Editing United Methodist Church (section)

===Summary of basic beliefs===
The basic beliefs of the United Methodist Church include:
* [[Trinity|Triune]] [[God in Christianity|God]]. God is [[Monotheism|one God]] in three persons: [[God the Father|Father]], [[God the Son|Son]] and [[God the Holy Spirit|Holy Spirit]].<ref name="UMC—Article I—Of Faith in the Holy Trinity" />
* [[The Bible]]. The [[Bible]] is the inspired word of God. F. Belton Joyner argues that there is a deep division within Methodism today about what exactly this means. Questions include whether the Bible was inspired when written (and the text today is always true and [[Biblical inerrancy|without error]]), or if it is inspired when actually read by a Christian (and therefore dependent on the interaction with the reader.) In the first case, says Joyner, the Christian is concerned only with the precise wording of the original manuscript, without regard to historical setting. In the other case, the reader tries to read the biblical text in terms of all of the influences of modern thought, with little regard for the meaning offered in the ancient texts. In that Wesleyan tradition, United Methodists balance these two extremes, aware that the same Holy Spirit who inspired the Scriptures is alive and well to bring the written Word alive for the present. United Methodists take seriously both the original inspiration and today's contemporary inspiration. "...In this way, the Bible itself becomes the balancing, clarifying, even correcting tool for understanding the Scripture. God's gifts in the written Word are so rich that they can continue to give light and life as one digs again and again into the same Scriptures."<ref>{{cite book|author=F. Belton Joyner|title=Being United Methodist in the Bible Belt: A Theological Survival Guide for Youth, Parents, and Other Confused United Methodists |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6JKNoEWa8-cC&pg=PA28|year=2008|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|page=28|isbn=9780664231682 }}</ref><ref>The British Methodist Church in 2001 adopted a more complex seven-way choice of what the Bible means. See [[Methodist Church of Great Britain#The Bible]] and {{cite book|author=Peter Forsaith|title=The Ashgate Research Companion to World Methodism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VsrOCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT345|year=2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-04098-9|pages=345–46}}</ref>
* [[Christian views on sin|Sin]]. While human beings were intended to bear the [[image of God]], all humans are sinners for whom that image is distorted. Sin estranges people from God and corrupts human nature such that we cannot heal or save ourselves.<ref name="Discipline page 43" />
* [[Salvation in Christianity|Salvation]] through [[Jesus|Jesus Christ]]. God's redeeming love is active to save sinners through Jesus' [[Incarnation (Christianity)|incarnate]] life and teachings, through his [[Atonement of Jesus Christ|atoning]] death, his [[Resurrection of Jesus|resurrection]], his sovereign presence through history, and his promised return.<ref name="Discipline page 43"/>
* [[Sanctification]]. The grace of sanctification draws one toward the gift of [[Christian perfection]], which Wesley described as a heart "habitually filled with the [[Great Commandment|love of God and neighbor]]" and as "having the mind of Christ and walking as he walked."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/our-wesleyan-heritage |title=Our Wesleyan Heritage |website=The people of The United Methodist Church |publisher=United Methodist Church |access-date=2019-07-14}}<br />{{cite web |url=http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?mid=1813 |title=Distinctive Wesleyan Emphases (Page 2) |website=Archives.umc.org |date=November 6, 2006 |access-date=July 25, 2012}}</ref> This emphasis in Methodism has led to the heralding of the motto "Holiness unto the Lord".<ref name="Rose1975">{{cite book |last1=Rose |first1=Delbert R. |title=Vital Holiness: A Theology of Christian Experience : Interpreting the Historic Wesleyan Message |date=1975 |publisher=Bethany Fellowship |isbn=978-0-87123-539-8 |page=29 |language=English}}</ref>
* [[Sacrament]]s. United Methodists recognize two sacraments: [[Holy Baptism]] and [[Holy Communion]]. Other rites such as [[Confirmation]], [[Ordination]], [[Christian views of marriage|Holy Matrimony]], [[Christian burial|Funerals]], and [[Anointing of the Sick]] are performed but not considered sacraments. In Holy Baptism, the Church believes that "Baptism is not only a sign of profession and mark of difference whereby Christians are distinguished from others that are not baptized; but it is also a sign of [[Regeneration (theology)|regeneration]] or the [[Born again (Christianity)|new birth]].<ref name="UMC—Article XVII—Of Baptism" /> It believes that Baptism is a sacrament in which God initiates a covenant with individuals,<ref name="UMC—A United Methodist Understanding of Baptism" /> people become a part of the Church,<ref name="UMC—A United Methodist Understanding of Baptism" /> is not to be repeated,<ref name="UMC—A United Methodist Understanding of Baptism" /> and is a [[Means of Grace|means of grace]].<ref name="UMC—What does The United Methodist Church believe about baptism?" /> The United Methodist Church generally practices Baptism by [[Aspersion|sprinkling]], pouring, or [[Immersion baptism|immersion]]<ref name="UMC: Glossary—Baptism" /> and uses the [[Trinitarian formula]].<ref name="GLFUMC—Sunday Services" /> United Methodists also recognize as valid baptisms performed in several other [[Christian denominations]].<ref name="UMC GBOD—By Water & The Spirit" /> The Church practices and encourages [[infant baptism]]; when persons baptized as infants mature, they may confirm (or reject) the baptismal vows made on their behalf as infants by families, guardians, and congregations through a process of Christian education called [[Confirmation]]. The United Methodist Church affirms the [[real presence]] of Christ in Holy Communion, but does not hold to the [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] [[dogma]] of [[transubstantiation]].<ref name="This Holy Mystery" /> The Church believes that the bread is an effectual sign of His body [[Death and resurrection of Jesus|crucified]] on the [[Christian cross|cross]] and the [[grape juice|cup]] is an effectual sign of His blood shed for humanity.<ref name="Oremus Bible Browser—Institution of the Lord's Supper" /> Through the outward and visible signs of bread and wine, the inward and spiritual reality of the Body and Blood of Christ are offered to believers.  The Church holds that the celebration of the Eucharist is an [[Anamnesis (Christianity)|anamnesis]] of Jesus' death,<ref name="UMC—Communion: Overview" /> and believes the sacrament to be a [[Means of Grace|means of grace]],<ref name="The Means of Grace by John Wesley" /> and practices [[open communion]].<ref name="UMC—Our Christian Roots" />
* [[Free will in theology|Free will]]. The UMC believes that people, while corrupted by [[sin]], are free to make their own choices because of God's [[divine grace]] enabling them, and that people are truly accountable before God for their choices.
* [[Social Justice]]. The Church opposes evils such as slavery, inhumane prison conditions, [[Capital punishment and Christianity|capital punishment]], economic injustice, child labor, racism, and inequality.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?mid=1815 |title=General Rules and Social Principles |access-date=October 15, 2014 |archive-date=October 22, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141022052133/http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?mid=1815 |url-status=dead }}</ref>