Holy Bible
As Methodists, we vow to support the Methodist Church. Doesn't that support include teaching and preaching that which is in harmony with the Discipline and John Wesley's teaching?
Why aren't preachers who call Holy Scriptures the Word of God and who dismiss reason brought before the Judicial Council? I can understand members being confused and mistakenly calling The Bible The Word of God and promoting the litany "The Word of God for the People of God. Praise be to God" after Bible readings. I can't understand why the clergy either remains silent or actively encourages those statements and ideas.
If we were another denomination, I would just ignore it. But Wesley was so insistent that we read The Bible according to the "analogy of faith" and that we use reason in our discernment to discover The Word of God. Calling scripture "The Word of God" and dismissing reason is destroying the very core of Methodism.
Will anyone step up to insist that we stop these practices? Doesn't anyone see that this literalism leads to a deep pit of ignorance and radicalism? Why aren't the Bishops objecting and teaching the core tenant of Methodism?
Marilyn Davis, Clarkesville, GA.