For years, Ted Campbell has been the voice of United Methodist orthodoxy. Without the political infighting, this book summarizes the basic beliefs of our denomination. This is a must-read for anyone who is thinking about joining the United Methodist Church, or anyone who has grown up without learning the basic beliefs of the denomination.
In this concise, accessible book, Dr. Ted Campbell provides a brief summary of the major doctrines shared in the Wesley family of denominations. Writing in concise and straightforward language, Campbell organizes the material into systematic categories: doctrine of revelation, doctrine of God, doctrine of Christ, doctrine of the Spirit, doctrine of humanity, doctrine of "the way of salvation" (conversion/justification/sanctification), doctrine of the church and means of grace, and doctrine of thing to come.
John Wesley distinguished between essential doctrines on which agreement or consensus is critical and opinions about theology or church practices on which disagreement must be allowed. Though today few people join churches based on doctrinal commitments, once a person has joined a church it becomes important to know the teachings of that church's tradition. In this way, the book shows both what Methodist churches historically teach in common with ecumenical Christianity and what is distinctive about the Methodist tradition in its various contemporary forms.