The United Methodist Articles of Religion -- Article IV

A further look at the United Methodist Church’s Articles of Religion -- as stated in a previous post:

The United Methodist Church has several sources that historically define its “doctrinal standards.”  These include the church’s Confession of Faith, the General Rules, John Wesley’s Explanatory Notes on the New Testament and Wesley’s Standard Sermons.  Also, in this roster of foundational documents are the church’s Articles of Religion.  In 1784 when the American Church was chartered, John Wesley provided these Articles for the church.  Wesley had composed 24 statements, and the American church added a 25th that was America-specific.  They have always been authoritative in Methodism and the church included them in its Discipline from 1790 on.  The fourth article is:

Article IV — Of the Holy Ghost

The Holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father and the Son, is of one substance, majesty, and glory with the Father and the Son, very and eternal God.

The first several articles work together to provide a strong Trinitarian affirmation.  This article is a simple restatement of a large section of The Nicene Creed.  The early church controversy that the Council of Nicaea addressed had to do with the nature of the Holy Ghost/Spirit.  The heresy stated that the Spirit was of inferior nature to the Father and the Son, and that the Father issued the Spirit from the Father’s nature alone.  Nicaea affirmed that the Spirit was of like nature of both Father and Son.  It stated that while there are separate persons within the mystery of the Trinity, that the Three were at the same time One.

The Methodist movement affirms and employs the Nicene Creed both as theological statement and as liturgical element.

It is interesting that for some the most troubling part of Article IV is the use of “Ghost.”  The Holy Ghost/Holy Spirit issue is a result of an effort to differentiate between the Third Person of the Trinity in the New Testament and the references to the “spirit of God” in the Old.  Some older translations even print “spirit” in all lower-case letters in the Old Testament and resort to printing “SPIRIT” or “HOLY SPIRIT” in all upper-case type in the New Testament.  These folks offered “Holy Ghost” as a way of differentiating between the two entities in print.

As is often the case, the original reason for such practices got lost to memory.  But, for a group of folks, because some of their old Bibles – and old liturgical practices – used “Ghost,” they stubbornly adhered to this usage.  John Wesley, while fully understanding the nature of the issue kept true to his preference for adhering to ancient practices in the face of the modern.  He also maintained that “Holy Ghost,” as it appears in liturgical pieces, is more poetic.  He cites the Gloria Patri and observes that “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit…” provides a metrical stumbling block.  He didn’t see it as an obstacle to Christian understanding or practice.  And, he further notes, that for Methodist documents to use one term in some places and a second in others does far more damage than an adherence to an established practice.