Living into its new identity, The United Methodist Church has a prime opportunity to liberate Wesleyan theology from past conflicts to become a vital framework for today’s world, says one of Methodism’s most noted theologians.
Joerg Rieger hopes two of his books, newly reissued by the UMC’s publishing house, will inspire those conversations.
Joerg Rieger
Whatever else the UMC’s recent splintering caused, it cleared away the half-century-long battle between “liberals” and “conservatives” over the acceptability of same-sex relationships, said Rieger, author and editor of 27 books.
Rieger is distinguished professor of theology and Cal Turner Chancellor’s Chair in Wesleyan Studies at the Divinity School and the Graduate Program of Religion at Vanderbilt University. He also is founding director of the Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice at Vanderbilt Divinity School.
The theologian said he believes the 50-year battle kept the UMC from crucial study and reflection on how to update John Wesley’s groundbreaking approach to ministry. Rieger has explored such concepts in his previous books.
Originally printed between 2018 and 2022, two volumes are being published anew by Abingdon Press, the imprint of United Methodist Publishing House. The books were originally marketed as seminary-level texts by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, which is shutting down its publishing arm. The ministry board’s move is part of a trend among United Methodist agencies to consolidate ministries in the face of financial decline. Abingdon has saved Rieger’s two books from going out of print.
Abingdon describes No Religion But Social Religion: “We all live with the pressures of life, but those at the margins, at the edges, the fringes of society struggle mightily. Our thinking about God, our theology, is rooted in the bloody tooth and claw of gritty existence. Those of us who enjoy the privileges of life are too easily preoccupied with ourselves, our problems, our idiosyncratic view of self and others. Without grace, we cannot formulate hopes and dreams for the future, and the church, as the community of faith, cannot make a difference and transform the world.”
A listing for Methodist Revolutions on the Cokesbury website says: “Something feels off, and you are not alone in that feeling. Many faithful people across the church are sitting with a quiet but persistent tension between the hope the gospel carries and the reality they encounter week after week in congregational life and in the world beyond it. Methodist Revolutions … is the kind of book that honestly engages with that tension and brings theological depth to questions that deserve more than easy answers.”
During the past 30 years, Rieger said, he has attempted to hold both “liberals” and “conservatives” to account for their partisan preoccupation with the sexuality debate.
For example, Rieger noted while he taught at UMC-related Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, he contributed a chapter on the concept of sin — a topic critics say many progressives avoid in favor of a “love” ethic — to a book on the church and homosexuality. One of the book’s co-authors later told him the chapter on sin proved to be the linchpin of the discussion, as it clarified what is actually sinful: abusive relationships rather that committed ones. Both heterosexual and same-sex relationships need to be evaluated in this light, Rieger said.
At the same time in the debate over LGBTQ acceptance, United Methodist “conservatives” or “traditionalists” often sidestepped genuine biblical authority on human sexuality, such as Jesus’ teaching against divorce except for adultery, Rieger continued.
“Conservatives often say they take the Nicene Creed as their lens,” he said. “They see the Bible through [the] lens of the Nicene Creed when we should look at the creed through the lens of the Bible; otherwise we will never get to the life and ministry of Jesus that is not mentioned in the creed.”
The professor said he thinks clearing the air over human sexuality allows United Methodists to refocus on Wesley’s concept of salvation. He writes in the introduction to No Religion but Social Religion:
In the Wesleyan traditions, salvation has to do with the transformation of church and world here and now. In his sermon “The Scripture Way of Salvation” (on Ephesians 2:8, “Ye are saved through faith”), John Wesley notes that salvation in this passage is not about “the going to heaven” or “a blessing which lies on the other side of death.” The salvation of which this text speaks is worked out in the world. In Wesley’s own words: “Ye are saved.” It is not something at a distance: it is a present thing.
In place of polarization, Rieger advocates United Methodists practice their faith through “charity, advocacy and deep solidarity.” The last concept will require United Methodists to engage fully in people’s struggles with everyday life and the world around us, he said. “The Bible says when one member suffers, all suffer. The question today is, ‘How do we tie into people’s suffering; how do we see God and ourselves in that light?’”
He describes today’s theological context in the introduction to No Religion but Social Religion:
Many Wesleyans from various backgrounds and all around the world are united in the belief that another church and another world are not only possible but also necessary. In this belief, they find themselves in agreement with many of the so-called holiness traditions. All these traditions, even though at times addressing matters too narrowly and at other times too triumphantly, are in agreement that the status quo in both church and world can be improved upon significantly. The questions are not whether but how does this happen and how far does it go.
Rieger said he was encouraged by recent encounters with Methodist and Wesleyan scholars in the Pacific islands, New Zealand and South Africa. Unlike the United Methodist Church, scholars there are deep into conversations with their churches about what it means to live as Wesleyan Christians facing the multiple challenges of life today. He contends the UMC’s preoccupation with its organizational struggles has pushed such crucial scholarship out of sight and mind.
With its new identity, The United Methodist Church has an opportunity to free Wesley’s concepts from the prison of American culture wars and experience God’s grace where it’s needed most, the professor said.
“Grace doesn’t happen on the mountaintop. Grace happens in the struggle.”