I have been having a good online back & forth with Kelly K. ( http://qaz1.bannerland.org/kelly/ ) and it has reminded me of conversations I have had with best friend Mike. It has me thinking of the value of tradition, creeds, confessions and catechism. So often in our excitement about moving into the future and being relevant in our evangelism we discard the past – we throw away our ancestors and the deep spiritual lives that led them, over a long and faithful walk with God, to develop some pretty remarkable pieces of work (Apostles Creed, Nicene Creed, St. Patrick’s Breastplate, Westminster Catechism, Heidelberg Catechism, the Four-Fold Gospel, Barman Declaration, etc).
True, although these and other theological works were developed within a cultural frame of reference making timeless truth relevant to a specific context this does not mean we should abandon them but rather continue to interpret the timeless truth into our own context. I believe this may be one reason why God chose to reveal so much of Himself in word – such a culturally specific and time-bound tool – because we must constantly re-engage with God’s unchanging word to understand it in light of our ever-changing circumstance.
I forget where I first read this quote (forgive me if I do not give credit where credit is due) but it has come to mind as I have been thinking about these things:
"Tradition menas giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about."G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936), Orthodoxy
Part of the problem of course is the myth that the new is the better. Somehow a book written in 2006 must be far more clever and intelligent because it is far more current. Poor logic obviously but best expressed by C.S. Lewis:
"There is a strange idea abroad that in every subject the ancient books should be read only by the professionals, and that the amateur should content himself with the modern books. Thus I have found as a tutor in English Literature that if the average student wants to find out something about Platonism, the very last thing he thinks of doing is to take a translation of Plato off the library shelf and read the Symposium. He would rather read some dreary modern book ten times as long, all about "isms" and influences and only once in twelve pages telling him what Plato actually said…."
I highly recommend you read the entire introduction this quote is from – http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/history/ath-inc.htm (frankly there is much to be said here in terms of where we get our Biblical ideas from- the Bible or books written about the Bible)
P.S. I was diverted from this post by my 10-year-old son who was giggling in bed (it’s near midnight). It turns out he was remembering a Duck Dodgers reference to "the methane farms of Uranus" (you figure it out). My kids keep me grounded. They remind me why the reinterpretation of tradition and truth for each new age needs to continue and also of the blessed gift of sabbath. Goodnight.
Harnessing Chaos 