As United Methodists, we have an obligation to bear a faithful Christian witness
to Jesus Christ, the living reality at the center of the Church’s life and
witness. To fulfill this obligation, we reflect critically on our biblical and
theological inheritance, striving to express faithfully the witness we make in
our own time.
Two considerations are central to this endeavor: the sources
from which we derive our theological affirmations and the criteria by which we
assess the adequacy of our understanding and witness.
John Wesley believed that the living core of the Christian faith was
revealed in Scripture, illumined by tradition, vivified in personal experience,
and confirmed by reason.