Monday's thoughts

"When Tradition is Treacherous"

I am going to do a series of sermons on how Untied Methodists think theologically. I want us to look at what we call the Quadrilateral. As United Methodists we don't have a creed and we don't have a firm doctrine that is unique to us and different from other Christian denominations but we do have the quadrilateral.

There are four resources of faith that we employ to think theologically and make our decision. They are scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. Each week for the next four weeks I am going to explore one of these int he sermon.

January 17 Tradition
January 24 Reason
January 31 Experience
February 7 Scripture (one of the other preachers will handle this one)

What tradition directs our thinking?
a. The ethical monotheism of Judaism
b. The sense of ritual of Catholicism
c. The idea of the priesthood of all believers of the reformation
d. The "catholic spirit" of John Wesley "We think and let think"

What are the important parts of our tradition that mean something to you? What tradition should we retain and what should we reject?

If you have thoughts about this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your ideas click on the box below.

I look forward to hearing from you.


Charles