Ask a Theologian: Tradition
Dear Theologian,
What does the word “tradition” mean when it is used in a Church context? People often appeal to tradition in order to re-affirm what has been done in the Church for a long time, and sometimes to reject a new idea or practice. But what is tradition, where is it to be found, and how is it related to Scripture?
Baffled
Dear Baffled,
Let’s begin with a standard dictionary definition of the word “tradition”: 1. “the passing down of elements of a culture from generation to generation, especially by oral communication.” 2. “a mode of thought or behavior followed by a people continuously from generation to generation; a custom or usage, or a set of such customs and usages viewed as a coherent body of precedents influencing the present.”
Applying this concept to the life of the Church, we can say that “tradition means the continuous stream of explanation and elucidation of the primitive faith, illustrating the way in which Christianity has been presented and understood in past ages.” [1] This might be correlated with the first meaning of the dictionary definition. But “tradition” in the Church also sometimes “means simply customs and ideas which have grown up imperceptibly and been accepted more or less uncritically.” [2] This corresponds to the second meaning.
In either sense of the word, tradition is a major factor in Church life. It is precious but also ambiguous. It always needs to be tested critically to see “(1) whether it is in accordance with the principles embodied in divine revelation, and (2) whether it can be justified by right reason.” [3] The Church can come to a judgment that some particular feature of “the tradition” needs to be modified in accordance with these criteria.
Tradition (in its Christian meaning), is best understood as the process by which the Church keeps its sense of identity by remembering and staying in continuity with its beginnings—in faithfulness to the New Testament writings—while changing and developing in its understanding and living out of the faith.
The Church itself could be regarded as a “living tradition” that is able to persist and continue only by creatively re-thinking and re-appropriating its heritage, in response to the ever-changing cultures in which it exists.
Where is the Church’s tradition to be found? One must look to the history of the Church, which, of course, is still continuing. This is a process that began two thousand years ago, so that “locating” and assessing it necessarily involves a lot of historical study and work with documents of the past.
When we look closely at this history, we have to recognize that the Church has grown in its understanding and living of the faith, as it has taken on new forms of thought and cultural expression.
The first big transition came early, when the new Christian movement left its Jewish roots and began to be expressed in the cultural forms of the Greco-Roman world. This resulted, eventually, in the writings of the “Church fathers” of the early centuries (the “patristic” period) and in the doctrinal formulations of the Nicene Creed. We still look to that period as an important source of insight into the mystery of Christ.
Later, as the Roman Empire in the West collapsed under the impact of the barbarian invasions, the Christian faith there had gradually to express itself in the mentality and institutional forms of the Germanic tribes. After centuries of turmoil, a new synthesis eventually emerged in the thought and practices of the medieval Church.
This European form of Christianity has continued up until the present day, though drastically challenged and modified in various ways by the great intellectual and cultural movements of the past five centuries—Renaissance, Reformation, Enlightenment, and modern science. Christian believers have tried to understand and express their faith in relation to these new cultural and intellectual situations, and this task continues to occupy our best thinkers.
In all these developments, it is the process of “traditioning” that has enabled the Church to persist and continue. This has involved and still involves much more than compiling collections of teachings from past ages of the Church. The “living tradition” of Christian faith continues in the creative re-thinking of its basic beliefs and doctrines and in the creation of new forms of Church life.
How is tradition related to Sacred Scripture? Some have considered tradition to be a second and separate source of revelation alongside Scripture, but this is not the Anglican view of the matter. Rather, tradition is the Church’s process of continually re-appropriating the meaning of the normative witness given in Sacred Scripture.
A helpful formulation of this point of view is found in the 1998 “Virginia Report” of the Inter-Anglican Theological and Doctrinal Commission:
“Tradition refers to the ongoing Spirit-guided life of the Church which receives, and in receiving interprets afresh God’s abiding message... Tradition is not to be understood as an accumulation of formulae and texts, but as the living mind, the nerve centre of the Church. Anglican appeal to tradition is the appeal to this mind of the Church carried by the worship, teaching and the Spirit-filled life of the Church.” [4]
But what is to be done when sincere Christian believers disagree about what “the mind of the Church” is on some disputed question? This has happened, of course, more than once in the history of the Church, and it has often taken many years for the final resolution of an issue.
In order to recognize a valid development of the living tradition, the Church must always practice spiritual discernment. Christian believers seek to recognize the authentic leading of the Holy Spirit by staying together in prayer, Scripture study, and mutual charity, as they explore an issue. This requires patience and genuine openness to one another’s insights and convictions.
The current controversy about sexuality is a case in point. The Church is presently faced with a cultural situation altogether different than anything envisaged in the cultures which produced the biblical writings or in the cultures through which the Church has moved thus far. And so we are engaged in a very difficult spiritual discernment of how the living tradition about sexual morality should develop further. As we pursue this, we need to put our trust in the Holy Spirit who leads the Church into all truth.
Faithfully,
The Theologian
[1] The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 2nd ed. edited by F.L. Cross & E.A. Livingstone (Oxford University Press, 1974, 1983), p. 1388.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Quoted in Some Issues in Human Sexuality from the English House of Bishops (Church House Publishing, 2003), p. 51.
The Rev. Wayne L. Fehr wrote a column for a previous version of the diocesan newsletter called "Ask a Theologian." He answered questions from ordinary Christians trying to make sense of their faith. Now he's back with a monthly column once again. You can find and purchase his book "Tracing the Contours of Faith: Christian Theology for Questioners" here.
Churches focused on stewardship know that prayerful, thoughtful planning and excellent resources are key to maintaining a culture of year-round awareness of the abundance of God’s gifts and our call to share them as a way of expressing our gratitude. One of the most effective tools I am aware of in the area of stewardship resources and development is The Episcopal Network for Stewardship, also known as TENS.