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About this quote

What does it mean?
Scripture must remain the ultimate authority over religious institutions.
In plain terms
Use the Bible to judge the church, not the other way around.
What can you take from it?
Prioritize original texts over organizational authority.

Where it applies

  • theological debate
  • church leadership
  • personal study

Putting it to work

  • study primary texts
  • question institutional norms

Questions to consider

  • What authority guides your beliefs?
  • How do you verify truth?

Another view

Institutions often preserve necessary structure for interpretation.

More from John Wesley

  1. I believe that He was made man, joining the human nature with the divine in one person; being conceived by the singular operation of the Holy Ghost, and born o…

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  2. The best of it all is, God is with us.

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  3. Let it be observed, that slovenliness is no part of religion; that neither this, nor any text of Scripture, condemns neatness of apparel. Certainly this is a d…

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