This post from Pr. Beisel is an excellent example why we need the theologians of our church to be writing! Instructing the seminarians is useful but there is a whole church we needs to hear and preserve their words…
One Lutheran…Ablog!â„¢: Tradition and Traditions
Dr. Weinrich at the seminary used to do a lecture in his early church class on “tradition” and “traditions.” Christianity is by its very nature “traditional.” The word “tradition” literally means that which is handed over. Anyone who would not be “traditional” when it comes Christianity is outside of Christianity.
If I remember Weinrich’s lecture accurately, tradition was the very substance of the Gospel, the Creed in fact. This was the Faith of the Apostles, the teaching of Christ, the doctrine which through preaching and the Sacraments was handed down throughout the ages of the Church. Traditions are the various customs, primarily liturgical, that extol and uphold the Tradition, the Gospel. The traditions are not the Tradition, yet they serve the Tradition and seek to preserve it for the sake of the Church.
It is certainly true that there have been times when the traditions became more important than the Tradition, and rather than extol and serve the Tradition served rather to obscure it. The Reformation principle was to remove those traditions which 1) were contrary to the Tradition/Gospel and 2) obscured the Gospel so much as to choke it out. The liturgical traditions that were retained by the Reformers were those which were not contrary to the Gospel and which served to extol and to teach the Gospel to the people. Liturgical vestments, rites, bodily postures (folding the hands, kneeling, bowing, etc.) all are included in these “traditions” which were deemed useful and helpful by the Lutheran Reformers.
Confessional Lutherans vigorously (and joyously) retain the liturgical customs which have been handed down (traditioned) to us precisely because they are useful for teaching the doctrine of Christ. And we are very leery of introducing new ones that have no precedent in the history of the Christian Church. Although we are united essentially to all Christians of all times and places by the Tradition, uniform liturgical traditions serve to illustrate that essential unity in the Gospel not only with those here in time with us, but also with those who have gone before us, much like a flag is a symbol of the unity we have as countrymen or soldiers in battle. To introduce new ceremonies and traditions without the consent of the whole Church serves not to “show our Christian freedom” but rather serves to create disorder and confusion.
Insisting on one’s own way has never been useful or helpful in the history of the world, much less the Church. But that is what is essentially happening when pastors and congregations insist on dispensing with traditional liturgical ceremonies and introducing new ones without the consent of the whole Body. It would be tantamount to the right foot saying to the left, “Left foot, you go your way and I’ll go mine.” I think the Apostle Paul had something to say about this (1 Cor.)
The post continues on his blog. Are you folks getting sick of the liturgical posts? I wish I could say i am, just to spare the readers! So you’ll have to suffer through some more as I continue to formulate my own thinking.
Dr. Weinrich has a gift of communication. Tradition has given us the scriptures! Imagine if the Jews had not decided to pass on the text we know as the Old Testament? Imagine the disciples had preached and never written the New Testament for prosperity? Without tradition the truth would be lost. There is no truth without tradition. Doctrine was never proved by dogmatic textbooks or natural theology. No its reality is bound to the truth of God’s Word, borne forth by tradition. As Paul said to Timothy, we preserve the truth by handing it on through the mechanism of tradition.
If our liturgical tradition conveys the same truth as the scriptural tradition, we should be conservative in our approach to taking away or adding “new” media. I think Pr. Beisel can safely subscribe to the Concordia. Oh wait! He already did in his ordination!
:)
See: Outer Rim Territories » Diversity in Lutheran Worship
Related posts:
- Weedon’s Blog: Some Thoughts on the Relationship of Scripture and Tradition Weedon’s Blog: Some Thoughts on the Relationship of Scripture and...
- Pope Urges Recovery of Traditional Sacred Music The New Liturgical Movement: Pope Urges Recovery of Traditional Sacred...
- One Lutheran…Ablog!â„¢: Things in the Reporter that need Commentary One Lutheran…Ablog!â„¢: Things in the Reporter that need Commentary 1....
- One Lutheran…Ablog!â„¢: True Praise Songs One Lutheran…Ablog!â„¢: True Praise Songs Praise Songs. This term completely...
- America’s New Liberals Beggars All: America’s New Liberals: Evangelicals Evangelicals — America’s new...