Finding Help to Explore My Questions

So I’ve got issues—doubts and questions. How am I going to work on them? Years ago I learned from Prof. Albert Outler that John Wesley seemed to apply a quadrilateral of Scripture, Tradition, Experience, and Reasons as sources to explore. Over the years I have found these to be helpful.

As I have said before, I started with Experience. I didn’t reason things out. While I was taught to read the Bible, it only took on the meaning others shared. The people I cared about shared love and caring with me. I sang, “Jesus loves me”, and I liked the thought of God loving me. When I got into trouble, I responded to the message of forgiveness by God and others. Even today when something falls into place about my issues, I experience satisfaction that this has a rightness about it.

From early on I have listened to the voices of tradition. The significant people in my life have told me what they believe is right. They helped shape my understandings of what the Bible said. They taught me what the “church” (their church!) said was right and wrong. For some that was, “don’t smoke or drink, and don’t go with girls who do.”  Later I was introduced to other traditions, other theological teachings, other interpretations of what the Bible said.

In my questioning phase, reason took on a significant role. As I learned to think abstractly, I began to have abilities to compare traditions and arguments, weighing them, and arriving at positions that I could believe. Sometimes what I had been taught and experiences held up under my rational investigation. Sometimes they didn’t, and I had to go searching for more information. Sometimes I still find myself arguing with my reasoning, trying to arrive at a position I can live with.

All through these stages, I have used the Bible.  I can’t throw it out. But I still experience a feeling that it has an important role to play explorations. The Bible has taken on different values as the other stages become important .  At times the interpretations from traditions governed much of my thought. Then again my reasoning reflections had to replow the Bible to see how I could understand it. More about that next time.

For now I affirm that I do use the elements of Wesley’s quadrilateral in my search for answers.