Dido
...not preach your personal theology but preach the theology of the church
United Methodists are not supposed to contradict the church's doctrinal standards, but can "go beyond and expand
Wesley believed that the doctrine of the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit was a "fundamental belief" of Christian faith
Believing in the "complete divinity" of Christ was also "essential" to Christianity
Wesley thought there was "nothing of greater consequence" than the doctrine of atonement. Without belief in the atonement, religion becomes merely deism, Wesley feared
Wesley did not insist on "any particular understanding" of the atonement, but emphasized that "salvation was based on the whole life of Christ."
Wesley was committed to the traditional Protestant doctrine of Scripture alone as the final authority for the church
Wesley leaned on Eastern Orthodox traditions by stressing that we are "liable for own sins, not the sins of our parents."
Wesley affirmed and thought essential was justification by faith alone, Wesley's emphasis was slightly different because he insisted that faith cannot mean only assent but must engage the heart and affections.
Wesley's seventh essential doctrine was regeneration through the "new birth," Campbell said. Methodism's founder warned against leaning on the "slender read of baptism," when salvation required being born again. Belief in the possibility of entire sanctification beyond regeneration was a distinguishing mark of Methodism, though Campbell said Wesley did not make that an essential Christian doctrine.
United Methodism, "We are a church with clear doctrine. It shapes our practice in ways we don't know."
Bishop Jones said Campbell's description of Wesley's theological "distinctions" was "wrong" because Wesley believed there should be nothing distinct about Methodism. Wesley asserted he was preaching "just the...
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