While all learning is highly prized by Methodists (see below), we cherish the study of the Bible and theology most highly. The history and teachings of the church throughout time, and our history and doctrine as Methodists in particular, are treasures of our inheritance which must not be squandered. Our culture tends to emphasize the practical and not the theoretical. We believe as Methodists, that the practical (how to build a strong church, for instance) is only meaningful if the theoretical/theological basis is sound. The church is only worth our time and effort if we are certain that it truly is based on God’s revelatory and redemptive work in Christ. Our certainty can only be meaningful if we know what the issues at stake are, and are confident with eyes wide open. In what ways can we promote this kind of learning in our district?
- Be curious about God. Many people are frightened of using their minds. Rest assured; the atheists are not right. If you use your mind, you won’t loose your faith! Take time to read things, even if you disagree with them. The best learning is negative; that is, learning from those with whom you disagree. For instance, read The Da Vinci Code. Then read The Jesus Quest by Ben Witherington III, Hidden Gospels by Phillip Jenkins, or God Crucified by Richard Bauckham to get an informed scholarly opinion.
- Participate in programs to allow doctrinal/practical training for people in your church. The Christian Believer is an excellent program to develop theological understanding in your congregation. The Alpha Course is also an excellent program, if more on the remedial level. Crown Financial Ministries is a terrific program to train Christians in what the Bible says about God’s perspective about money and financial resources. Disciple, of course, is well-known in the church as a way to study the Bible in an in-depth fashion. The Emmaus Walk also is something of a crash-course in Christian thought.
- Read a book about the history of our church. Ken Kinghorn’s book The Heritage of American Methodist is a wonderful book to give the broad overview of where we have come from, what we believe, and where we are going. Collin’s A Real Christian: The Life of John Wesley is also worth reading.
- Pick up a deeper theological book. Try out Portraits of God by Alan Coppedge. It’s not for everyone, but it is very worthwhile biblical theology from a Wesleyan perspective.
Albert Outler, in perhaps his most widely read book, Theology in the Wesleyan Spirit, claims that the balance between biblical theology and openness to non-Christian knowledge is a formative characteristic of theology in the Methodist spirit.[1] Thus, Wesleyans particularly, to be true to their inherited traditions, must emphasize all kinds of learning, not simply biblical/theological. The most important theological category in Wesleyan thought, the lynchpin that holds the whole together, is prevenient grace. By God’s prevenient grace, we seek for truth even if it comes from non-Christian sources. This view on religion and learning can be aptly mapped with the helpful and timeless categories of Richard Niebuhr, in his classic Christ and Culture.[2] We understand grace as that which restores nature. Grace enters into nature to renew it from within and to bring it back to its created purpose. The purpose of grace is to reinstate nature, but in order to do this it must oppose the sinful perversion of nature. Niebuhr calls this ‘Christ the transformer of culture’ (p. 190ff).
Augustine claimed that it was proper to accept and use the intellectual property of the pagans, so long as it was converted to Christian purposes (De Doctrina Christiana II:40). All the riches of classical learning, especially literature, law and ethics, are not to be rejected, says Augustine, nor are they simply accepted without qualification. They are interpreted from the Christian perspective, and thus converted to the great project of bringing glory to God. This is what Outler characterizes as ‘Theology in the Wesleyan Spirit.’ On one had, we do not only study Bible and theology. Our interests go much father, and we value, accumulate, and interpret knowledge from the secular world. On the other hand, Bible and theology should not simply be another class in the curriculum. If God is to be our God, and if our theology has any relation to a God who is, then this is where we start and end. This is the great truth which must inform the whole. All learning is prized by Methodists, but only as it comes under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
