Twenty fourth Thursday after Pentecost

Thanks to Frances for her comment: "Can you expand on "Wainwright contends that good Christian theology grows out of liturgy and not so much the other way around"? Liturgy is really important to me."

 

 It's not an easy question. I could cop out and say, "Frances, just read the book," My problem is that my answer to the question is my interpretation of Wainwright, which may be not exactly the way others would interpret or the way Wainwright intended. 

When I read theology, especially theology from a Methodist theologian, my own interpretive framework goes immediately to the Wesleyan Quadrilateral--Scripture, Tradition, Reason, Experience. I think yours probably does too, Frances. After all, you see it on that breathtaking quilted wall hanging every time you walk into your church. I tend to see what I read through the lens of the Quadrilateral

I should note that Wainwright was a British Methodist, not an American United Methodist. The Wesleyan Quadrilteral is not a term Wesley himself ever used but was the creation of an American Methodist theologian and church historian, Albert Outler. I don't recall Wainwright using that term. I do think that the Quadrilateral accurately describes Wesley's theology--that these four are our authorities for faith (in contrast to Calvinists, who claim sola scriptura (scripture alone). 

Liturgy falls under all four in some ways, but especially under tradition and experience. Under tradition, liturgy expresses the earliest elements of the Christian faith preserved and passed down through the generations. The two earliest pieces of Christian liturgy go back to Christ himself, the Lord's Prayer and the words of institution of the Lord's Supper. The Church was already every Sunday doing these two liturgical practices from the beginning, well before Paul wrote about Holy Communion in 1 Corinthians 11. Matthew, Acts, and Paul's letters make clear that Baptism was a liturgical act from the beginning. 

As the tradition evolved, new forms of liturgy took root. The lectionaries made Bible reading liturgical. The Communion liturgy developed. The Creeds were written in the fourth century. Saying one of the Creeds (primarily the Apostles' Creed or the Nicene Creed) became a part of the liturgy. On the one hand, the creeds and other liturgical practices are works of theology; on the other hand, subsequent theology derives from them. Even those who reject the creeds, i.e. Baptists, build their theology through them. They may deny tradition, but tradition underlies their thinking. 

Experience is the other Wesleyan Quadrilateral element prominent in liturgy. Liturgy enables us to experience God's presence, to experience the body and blood of our savior becoming a part of our own body and blood, in whatever way you understand it. Much of Wesley's best theology derives from his own experience of God. Wesley was an Anglican all his life. Liturgy was deeply important to him. Frontier conditions in 18th and 19th centuries diminished Methodist liturgy in America. Many of us over the last four or five decades have been trying to bring it back. 

Again, thanks to Frances. As I'm finding it harder to say something new in the Wednesday through Friday days of the blog, I would really love to have more questions and comments from you readers.

In tomorrow's blog I'm going to initiate what I hope will be a helpful discussion on the effects of Coronavirus on the Church. It's something we're all experiencing. Let's talk about it.

Faithfully

Christian