As United Methodists we look to four sources to guide us in living out our faith in Jesus Christ. The first and foremost source is the Bible. The Old and New Testament scriptures are the primary guide we have for living out our faith. In addition to and secondary to the scriptures are tradition (the witness of faith of past generations), reason, and experience. Using these four sources as guides, we seek to interpret and apply the truth of the Gospel in the 21st century.
Using this method of living out faith, the General Conference of the United Methodist Church has written a document called “The Social Principles”. “The Social Principles” are faith statements guided by the sources of scripture, tradition, reason, and experience, and they address a wide variety of contemporary issues like marriage and sexuality, bio-technology, war and peace, immigration, and many other issues relevant to life in the 21st century.
“The Social Principles” are not church law, and the United Methodist Church does not expect everyone to think the same on these issues. Instead we look to “The Social Principles” as an invitation for us all to have a prayerful and studied dialogue of current issues. From this study and dialogue, we seek to live out our faith through loving action that will change the world.
If you would like to read “The Social Principles”, please visit www.umc.org.
