Faith: The Tradition of the Church

20060527

     In the 20 May 2006 ‘Faith’ post, I discussed the nature of the ‘One, Holy, Christian Church’ often mentioned in posts on this weblog. That post generated an interesting offline discussion that raised a valid point that needs to be further discussed on this weblog. The question which started that discussion observed that many Christians believe in the confession of the One, Holy, Christian Church cited in the post. Since this is true, why do I condone ‘exclusiveness’ in churches? That is, why do I condone closed fellowship, especially in the form of closed communion, et al?

     In order to fairly answer this question, it is necessary to step back some and address the nature of the question relative to the One, Holy, Christian Church. The One, Holy, Christian Church represents the ‘invisible’ church of all Christians in all time. That is, it is the Body of Christ, composed of all believers who are going to Heaven because they have believed the saving message of the Gospel. This gathering of Christians exists regardless of doctrine, so long as the Gospel is being preached in its purity and truth and faith is received as a result of that Gospel.

     There is, however, a second nature to the Church on earth, beyond the One, Holy, Christian Church. This is the church of theology and doctrine, begun with the confession of the One, Holy, Christian Church, and expressed through the necessary defense of that confession against generations of error and heresy. This is the church of the orthodox (meaning universal and ancient) Tradition. The Tradition is the embodiment of the unity of belief expressed as the theology and doctrine that protects the confession of the One, Holy, Christian Church against the constant attacks of the world, the devil, and our own sinful propensity to alter the Gospel to make it easier to accept.

     The Tradition is the collected teaching of the One, Holy, Christian Church, expressed in theology and doctrine defined against a variety of false and heretical teachings, tied in unbroken unity to the Gospel and to the previous teachings of the One, Holy, Christian Church. These teachings of the Tradition are clearly defined in the collected writings of generations of Christians that have been preserved for us in that unity of belief.

     The Tradition is the expression of unity among faithful believers so there is no doubt what each Christian claims to believe, and that unity is important so that ambiguity in teaching can be avoided. Disunity creates ambiguity, and ambiguity threatens the confession of the One, Holy, Christian Church, opening it up to alternative interpretations and understandings that try to reduce the irreducible whole of the Gospel. The Tradition stands as a bulwark against such disunity and ambiguity, clearly stating the teachings of the church through its collected theology and doctrine.

     This Tradition, therefore, demands that unity be maintained even in the face of divisions within the earthly component of the One, Holy, Christian Church. It is clear that the doctrines of Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism, and the many facets of modern Evangelicalism do not agree. For any of those divisions to compromise their doctrine, for the sake of manufactured unity, creates the very disunity and ambiguity that Tradition seeks to avoid. Unity cannot exist when there is disagreement, and compromise is not an acceptable course when dealing with the irreducible Gospel and the theology and doctrine expressed from it.

     Therefore, each division of the church should maintain its unity within itself until such time as it either realizes that its own doctrines are incorrect, bringing it closer to the inviolate Tradition, or until other divisions within the church come to believe in the doctrines of the Tradition already expressed. However, all churches must constantly evaluate their teachings against the Gospel and against the teachings of the Tradition, that is the teachings of all Christians from the beginning, in order to determine that they are within the tradition and therefore acting to protect the confession of the One, Holy, Christian Church against those forces that seek to destroy that confession.

     Until such time as the unity of the Tradition is achieved, churches, should remain separate in fellowship. If a church is true to the Tradition, it does so to preserve its teachings. If a church is not true to the Tradition, it does so to prevent the possibility of leading others astray. Nowhere in this teaching is there a suggestion that any of these churches are not part of the One, Holy, Christian Church and that the Christians within these churches are not going to Heaven, rather this teaching works to protect the truth of the Gospel so that it can continue to be preached in its purity and truth.

DLH

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1 Response to Faith: The Tradition of the Church

  1. chrispy85 says:

    Good job startng to explain this rather murky matter.

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