The task of theology is not the same as the task of interpreting Scripture. However, they complement each other. A very loose description of theology is that theology is the exercise of thinking about God. Anytime, anywhere, a person thinks about God, theology is taking place. Nonetheless, a proper theological exercise must be taken further and deeper. John Wesley affirmed the authority of Scripture for correct biblical interpretation and theology. He contributed what is known as the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. He recognized four sources for constructing theology: Scripture, reason, tradition, and experience:

Scripture. The central source for any theology. It is only out of this source that the other three can have meaning.

By Reason, it is understood that a theological tenet must make sense with who God is as described in the Biblical witness.

Tradition refers to the tradition of the Christian church. In other words, one must consider the ways in which the Church has believed and understood a specific belief.

Experience refers to one’s or a community’s experience. Wesley’s view of Scripture would not allow, and it should not be, that these sources of theology are taken individually or out of context. The Wesleyan Quadrilateral is without a doubt a great tool to learn to believe correctly about God.

W Q Applied. Belief: Jesus is God.

Scripture: The witness of the gospels and the entire New Testament without a doubt testify to the deity of Christ.

Reason: Does it make sense that Jesus was God? It would not if he would not have told us so. However, he told us that he was one with the father, that he and the father are one. The is trustworthy because His life and ministry back his own claims so therefore it makes sense to believe what he said about himself.

Experience: By my experience and the one of millions of people throughout history I can testify that Jesus is God.

Tradition: Since the beginnings of Christianity -as described in the book of Acts- the church has believed that Jesus was indeed who he said he was. The followers of Christ since then have believed in the deity of Christ. This has been made evident in their lives, and it has been affirmed collectively as the people of God (i.e Nicene Creed A.D. 325)

As a result of this, one can say that it is correct to believe that Jesus is God. Try it out! Think of a belief that you have heard and use the WQ to test it.

“I look upon the world as my parish” said John Wesley. It was this incredible insight and belief that made John Wesley one of the great leaders of the Christian church. He was born on June 17, 1703 in England. He and his brother Charles were used by God to bring about the movement that grew to become the denomination known today as Methodism.

John Wesley almost died as a boy during a fire. However, his life was saved by two villagers that saw his face through a window on the second floor of the building and rescued him. John always looked upon this event to describe himself as a branch plucked from the fire (Zach. 3:2).

While a student at Oxford University, John, his brother Charles, and George Whitfield began meeting daily for prayer and devotions. This became known as the Holy club. Because of their method of learning the Bible and growing in Christ the tem Methodist was first given to the members of this club.

After an unsuccessful visit to America as a missionary, he returned to England. However, his visit was not completely without any fruit. Out of this visit, Charles and John discovered their need to experience saving faith in Jesus Christ, so both, at different times experienced full assurance of salvation.

John became the known as the pastor of England on his own right. It is estimated that he traveled more than 250,000 miles on horseback preaching the gospel in any place that would receive him. “I gave them all to Christ” he once said about this unparalleled effort.

His writings and sermons are part of his legacy to us. He was a dedicated servant of Christ. It is estimated that there are more than 23,500,000 members of the Methodist church today. However, his influence is not only felt among the Methodists, his influence is present in the entire world. (click here to learn more).

Have you ever had extra money? I have. I remember getting $100 dollars that I was not expecting at all. I felt like a new world of possibilities had just opened for me. Perhaps this does not sound like a lot of money to you, however, I was a poor college student, so it was quite an event for me. I soon started to think how I was going to spend it. First (I reasoned) I must treat myself to a nice meal in a nice restaurant. Second, I must place that bid on Ebay on this auction I have been keeping an eye on. I also would like to buy a nice shirt, and then blow the rest this weekend at the movies and coffee at Starbucks. Sure enough, in a matter of days I was out of my extra $100 dollars and feeling happy about having had such opportunity. A few days later it hit me, I not even once thought about God in this whole planning on how to spend my extra money. I did not consider it a blessing at the time, and did not think that this may have happened for a specific purpose.
A few years later, while in graduate school, I received a letter from a friend who was sending me $200. He told me that he had run into some extra cash and had heard that I was a student and wanted to help me out. An helped me out he did. The money came at a time in where I was desperately in need of a miracle, I had just bought my books for school and was out of money. I still needed to buy gas and complete rent so I felt blessed beyond measure. I immediately thought about the time I ran into extra cash and how I decided to spend it.
I felt terrible that I did not pray about what to do and did not consider why this had happened. I thought that I could have blessed someone just like I had been blessed. However, my own interests were at play.
I know, I was selfish. From that point on I decided to ask God to give me a generous heart. Not only that, to help be more aware of the world around me. Many times we are wanting God to use us and fail to identify areas through which he can do that.
I know that the financial area is part of this as a college student. It is true, that college students don’t have a lot of money, however, the little or much you have can be used to bless others in the name of God. Proverbs 11:25 reminds us that, a generous person will prosper, he who refreshes others will be refreshed.”
I have experienced using my money for a lot of extra things that I don’t need. I have also experienced giving money to people in need. I can tell you that the refreshment and freedom that comes in your life when you practice generosity in God’s name and out of love for him changes you and changes the world around you. Money will come and go, the world and its desires will pass away, but whoever does the will of God will live forever. 1 John 2:17

It is not often that one thinks about what happens to followers of Christ once the New Testament accounts end. We hear and think about followers of Christ in the book of Acts, and then we really don’t know what happens after that. Who followed the tradition of the apostles? Who was in charge after the 12 apostles died? How did Christianity spread throughout the world and still remain faithful to the teachings of Christ? The answers to these questions can be approached by considering those individuals who followed after the apostles referred to as the Church Fathers, or Apostolic Fathers. Ignatius of Antioch is one of them.
Ignatius was the bishop of Antioch in the late first century. This city is a key city for Christianity. It was there that the followers of Christ were fist called “Christians” (Acts 11:26), and it was there that the gospel was preached both to Jews and Gentiles alike by key church leaders such as Peter, and Paul. Around 98 A.D. when Christianity was spreading rapidly, Ignatius was arrested and taken to Rome to meet his fate. The trip (via Asia Minor) was long and hard; nonetheless, this did not stop Ignatius from writing letters to key churches in the area. These letters, known as Ignatius letters, are valued as one of “the most beautiful treasures bequeathed by the second century church.”
Ignatius wrote to places like Ephesus, Rome, Philadelphia, and Smyrna; all cities mentioned in the New Testament and considered key in the spread and solidification of Christianity. The content of these letters includes a strong appeal to churches to not intervene on his behalf because he considers his arrest and certain martyrdom in Rome a privilege for the sake of Christ.
Ignatius cites the Old Testament, Matthew, and Paul, among others. Above all these however, it is Paul and his letters that seemed to have the most influence on him as demonstrated in one of his writings:
“Paul, who was sanctified, who gained a good report, who was right blessed, in whose footsteps may I be found when I shall attain God (Ign. Eph. 12:2).

The Passion for Correct Belief
Ignatius was passionate about the reality of the deity of Christ. In line with the Apostles and the early church (see John 1), he believed that Jesus came in the flesh and lived and dwelled fully among them. However, at this early stage of Christianity there were already other beliefs that differed from those of the Apostles’ teachings and those of Christ himself. Such is the case of Docetism (more on this on page 4) , a belief that stated that Jesus was not human, he only appeared to be human and his suffering was nothing but an appearance. The theological implications were tremendous because the deity of Christ and sacrifice on the cross were at stake. Not only that, but according to Ignatius, those who held that belief disregarded love, care, and concern for those whom Jesus commanded them to love.
Ignatius loved Christ and was willing to show his devotion to him no matter what it took. He wrote:
I am God’s wheat, ground fine by the lion’s teeth to be made purest bread for Christ. No earthly pleasures, no kingdoms of this world can benefit me in any way. I prefer death in Christ Jesus to power over the farthest limits of the earth. He who died in place of us is the one object of my quest. He who rose for our sakes is my one desire. The time for my birth is close at hand. Forgive me, my brothers. Do not stand in the way of my birth to real life; do not wish me stillborn. My desire is to belong to God. Do not, then, hand me back to the world. do not try to tempt me with material things. Let me attain pure light. Only on my arrival there can I be fully a human being. Give me the privilege of imitating the passion of my God. Ignatius letter Romans 4.
This desire was fulfilled in his life as he was martyred around 98 AD. The life of Ignatius is an inspiration to many, his approach to life and defense of his beloved Lord, remain faithful testimonies of the possibility of living as a disciple of Christ.

Docetism is the belief that Christ only appeared to be human. It is derived from the Greek word “dokeo” which means to appear or resemble. To believe that Jesus was not human does away with the incarnation of Christ entirely. This belief was held by some people in the early church. Even though their intentions in explaining how it was possible that God came in the flesh were well intended, they ended proposing something that contradicted the very core of the life and ministry of Christ. If Christ only appeared to be human, he did not truly die on the cross. He did not endure temptation and he did not suffer at all. As you can see, this is very problematic. The apostles themselves saw this as a great danger to the centrality of the redeeming work of Christ. Because of this, they rightly considered it a heresy. After all, they lived and interacted with Jesus, they witnessed Thomas placing his fingers on the wounds of the resurrected Christ, they saw the Lord suffer at the cross. This was not a resemblance, it was the most real thing they have ever known.

When Docetism started spreading among the early churches, the apostles were prompt in correcting this wrong belief. Paul writes in Colossians 1:19 that God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Jesus. This letter, as does the entire New Testament seek to establish that Jesus was God. Nowhere is it best written as in John 1:14, “The Word (Jesus) became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” During the times of Ignatius of Antioch this wrong belief had spread widely. It is this that motivated Ignatius -as it did all the apostles of Christ before him, to defend the deity of Christ.

Here are just two arguments why we believe in the deity of Christ: (quoted from the handbook of Christian Apologetics by Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli)

1. Christ’s trustworthiness. In reading the Gospels one can see that Jesus was a good and wise man. Most people in the world, including religious people such as Ghandi, see him as history’s greatest moral teacher. He is in short, eminently trustworthy. Therefore we must trust Jesus and his teachings. Not just a few, but all of them, including his teaching on his identity. In John 10:30 we read that Jesus said, “I and the father are one.” (Read also Jn. 14:9; Jn. 8:46; Lk 5:21; Mt 25:31-46; Jn 6:51; Jn 8:12; Jn 14:6; Jn 8:58

2. Lord, Liar, or Lunatic? The dilemma is as old as the earliest Christian apologists: Aut des aut homomalus, “either God or a bad man.” that is the classic argument. Here is how it looks broken down:

a) Jesus was either God (if he did not lie about who he was) or a bad man (if he did).
b) But Jesus was not a bad man.
c) Therefore Jesus was (is) God.

Interesting Quote:

Thomas Aquinas argued that if the incarnation did not really happen, then an even more unbelievable miracle happened: the conversion of the world by the biggest lie in history and the moral transformation of lives into unselfishness, detachment from world pleasures and radically new heights in holiness all by a mere myth.

The author of this epistle identifies himself as a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James. Even though the intended purpose for writing this letter was to encourage the recipients about the salvation they had in common, it was promptly changed as Jude received discouraging reports that false teachings not only were being taught but welcomed by the congregation. Jude has strong words of warning and admonition for those espousing teachings that deny the grace of God and the deity of Christ. Most likely false teachers had infiltrated the church and Jude makes an appeal to remember what the apostles of Jesus Christ foretold. vs. 17.

Even though this is one of the shortest letters in the NT, it is also one who has caused a good deal of controversy. This is due to the fact that Jude quotes from extracanonical sources, namely 1 Enoch and possibly The Assumption of Moses. Many reasons have been brought forward about this matter, nevertheless, one must not loose sight of the main message of this letter: Jude is condemning false teachers and does so using all the resources he has available that would definitively make the teachings of Christ and the faith of the apostles (as preservers of these teachings) an ultimate authority.
After an opening formula (vv.1-2) the main body of the letter follows (vv. 3-23), bringing the letter to a close in verse 24 with a solemn doxology about the glory and faithfulness of Christ.

Within the main body of the letter, Jude provides three examples of those who dilute the message of God and reject Christ: 1. Israelites out of Egypt, 2. angels, and 3. people who lived in Sodom and Gomorrah. The false teachers that Jude is condemning are similar to them. Furthermore, Jude provides alludes to three consequences of what will happen to them: 1. the way of Cain, 2. Balaam’s error, and 3. Korah’s rebellion. All these considered by Jewish people as bad leaders who worked against God and paid a high price for it. The letters continues providing arguments for holding on to the teachings of Christ by praying, holding on to the faith, and continue living in the love and grace of God. This, with confidence, knowing that God is able to keep us from falling (vv 24).

This epistle is vastly accepted by Biblical scholars as having been written by Paul. This letter is addressed to the church that meets in Philippi, a congregation that was mostly comprised of Gentile believers. The church was founded by Paul during his second missionary journey. Acts 16 tells of how Paul went to outside the city gate to search for a place of prayer where he could teach. Once he found it, he began teaching to a group of women that were gathered there. One of those that heard and accepted Paul’s message was Lydia, a seller of purple cloth. She not only received the message but opened her house for Paul to stay and teach there. Thus the church at Philippi began.

The contents of the letter suggest that the church there began a partnership with Paul from the beginning. Throughout the letter one can read Paul setting the ground for encouraging a proper response to persecution that they could face. Paul is not foreign to it -they know this about him- so he also prepares them by telling them that they will get to share in his sufferings as well. Paul refers to them as their partners in the Gospel, not only of his afflictions but also in their giving for his preaching of the gospel in other areas. The tone of the letter is such that allows us to see the extent of Paul’s determination to proclaim Christ even if were to cost him his very life (Phil.1:21). After a brief but meaningful salutation, Paul goes on to present Jesus as an example of the attitude followers of Christ ought to have. He not only stops there but moves on to present Timothy and Epaphroditus as examples of this very attitude. In chapter 3 Paul warns the church about those who present themselves as teachers of a pseudo gospel that requires believers in Christ to observe Jewish customs alongside the teachings of Christ. Paul responds saying that this is confidence in the flesh, not in Christ. He could have reasons to confide in the flesh, however, in contrast to Christ this is worthless. Therefore faith in Christ is the central goal for being a disciple. Paul calls for imitation of his life in order that they might practice the very attitude of Christ as he is doing. If this does not happen, the result could be like that of Euodia and Syntyche (chap. 4) who even though are fellow workers in Christ are in conflict with each other not having the mind of Christ. He ends the letter by thanking them for their care and concern and encouraging them to remain faithful. The letter of Paul has inspired countless of people and will continue to do so. See next page so you can memorize some of the key verses.