Tradition

Opening Prayer

Avot 1.1 [Herford]

Moses received Torah from Sinai and delivered it to Joshua, and Joshua to the Elders, and the Elders to the Prophets, and the Prophets delivered it to the men of the Great Synagogue. ....

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 [NRSV]

11:23 For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, 11:24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." 11:25 In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." 11:26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

2 Timothy 3:14-17 [NRSV]

3:14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, 3:15 and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 3:16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 3:17 so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.

Biblical passages which use word "tradition(s)":

• Matthew 15:1-9
• Mark 7:1-13
• 1 Corinthians 11:1-2
• Galatians 1:13-17
• Colossians 2:6-10
• 2 Thessalonians 2:15-17
• 2 Thessalonians 3:6-10

What is Tradition?

Tradition includes beliefs, practices, societal relationships, and attitudes. Any examples?

Tradition (traditio, paradosis [paradosij], masoreth [trwsm]) is primarily a handing over and receiving between generations. It includes at least three aspects:

1. "content" passed on: doctrine, etiquette, stories, etc.
2. process of passing on: teaching, modeling, training, etc.
3. people and structures which do the passing on and "certify" the process and content: bishops, Sunday school teachers, mothers, etc.

In much of modern western Christianity, tradition has been viewed as some entity other than scripture which is contrasted with scripture; its relationship to scripture in determining acceptable teaching and practice is a major source of dispute among the church bodies. One other way to look at it would be to view scripture as part of tradition and to emphasize the tradition within scripture.

(Stereo)typical Views of Authority in the Church

• Roman Catholic: two sources of authority: scripture and tradition
• Classical Protestant: sola scriptura
• Anglican: "three-legged stool": scripture, tradition, and reason
• Wesleyan: four: scripture, tradition, reason, experience
• Pentecostal: the Holy Spirit as authority

Readings:

None of these readings is of an official ecclesiastical decision, but all express only the individual author's opinions.

• 2.2 Irenaus
tradition from apostles, safeguarded by successions of presbyters, opposed to recondita mysteria, succession of Roman bishops going back to Peter and Paul, apostolic faith preserved in Rome by the faithful
truth as a deposit
can there be development of this deposit?
• 2.5 Tertullian
apostolic churches offspring of apostolic churches, unity of brotherhood requiring hospitality, apostles sent out to preach (through living voice), need for heretics to show their successions
note that Tertullian himself left the "catholic" church to join the Montanists, then founded his own sect
note also that some "heretics" also claimed succession
• 2.7 Cyril of Jerusalem
creeds as summaries of scripture
cf. dispute among Hebrew Bible scholars about the "credos" - were they the original kernel or the summary?
regula fidei, rule of faith
cf. Grundtvigian emphasis on Apostles' Creed, rather than the Bible as doctrinally authoritative
• 2.10 Vincent of Lérins
everywhere (ecumenicity), antiquity (always), consent (by all)
how does "always" relate to theory of doctrinal development?
how do we know who is included in "all" (who count)?
• 2.23 Johann Adam Möhler
church in universality (not any individuals) interprets scripture
• 2.28 Karl Rahner
church of beginning always tangible in scriptures -- objectification of God's offer of salvation

From Madeleine L'Engle, And it was good (Wheaton: Harold Shaw, 1983) p. 43:

I come closer to defining and describing faith when I remember the great preacher Phillips Brooks, who was asked by an earnest questioner why he was a Christian. He thought seriously for a moment, then replied, "I think I am a Christian because of my aunt, who lives in Teaneck, New Jersey."

Jaroslav Pelikan: Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.

Some Suggested Resources

• Allchin, A. M. The living presence of the past: the dynamic of Christian tradition. New York: Seabury, 1981.
• Wainwright, Geoffrey, ed. Keeping the faith: essays to mark the centenary of Lux mundi. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1988.
• Schmithals, Walter. The office of apostle in the early church. tr. John E. Steely. Nashville: Abingdon, 1969.
• Williams, Daniel H. Retrieving the tradition and renewing evangelicalism : a primer for suspicious Protestants. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999.
• Hagen, Kenneth, ed. The Quadrilog : tradition and the future of ecumenism : essays in honor of George H. Tavard. Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1994.
• Bennett, G. V. Tradition and change in the church. London: Association for the Apostolic Ministry, 1988.
• Skillrud, Harold C., J. Francis Stafford, and Daniel F. Martensen, eds. Scripture and tradition. Lutherans and Catholics in dialogue, 9. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1994.

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