If John Wesley were alive today, Evangelicals would pillory him almost as much as Beth Moore. While Moore has the audacity to sort-of preach as a woman (the horror!), Wesley had the nerve to say the Bible is not the only source of our knowledge of God.
Experience also matters, Wesley said. Our experience informs our faith and helps us to rebuild and susistain it.
Wesley came from The Church of England, or Anglicanism, which says believers should develop their understanding of their faith through 1) scripture, 2) tradition, and 3) reason. Wesley built on that view by adding 4) experience. His framework came to be called the Wesleyan Quadrilateral.
The United Methodist dictionary (yes, such a thing exists) describes “experience” in the Wesleyan Quadrilateral:
Experience is the individual's understanding and appropriating of the [Christian] faith in the light of his or her own life.
The famous Franciscan friar, Richard Rohr, presents his own take on how Christians develop knowledge: the “tricycle” of experience leading the way as the front wheel, with scripture and tradition coming behind as the back wheels. Putting experience ahead of scripture and tradition may seem blasphemous to Protestants and Catholics alike, but Rohr says he created the metaphor based on his work as a spiritual mentor—people almost always lead themselves with experience.
Ain’t that the truth?
As we experience life, simple answers just don’t hold up. We can’t help but rely on our experience to guide our reasoning about scripture and our faith tradition.
Maybe you were taught that the Bible says homosexuality is a sin and gay people are destined for hell. Then you meet “Christians” who spew hate on social media day-after-day, seemingly unrepentantly, as well as LGBTQ people who display a cornocopia of the fruits of the spirit. What do you make of that?
Perhaps you were taught that the Christian tradition forbids abortion. Then you discover that restricting abortion access may prevent women who miscarry from having a “dilation and curretage,” or D&C, because that procedure is an abortion, medically speaking. What do you do with that?
Some experiences prompt us to deconstruct our beliefs. Experience can also help us to reconstruct our faith. We can open ourselves up experience being a valid source of our understanding of God, Jesus, and the Spirit.
The Book of Acts records how Peter and the earliest Christians relied on their experience to guide them. They witnessed the Holy Spirit coming upon Gentiles. Can you be Gentile and belong to Jesus’ sect of Judaism? Apparently, because the Spirit is with them! Fast forward to the Council of Jerusalem and the Jesus Movement decides to welcome Gentiles without requiring dietary restrictions or circumcision.
Today, we see Beth Moore and many other women preaching and teaching with the effectiveness of Billy Graham. Can women preach? Apparently, because they’re doing it better than the men!
What has experience taught you about God? Jesus? The Holy Spirit? Please share.