfarne Gospels & the work of Alfred (SHOW COPY of LINDISFARNE GOSPELS)4. Even though the English reverenced the Church, they poured scorn and skepticism on the hypocrisies and greed of prelates (cardinals, bishops, abbots), and showed interest in renewal movements long before the Reformation.
b. Wycliffe’s Bible still circulating in ms form when the first Lutheran sympathizers began work in England
a. Lollardy
b. Various peasant revolts (w/ utopian, visionary ideas of the Church)
c. Chaucer’s portraits of the clergy
SESSION TWO: THE ENGLISH REFORMATION
The Reformation in England, in the wider sense, covers the reigns of Henry VIII through Queen Anne. (1509-1714), two tumultuous centuries.
1. Renewal and Reform
a. The Renaissance and Erasmus2. The Break with Rome
b. Luther* Indulgences
* German resentment of Rome
* 95 Theses (1517), Diet of Worms (1521), First German Bible
a. Henry as Defender of the Faith3. The Elizabethan Settlement
b. The Divorce Question
c. The use of Parliament to enact separation
d. Catholicism without the Pope
e. The swing toward Lutheranism
f. The Great Bible
g. The Dissolution of the Monasteries
a. Edward VI’s reign and the Hot Gospelers4. Note: Anglicanism is one of the few Protestant churches to bring its hierarchy into the new church.
b. Bloody Mary’s failed reign* The need for Parliamentary actionc. Elizabeth comes to the throne
* No return of abbey lands
* Spanish alliance and burning of heretics
* Genevan exiles – contact w/ Calvinism
* Foxe’s Book of Martyrs (SHOW COPY)* Committed to Protestantism, but desirous of being as inclusive as possible
* Parliament approves compromise reformation
* 39 Articles
* Puritans think Settlement is first step; Elizabeth intends it to be final
* Jesuits and Popish plots threaten Elizabeth from one side, Puritans from the other
a. Reason: Establishment by law in Parliament5. Puritanism
b. Result: Less of a break with the past, less tendency to start with a blank sheet of paper
a. In common with other English Protestants, agreed that the Pope was NOT the Head of the English Church and the eucharist was NOT a re-sacrifice or transubstantiary
b. In contrast with the bishops, however, the Puritans were thorough-going Calvinists* This especially meant Predestination and a very low view of the sacraments, but also a disdain for ceremony, hierarchy, vestments and ornaments, etc.c. Puritan agitation in Parliament
* Cambridge was the hotbed of Puritanism, Oxford of what would be eventually called “high church” and “Anglo-Catholicism”
d. The Puritan Classical movement
e. Failure of Puritanism under Elizabeth
Session Three: The English Reformation, continued
6. The Wisest Fool in Christendom: James VI and I
a. James wanted to be an absolute monarch; he also had had his fill of Presbyterianism7. Charles I and the English Civil War* “No bishop, no king”b. James considered himself an authority in religion
c. The origin of the KJV and Puritan resistance to it
d. Puritan interest in the New World
a. The attempt to rule without Parliament8. Restoration and Revolution
b. French subsidy and the flirtation with Catholicism
c. Charles begins the War* American Puritans fully engagedd. The Puritans only begin winning under the New Model Army
e. The Radical Puritans take over; the Protectorate
a. Puritanism discredited9. Methodism has some roots in Nonconformity and the Puritan tradition* Many Puritans become “low church” Anglicansb. Charles II continues to flirt with Catholicism, but stays within bounds
* Others turn into New England Congregationalists and English/American Baptists
c. The challenge of the Duke of York’s Catholicism
d. James VII and II offends everybody
e. The Glorious Revolution* Ancestor of American Revolutionf. Queen Anne incarnates “Anglicanism”
* Catholic succession is outlawed
* William III not really Anglican* Wesley will be thoroughly Anglican in doctrine and practice
a. Puritan-influenced devotional writing on holiness* William Lawb. An interest in church history* Wesley, while thoroughly supportive of the English Church’s authority, nevertheless was able to give himself permission to do some startling things, as when he ordained preachers and superintendents for America. He got the idea that he was a “scriptural episcopos” from Puritan biblical interpretationc. Wesley’s parents had a disagreement over the right of William III to continue to reign after Mary II’s death; one thought that Anne should have succeeded her sister
SESSION FOUR: THE BEGINNINGS OF METHODISM
1. Early influences on John and Charles Wesley (SHOW COPY JW’S JOURNAL)
a. The influence of Samuel and Susannah Wesley2. Wesley’s view of Scripture
b. “A brand plucked from the burning”
c. Oxford, the Holy Club
d. John’s doubts and the failed venture in America
e. The influence of the Moravians* Peter Boehler: “Preach faith till you have it; then, because you have it, you will preach faith.”f. Aldersgate
g. The churches bar Wesley from preaching
h. The beginnings of field preaching
i. The Class Meeting and the Societies* Attending a Methodist preaching service wasn’t what made you a Methodist, the Class meeting didj. The United Societies were, in effect, a para-church org, a renewal movement
* The Ticket system
* Classes, Bands, Select Societies* Methodists were expected to maintain their membership in the established Church
* However, many Methodists didn’t feel welcome there; plus, you didn’t have to start out Anglican to be a Methodist – it was ecumenical, in effect
* The result was a strong desire – especially later, in America – for Methodist preachers to be able to offer the sacraments to the people in their charge
a. Homo unius libri3. The General Rules: the Oldest of our Doctrinal Standards (SHOW COPY)
b. Outler’s Quadrilateral* Scripture has to be primary
* The role of Tradition in interpreting Scripture in Anglicanism and Methodism
* The role of Experience in interpreting Scripture in Methodism
* The role of Reason in interpreting Scripture: Religion and the Enlightenment
a. More orthopraxy than orthodoxy
b. First, do no harm
c. Second, do no evil
d. Third, be faithful in attendance upon all the ordinances of God* NOT, “stay in love with God”
SESSION FIVE: WESLEY’S THEOLOGY AND OTHER EARLY DOCTRINAL STANDARDS
1. Anglican, with a high view of the sacraments
2. Greatly influenced by German Pietism
3. Experiential (“experimental”)
4. Arminian
a. Calvinism defined by its five points5. View of grace* TULIPb. On the other hand, “free will” = Pelagianism* The Anglican Church at the time was Semi-pelagianc. Jakob Arminius’ take on the TULIP
* Semi-pelagianism is where respectability takes the place of righteousness
d. Wesley begins The Arminian magazine as the first vehicle to convey Methodist theology
a. Prevenient grace6. Other distinctives
b. Justifying grace
c. Sanctification and Christian Perfection
a. Assurance7. Wesley’s Standard Sermons, the Next of Our Doctrinal Standards (SHOW COPY)* Everyone CAN be saved; Everyone can KNOW one is saved; Everyone can be saved to the uttermost.b. The Efficacy of Baptism
c. The Real Presence in Communion* “A converting ordinance” – the origin of “open communion”
* Wesley’s own practice and recommendations
a. Intended to explicate Wesley’s theology – published8. Wesley’s Notes Upon the New Testament – another of our Doctrinal Standards (SHOW COPY)
b. Given to Methodist preachers as both model and doctrinal approach
c. The Model Deed made reference to Mr. Wesley’s teaching
a. Published to guide Methodist preachers in their interpretation of the Bible9. While it is not listed as one of our Doctrinal Standards in the Book of Discipline, the Methodist Hymnal, with up to 6,000 hymns written by Charles Wesley, was certainly considered doctrinally formative in its day: John referred to it as a “handbook of practical divinity”
b. Hard to get these days
a. Methodist singing is proverbial
b.The Wesleys wanted people to sing doctrine, not just feelings (SHOW COPY, OLD HYMNAL)
c. Read Instructions on Singing from current Hymnal
SESSION SIX: THE TRANSITION TO AMERICA
1. Origins of Methodism in America
2. The crisis of the Revolution
3. The need for leadership
a. Wesley consecrates Coke and authorizes him to consecrate Asbury4. The Articles of Religion: the fourth of our Doctrinal Standards (SHOW COPY)* The Christmas Conference 1784b. Wesley attempts to equip the new church
* “Bishops” rather than merely “General Superintendents”* The Sunday Service (based on Anglican Morning Prayer, itself one of the last remnants of the canonical hours observed in medieval monasteries)
* Wesley apparently thought the Methodist preaching service would gravitate toward a full “church” service; he couldn’t have foreseen the impact of the Second Great Awakening and the beginnings of revivalism
* The Articles of Religion!
a. An abridgement of the 39 Articles5. In 1808, the Growth of the ME Church required splitting the Conference into various Annual Conferences, with a representative General Conference meeting every four years* Thought necessary because the American church was no longer to be part of the C of Eb. Defines God, the Sacraments, etc.
* The “missing” articles referred to the authority of the C of E within England* Brings over from C of E language about certain historical controversies (e.g., Pelagianism), and also what distinguished Protestant from Catholic in those days
a. The Restrictive Rules were adopted to prevent a well-connected minority from changing the core of Methodism6. Meanwhile, various German-speaking “Dutch Methodists” were also active in the new USA.
b. Meanwhile, there are certain Articles that were not part of those originally placed under the Restrictive Rules. Just how authoritative they are remains an open question.
a. Origins and antecedents of the EUB Church* The United Brethrenb. The EUB Confession of Faith served the same purpose as the Articles of Religion (SHOW COPY)
* The Evangelical Church* In 1968, it was accepted as equally authoritative with the Articles of Religion as a condition of merger to create The United Methodist Church, and placed under the Restrictive Rules