Scripture, Tradition, and Ecumenical Councils, final post

This series of posts began with a post from Caldonia Sun found here related to the autumn book club on mysticism. It triggered me to begin reflecting again on Holy Tradition, what it is, and what it means for our lives. But, behind it was also a whole set of discussions over a several year period with Huw over at Sarx on the difference between tradition and Tradition. Oddly enough, I have now come back to a set of discussions that Huw and I had several years ago, and it relates to Holy Tradition.

As we look at Church history, there are some evidences that the Holy Spirit is at work guiding the Church through its Tradition and its history. What are some of those indirect effects? Well, as one looks at Church history, it is interesting to note that non-Chalcedonian Christianity is essentially non-existent. Even the progressives, liberals, and radicals of today are trying to change, modify, or even deny, Chalcedonian Christianity. That is, it appears that the other types of Christianity have essentially fallen off of the world stage.

Now, it is common in our history-deficient West to argue that this is because of persecution by a Constantinian Church, or repression by the Emperor, etc. It is only possible to make this argument to people who know little about Church history. (In this sense, some of the radical writers are being deceptive in their presentations.) In actuality, the Persian Emperor gave quite a welcome to the non-Chalcedonians who left the Byzantine Empire. And, history shows the non-Chalcedonians spreading from the Persian Empire to the East, all the way to China. Some historians even wonder whether, at one time, there were more non-Chalcedonians in the world than Chalcedonians.  Nevertheless, the non-Chalcedonians faded. I would argue that one can see the Holy Spirit working in history and preserving Holy Tradition.

In the same way, despite the Anabaptist Movement and the Protestant Reformation, the overwhelming majority of Christendom holds to a liturgical form of worship that follows the same basic skeleton, the same basic worship area setup, and uses liturgical wear descended from the tunics and cloaks worn in Imperial Rome (and New Rome). And, despite folks like the Quakers, and the iconoclastic arguments of so many, the reality is that Christianity accepts the idea that some are set aside by the Lord for ministry in the community, otherwise called clergy, and those clergy are to be supported by the community.

Despite the arguments of those who wish to publish an innovative Ph.D. thesis or make a name by publishing a controversial book, all of Christianity has the same New Testament. And, though they do not have the same Old Testament, they all share the same 39 book core. Again, I would argue that the Holy Spirit has been busily preserving Holy Tradition.

I could go on, but that gives you the idea of how I would argue that there is some evidence in Church history of the Holy Spirit at work to preserve, by means of Holy Tradition that which He wishes.

But, that also brings up an additional problem that I mentioned to Huw. You see, the largest Church in the world is the Roman Catholic Church. If you added up every other bit of Christendom, they would only add up to about half of the number of Roman Catholics on Earth. In fact, they are so large that all of the rest are forced to argue why they are the most correct and why it is OK for them to be different. The Roman Catholic Church is the 800 lb gorilla of Holy Tradition. In fact, I think only the Orthodox Church has an argument that can hold its own against that gorilla.

In the old days, many of the arguments against Roman Catholicism were based on some type of Remnant Theology. That is, the group had to argue that they were, in some way, preserving the true Holy Tradition, though some of the groups would have died rather than use that terminology. Luther tried to preserve the idea of One Church by arguing that the Reformation was preserving the core of the Early Church but that the other stuff (vestments, liturgy, etc.) was secondary stuff that could vary from Church to Church.

Nowadays, however, the answer has increasingly gone mainly toward some type of personalistic individualism. That is the gravitational pull of the Roman Catholic Church has been resisted by simply dismantling the Church in one’s mind. That is, whatever local congregation you may attend, it does not matter what they believe. You are going there because you feel fulfilled, regardless, or in spite of, what they may believe. In effect, the Church has no reality in your life. It is you and God, and whatever you feel cool with. In effect, Holy Tradition has ceased to exist for you.

It has other repercussions, but that is not really the subject of today’s post. The point is that if the Holy Spirit is truly working through history to support Holy Tradition, then the Roman Catholic Church is the 800 lb gorilla in the room.