Apostolic Tradition
Words worth reading on apostolic tradition. Consider Pelikan:
Unlike the Gnostic tradtion, however, this apostolic tradition had been preserved publicly in the churches that stood in succession with the apostles.... or as Origen put it: "the doctrine of the church , transmitted in orderly succession from the apostles and remaining in the church to the present day" together with the proper interpretation of the Old Testament and the proper canon of the New Testament, this tradition of the church was a decisive criterion of apostolic continuity for the determination of doctrine in the church catholic.Read on...
So palpable was this apostolic tradition that even if the apostles had not left behind the Scriptures to serve as normative evidence of their doctrine, the church would still be in a position to follow "the structure of the tradition which they handed on to those to whom they committed the churches." this was, in fact, what the church was doing in those barbarian territories where believers did not have access to the written deposit, but still carefully guarded the ancient tradition of the apostles, summarized in the creed-- or at least in a very creedlike statement of the content of apostolic tradition.Praise God for preserving His Church. Posted by jeremy stock at December 1, 2002 10:39 PM
Goodness! how I love Pelikan...his hitory of theology series written as a Lutheran nearly single handedly converted me to Orthodoxy. Imagine my suprise to find out afterwards that he himself had converted!
Posted by: james at December 2, 2002 08:09 PMSo true James. Pelikan is a wonderful resource, especially as a fellow convert to Orthodoxy.
Posted by: jeremy at December 2, 2002 10:25 PMJeremy:
Thanks. I'm an inquirer to Orthodoxy, and having read Pelikan's first two volumes in his 5 volume theological history, I know what you mean. My books are well-worn and well-underlined.
Enjoyed your blog.
Posted by: Clifton D. Healy at December 4, 2002 10:09 AMThanks for stopping by Clifton.
It really is an amazing thing when one thinks about it. Pelikan must have been under intense pressure to remain Protestant. A scholar so well respected, and so esteemed was not an easy loss to the Protestant camp.
One can imagine his life-long Protestant friends, his ties to academia (Protestant), his secular acquaintances who associated him long with Protestantism, his local place of worship....on and on. When a man of such stature converts, it is hard to overstate the gravity.
I am of the opinion that there are current Protestant ministers, elders, and laity who are convinced of their schizmatic position, yet do not move due to external pressures.
I also think a separate category exists of Protestants who see their schizmatic state, yet remain Protestant due to a belief that since "Salvation" occurs outside of Orthodoxy, there really isn't that much of a need to be in Orthodoxy.
Posted by: jeremy at December 4, 2002 12:17 PMI am just such a person. A lutheran seminary student, standing on the edge, becomming more convinced that the visible Church of Christ is found in canonical Orthodoxy. But I have a family, obligations, debts to loved ones... We'll see what happens. Christ have mercy.
Posted by: r at January 1, 2004 04:28 PMBackground Check - Background Checks
Posted by: Background Check at January 11, 2005 11:49 PM