How tradition can serve the church.
How tradition can serve the church.
Brief thoughts on the harmony of Scripture and tradition.
As Stephen O. Presley concludes his treatise on “Scripture and Tradition” in Historical Theology for the Church, he offers a framework by which the church can understand its relationship with tradition. Disputes over the role and relevance of liturgical and spiritual traditions within the church are almost as old as the church itself. The early church, however, understood tradition within a hierarchical system that reserved authoritative preeminence for the word of God alone. “Since the Scriptures are inspired,” Presley writes, “they are the supreme written norm and standard for all matters of Christian faith and practice” (86). Interdenominational tensions often arise due to perceived encroachment on scriptural jurisdiction by ecclesiological tradition. This is acutely manifest in the crass “No creed but Christ, no book but the Bible” mantra that is often recited by well-meaning albeit unwitting theologians.
The preeminence of Scripture and church tradition are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, when preserved in their proper order, the body of Christ is instilled with a robust language with which to articulate and express “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). One need not excise the other; rather, theologians and disciples are instilled with a durable yet discerning grasp of Christian doctrine as Scripture and tradition are intertwined. “Good confessional statements arise out of a good reading of Scripture,” Presley continues, “and these expressions of tradition help guide the teaching and instruction in the Scriptures” (86). The church’s distillation of God’s inspired word allows for the timeless truth of the gospel to be faithfully endowed to successive generations of believers. Consequently, ecclesiological tradition should not be construed as a bypass but as a byproduct of scriptural authority.
Works cited:
Stephen O. Presley, “Scripture and Tradition,” Historical Theology for the Church, edited by Jason G. Duesing and Nathan A. Finn (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2021).