Originally from here.
Practically every Protestant denomination that exists today can be traced to the Church of England, with the exception of the Lutheran Church which came just before it. The Church of England’s statement of faith was called the Thirty-Nine Articles. After a lifetime of ministry as an evangelical Anglican priest, Wesley decided to shorten them for the American Methodists into twenty five articles. These articles were broad and evangelical enough, so that both Calvinistic and Arminian Puritan theologians were able to branch off and create various religious traditions. For those seeking what Wesley called the “catholic spirit,” or what I’d like to call “evangelical revival unity,” I think the Articles of Religion are a perfect place to start looking at just what the theological majors are when it comes to theology. To make matters better and easier, I’d like to simplify them even more…
1. Trinity.
2. Sufficiency of Scripture for Salvation.
3. Three Uses of the Moral Law.
4. Original Sin.
5. Freedom of Choice Helped By the Presence of God.
6. Justification by Faith Alone In Penal Substitutionary Atonement.
7. Good Works As the Evidence of Saving Faith.
8. Repentance Required for Believers Who Fall Into Sin.
10. Rejection of Purgatory, Worship of Saints, and Deserving Heaven for Any Reason.
11. Water Baptism and the Lord’s Supper As the Only Biblical Sacraments.
12. Obedience to the Government.
John Wesley once, in the visions of the night found himself, as he thought, at the gates of hell. He knocked, and asked who were within. “Are there any Roman Catholics here?” he asked. “Yes,” was the answer, “a great many.” “Any Church of England men?” “Yes, a great many.” “Any Presbyterians?” “Yes, a great many.” “Any Wesleyans?” “Yes, a great many.” Disappointed and dismayed, especially at the last reply, he turned his steps upwards, and found himself at the gates of Paradise, and here he repeated the same questions. “Any Wesleyans here?” “No.” “Any Presbyterians?” “No.” “Any Church of England men?” “No” “Any Roman Catholics?” “No” “Whom have you, then, here?” he asked in astonishment. “We know nothing here,” was the reply, “of any of those names that you have mentioned. The only name of which we know anything here is ‘Christian’; we are all Christians here, and of these we have a great multitude which no man can number, of all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues.” —The British Friend
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