The Discipline is a record of the successive stages of
spiritual insight attained by Methodists under the grace
of Christ. We therefore expect that the Discipline would
be administered, not merely as a legal document, but as
a revelation of the Holy Spirit working in and through our
people. For this reason we wish that the Discipline might
be found in every Methodist home, because it contains the
Articles of our Religion.
Council of the Bishops 1960 A.D.
Articles of Religion
p67. Section 3-Our doctrinal standards and general rules
the articles of religion of the Methodist church
Article I.-Of Faith in the
Holy Trinity
There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without
body or parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness;
the maker and preserver of all things, both visible and
invisible. And in unity of this Godhead there are three
persons, of one substance, power, and eternity-the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
Article II.-Of the Word, or
Son of God, Who Was Made Very Man
The Son, who is the Word of the Father, the very and eternal
God, of one substance with the Father, took man's nature
in the womb of the blessed Virgin; so that two whole and
perfect natures, that is to say, the Godhead and Manhood,
were joined together in one person, never to be divided;
whereof is one Christ, very God and very Man, who truly
suffered, was crucified, dead, and buried, to reconcile
his Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, not only for original
guilt, but also for actual sins of men.
Article III.-Of the Resurrection
of Christ
Christ did truly rise again from the dead, and took again
his body, with all things appertaining to the perfection
of man's nature, wherewith he ascended into heaven, and
there sitteth until he return to judge all men at the last
day.
Article IV.-Of the Holy Ghost
The Holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father and the Son,
is of one substance, majesty, and glory with the Father
and the Son, very and eternal God.
Article V.-Of the Sufficiency
of the Holy Scriptures for Salvation
The Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to
salvation; so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may
be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man that
it should be believed as an article of faith, or be thought
requisite or necessary to salvation. In the name of the
Holy Scripture we do understand those canonical books of
the Old and New Testament of whose authority was never any
doubt in the Church. The names of the canonical books are:
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua,
Judges, Ruth, The First Book of Samuel, The Second Book
of Samuel, The First Book of Kings, The Second Book of Kings,
The First Book of Chronicles, The Second Book of Chronicles,
The Book of Ezra, The Book of Nehemiah, The Book of Esther,
The Book of Job, The Psalms, The Proverbs, Ecclesiastes
or the Preacher, Cantica or Songs of Solomon, Four Prophets
the Greater, Twelve Prophets the Less. All the books of
the New Testament, as they are commonly received, we do
receive and account canonical.
Article VI.-Of the Old Testament
The Old Testament is not contrary to the New; for both
in the Old and New Testament everlasting life is offered
to mankind by Christ, who is the only Mediator between God
and man, being both God and Man. Wherefore they are not
to be heard who feign that the old fathers did look only
for transitory promises. Although the law given from God
by Moses as touching ceremonies and rites doth not bind
Christians, nor ought the civil precepts thereof of necessity
be received in any commonwealth; yet notwithstanding, no
Christian whatsoever is free from the obedience of the commandments
which are called moral.
Article VII.-Of Original or
Birth Sin
Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam (as
the Pelagians do vainly talk), but it is the corruption
of the nature of every man, that naturally is engendered
of the offspring of Adam, whereby man is very far gone from
original righteousness, and of his own nature inclined to
evil, and that continually.
Article VIII.-Of Free Will
The condition of man after the fall of Adam is such that
he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength
and works, to faith, and calling upon God; wherefore we
have no power to do good works, pleasant and acceptable
to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing us,
that we may have a good will, and working with us, when
we have that good will.
Article IX.-Of the Justification
of Man
We are accounted righteous before God only for the merit
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by faith, and not
for our own works or deservings. Wherefore, that we are
justified by faith, only, is a most wholesome doctrine,
and very full of comfort.
Article X.-Of Good Works
Although good works, which are the fruits of faith, and
follow after justification, cannot put away our sins, and
endure the severity of God's judgment; yet are they pleasing
and acceptable to God in Christ, and spring out of a true
and lively faith, insomuch that by them a lively faith may
be as evidently known as a tree is discerned by its fruit.
Article XI.-Of Works of Supererogation
Voluntary works-besides, over and above God's commandments-which
they call works of supererogation, cannot be taught without
arrogancy and impiety. For by them men do declare that they
do not only render unto God as much as they are bound to
do, but that they do more for his sake than of bounden duty
is required; whereas Christ saith plainly: When you have
done all that is commanded you, say, We are unprofitable
servants.
Article XII.-Of Sin After Justification
Not every sin willingly committed after justification
is the sin against the Holy Ghost, and unpardonable. Wherefore,
the grant of repentance is not to be denied to such as fall
into sin after justification. After we have received the
Holy Ghost, we may depart from grace given, and fall into
sin, and, by the grace of God, rise again and amend our
lives. And therefore they are to be condemned who say they
can no more sin as long as they live here; or deny the place
of forgiveness to such as truly repent.
Article XIII.-Of the Church
The visible Church of Christ is a congregation of faithful
men in which the pure Word of God is preached, and the Sacraments
duly administered according to Christ's ordinance, in all
those things that of necessity are requisite to the same.
Article XIV.-Of Purgatory
The Romish doctrine concerning purgatory, pardon, worshiping,
and adoration, as well of images as of relics, and also
invocation of saints, is a fond thing, vainly invented,
and grounded upon no warrant of Scripture, but repugnant
to the Word of God.
Article XV.-Of Speaking in
the Congregation in Such a
Tongue as the People Understand It is a thing plainly
repugnant to the Word of God, and the custom of the primitive
Church, to have public prayer in the church, or to minister
the Sacraments, in a tongue not understood by the people.
Article XVI.-Of the Sacraments
Sacraments ordained of Christ are not only badges or tokens
of Christian men's profession, but rather they are certain
signs of grace, and God's good will toward us, by which
he doth work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken,
but also strengthen and confirm, our faith in him. There
are two Sacraments ordained of Christ our Lord in the Gospel;
that is to say, Baptism and the Supper of the Lord.
Those five commonly called sacraments, that is to say,
confirmation, penance, orders, matrimony, and extreme unction,
are not to be counted for Sacraments of the Gospel; being
such as have partly grown out of the corrupt following of
the apostles, and partly are states of life allowed in the
Scriptures, but yet have not the like nature of Baptism
and the Lord's Supper, because they have not any visible
sign or ceremony ordained of God. The Sacraments were not
ordained of Christ to be gazed upon, or to be carried about;
but that we should duly use them. And in such only as worthily
receive the same, they have a wholesome effect or operation;
but they that receive them unworthily, purchase to themselves
condemnation, as St. Paul saith.
Article XVII.-Of Baptism
Baptism is not only a sign of profession and mark of difference
whereby Christians are distinguished from others that are
not baptized; but it is also a sign of regeneration or the
new birth. The baptism of young children is to be retained
in the church.
Article XVIII.-Of the Lord's
Supper
The Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the love
that Christians ought to have among themselves one to another,
but rather is a sacrament of our redemption by Christ's
death; insomuch that, to such as rightly, worthily, and
with faith receive the same, the bread which we break is
a partaking of the body of Christ; and likewise the cup
of blessing is a partaking of the blood of Christ. Transubstantiation,
or the change of the substance of bread and wine in the
Supper of our Lord, cannot be proved by Holy Writ, but is
repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, overthroweth
the nature of a sacrament, and hath given occasion to many
superstitions.The body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten
in the Supper, only after a heavenly and spiritual manner.
And the mean whereby the body of Christ is received and
eaten in the Supper is faith. The Sacrament of the Lord's
Supper was not by Christ's ordinance reserved, carried about,
lifted up, or worshiped.
Article XIX.-Of Both Kinds
The cup of the Lord is not to be denied to the lay people;
for both the parts of the Lord's Supper, by Christ's ordinance
and commandment, ought to be administered to all Christians
alike.
Article XX.-Of the One Oblation
of Christ,
Finished upon the Cross The offering of Christ, once made,
is that perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction
for all the sins of the whole world, both original and actual;
and there is none other satisfaction for sin but that alone.
Wherefore the sacrifice of masses, in the which it is commonly
said that the priest doth offer Christ for the quick and
the dead, to have remission of pain or guilt, is a blasphemous
fable and dangerous deceit.
Article XXI.-Of the Marriage
of Ministers
The ministers of Christ are not commanded by God's law
either to vow the estate of single life, or to abstain from
marriage; therefore it is lawful for them, as for all other
Christians, to marry at their own discretion, as they shall
judge the same to serve best to godliness.
Article XXII.-Of the Rites
and Ceremonies of Churches
It is not necessary that rites and ceremonies should in
all places be the same, or exactly alike; for they have
been always different, and may be changed according to the
diversity of countries, times, and men's manners, so that
nothing be ordained against God's Word. Whosoever, through
his private judgment, willingly and purposely doth openly
break the rites and ceremonies of the church to which he
belongs, which are not repugnant to the Word of God, and
are ordained and approved by common authority, ought to
be rebuked openly, that others may fear to do the like,
as one that offendeth against the common order of the church,
and woundeth the consciences of weak brethren. Every particular
church may ordain, change, or abolish rites and ceremonies,
so that all things may be done to edification.
Article XXIII.-Of the Rulers
of the United States of America
The President, the Congress, the general assemblies, the
governors, and the councils of state, as the delegates of
the people, are the rulers of the United States of America,
according to the division of power made to them by the Constitution
of the United States and by the constitutions of their respective
states. And the said states are a sovereign and independent
nation, and ought not to be subject to any foreign jurisdiction.
Article XXIV.-Of Christian
Men's Goods
The riches and goods of Christians are not common as touching
the right, title, and possession of the same, as some do
falsely boast. Notwithstanding, every man ought, of such
things as he possesseth, liberally to give alms to the poor,
according to his ability.
Article XXV.-Of a Christian
Man's Oath
As we confess that vain and rash swearing is forbidden
Christian men by our Lord Jesus Christ and James his apostle,
so we judge that the Christian religion doth not prohibit,
but that a man may swear when the magistrate requireth,
in a cause of faith and charity, so it be done according
to the prophet's teaching, in justice, judgment, and truth.
[Bibliographical Note: The Articles of Religion are here
reprinted from the Discipline of 1808 (when the first Restrictive
Rule took effect), collated against Wesley's original text
in The Sunday Service of the Methodists (1784). To these
are added two Articles: Of Sanctification and Of the Duty
of Christians to the Civil Authority, which are legislative
enactments and not integral parts of the document as protected
by the Constitution (see Judicial Council Decisions 41,
176).]
Taken from The Book of Discipline 1992; The United Methodist
Publishing House
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