The Methodist Church
In 1729, John and Charles Wesley (members of the Episcopal Church) began meeting with others in "Holy Clubs". The purpose of these meetings was to overcome the cold and formal rituals of the Episcopal Church and stimulate spirituality among its members. They scheduled daily duties, visits and even prayed aloud three times a day. On May 24, 1738, while attending a prayer meeting in London, John began to believe in salvation by faith, opposing rules and laws. As other groups met together they became known as Methodists because of their methodical manner of life. In 1784, John ordained his own ministers, when the Bishop of London refused to do so. This actions caused him to be formally removed from the Episcopal Church (the church of England). The Methodist book of Discipline was first prepared by Wesley when he adopted 24 of the 39 Articles of the Episcopal Church.
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Words of Men |
Words of God |
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"The Methodist Church is a church of Christ in which the pure word of God is preached and the Sacraments duly administered." (Harmon, p. 3 Doctrines and Discipline of the Methodist Church) |
"Methodist" not found in Bible.
"Sacraments" not found in Bible. |
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"There are two Sacraments, Baptism and the Lord's Supper" (Sockman, p. 86, What Is A Methodist) |
Sacrament -- a word carried over from the Catholic tradition, not found in the Bible. |
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"Let every adult person, and the parents of every child to be baptized, have the choice of sprinkling, pouring or immersion" (Methodist Discipline p. 410) |
Baptism was immersion or "buried" in and "raising up" from water. (Acts 8:36-39; Romans 6:3,4; Colossians 2:12) |
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"The baptism of infants is jsutified on the basis taht Jesus 'Suffer the children to come unto me'". (Discipline art. 1910) |
Jesus was not teaching on the subject of baptism in Matthew 19:14. Infants are never baptized in the scriptures. |
Source: Traditions of Men Versus the Word of God by Alvin Jennings
"...was it from heaven, or from men?" Luke 20:4
Daniel S. Dow
Huntington Church of Christ
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