The Wesleyan Quadrilateral: Scripture, Tradition, Experience and Reason. These four pillars surround the United Methodist Church’s approach to theological and doctrinal development. John Wesley believed that the living foundation of the Christian faith was revealed to believers in scripture, the soul foundational source. It is noted that Wesley believed deeply that the centrality of scripture was so important that he called himself a man of one book. He understood that there was more to our faith than a collection of or acknowledgement of ideas that we call tradition. He believed that there was a practical side to our Christian theology which would involve the experienced aspect of faith. Truth, as Wesley understood it to be, needed to be quickened in the personal experiences of Christians.  

Margaret A. Farley states, “experience is essential for every form of knowledge…human knowledge consists in some grasping of what is known in the experience of knowing.”¹ One could argue that experience can be the strongest proof of Christianity, not including scripture. For truth to be made fully manifest in a person’s life, that person must experience it personally. As we view the miracles that Jesus performed, as documented throughout scripture, time and time again we find references of an experience with the Almighty. John Newton coined these famous lyrics in his hymn Amazing Grace, “I once was lost, but now I’m found. Was blind, but now I see.” Newton’s experience with the grace of God became essential to his knowledge and understanding of God. It is the experience that brings moral, ethical and theological ideas to life in the very present sense of time. Wesley believed that Christianity is ultimately an experience of holiness and happiness, the notion that the image of God is somehow impressed on God’s creation which leads to a place of peace and love that brings forth everlasting life. 

Through the scope of human experience, we identify moral and ethical processes which shape human priorities. Christian ethicist James Gustafson identified key components to Christian ethics: scripture, theology, tradition, the sciences, philosophy, human experience and countless variations. It is important to note that experience alone cannot or should not be the only deciding factor in determining one’s moral obligations. Through our theological task, or ethical and moral task, laypeople and clergy share together as we understand things as United Methodists. Our task is to live as Christians, amongst the complexities of the world around us. To embody the mission of God as the mission of the church which is Love God and Love People.  

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¹ Margaret Farley. “The Role of Experience in Moral Discernment” in Christian Ethics: Problems and Prospects, eds. Lisa Sowle Cahill and James F. Childress (Cleveland: Pilgrim Press, 1996).