Wesleyan Quadrilateral

Wesleyan Quadrilateral

(So this is how I determine what I believe to be true or not)

The four sources are:
• Scripture - The Holy Bible (Old and New Testaments)
• Tradition - The two millennia history of the Christian Church
• Reason - Rational thinking and sensible interpretation
• Experience - A Christian's personal and communal journey in Christ

Scripture: Tradition, Reason, and Experience do not form additional "sources" for theological truth, but the Scriptures are the absolute final authority for faith, doctrine and life; therefore, all doctrinal, moral, ethical, and epistemic justification for truth must be formulated from sound interpretation of Scripture. Because the Bible is the inspired, authoritative, infallible, divine revelation of God to man, it is the responsibility of every born again Christian to learn, study, and obey the Word of Truth.

Tradition: Tradition is most often misunderstood as a means of filtering truth. When we as believer use “tradition” we should not being using in way that pull us away from that which has been clearly demonstrated in Scripture. However, to ignore how theologians have hammered out certain theological truths we should embrace to general what has been accepted as truth claims. For example, we (All Believers) accepts the “Solia-Scriptura,” from the reformation meaning Scripture and Scripture alone! This comes from Church history and has been commonly embraced truth by all Evangelical believers. We also believe in the “Five Major Church Councils” from the first century. The council of Nica in 325 A.D, which of course settled the Arian dispute which involved the nature of Christ as God and the nature of the Trinity. The council of Constantinople in 381 A.D, which of course affirmed the humanity and deity of Christ and the personality of the Holy Spirit. The council of Ephesus in 431 A.D, which of course emphasized the unity of Christ personality and rejected and/or condemned/tossed out Pelagius as a heretic. The council of Chalcedon 451 A.D, which of course stated the relationship between the two nature of Christ. The council of Constantinople in 553 A.D, which of course dealt with the person of Christ, his humanity and His divinity. But unlike the Bible, Tradition is not an infallible instrument, and it must be balanced and tested by Reason and Experience. The point being is that we should always look in tradition when we are coming into formulating doctrinal truth, unless it come in direct conflict with clear Biblical teaching.

Reason: Rational thinking and sensible interpretation meaning that because error strikes deep into the human mind; men have often ignored sound thinking. The Bible warns against malicious misinterpretation of the Scriptures. II Corinthians 2:17 says, "Unlike many, we do not peddle, the Word of God for profit." The key word in this passage is "peddle," or as the King James Version puts it, "corrupts." The Greek word for "corrupt" is (Kapeleuo). The best rendering of this word can be best ascertained by a comparison and contrast with its verb form in 4:2, which means: to handle deceitfully, or adulterate or pervert the Word of Truth. The only way to avoid adulteration of the Bible is to formulate sound principles for interpretation. Reason is the means by which we may evaluate and even challenge the assumptions of Tradition. Reason is the first means by which we may "trim our sails" and adjust interpretations of Scripture. History shows us that erroneous principles have often spoiled the interpretational work of fine men. This should be a warning to us against carelessness in interpretation. There is no excuse for us because we can profit by the lessons of the past. The possibility to adulterating or misinterpreting the Word of God is tremendous. This must be avoided at all cost! God has given His best by giving and preserving His precious Word for us. We should give our best in interpreting it through all means of reason and thus love God with all of our minds.

Experience: A Christian's personal and communal journey in Christ is the chief test of the "truth and nothing but the whole truth" of a particular interpretation of scripture is how it is seen in practical application in one's Experience. We know in Scripture that Christ suffered and died that we may be “born again” and all throughout tradition (church history) we know that the doctrine of “Solia-Gratia” at the core of the Gospel message. Meaning Salvation is by grace alone! Salvation is God free gift accomplished by the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Salvation is not by any human merit! Forgiveness for sins cannot be bought with money it only comes through the grace of Christ! But it is our experience that reinforces and affirms the truth that we extract from Scripture, tradition and reason. However, history has also proven that sensationalism has had a major impact and has led people astray. Experience does not dictate truth, in so much as, we don’t go to the Scripture to prove our experience rather we must bow our experience to the truth of Scripture. For Scriptures are the absolute final authority for faith and experience.

This how I Determine What I Believe to be True or Not
How I do you determine what you believe to be true or not. I believe that we should all have sold filter before we accept something as true, especially things relating to spiritual matters. I've posted what my filter is, now take few minutes and consider what the "Wesleyan Quadrilateral" could mean to you.