Wesleyan Quadrilateral

[6] Wesley believed, first of all, that the living core of the Christian faith was revealed in "scripture" as the sole foundational source.

The United Methodist Church asserts that "Wesley believed that the living core of the Christian faith was revealed in Scripture, illumined by tradition, vivified in personal experience, and confirmed by reason.

Thus, when Wesley speaks of "Tradition", he does not merely refer to ancient Church Tradition and the writings of the great theologians and Church Fathers of days past, but also of the immediate and present theological influences which contribute to a person's understanding of God and of Christian theology.

In United Methodist understanding, both laypeople and clergy alike share in "our theological task."

The theological task is the ongoing effort to live as Christians in the midst of the complexities of a secular world.

Wesley's Quadrilateral is referred to in Methodism as "our theological guidelines" and is taught to its pastors in seminary as the primary approach to interpreting the scriptures and gaining guidance for moral questions and dilemmas faced in daily living.