After a conversation yesterday with a great Christian brother, I have been thinking alot about the idea a scriptural authority in the life of the church.
I grew up a staunch Protestant, the grandson of two Southern Baptist Deacons, and was told my entire life that Scripture is the SOLE authority in life and in practice. This is a Protestant Reformation idea know as Sola Scriptura (scripture alone), and had it's origins in the theology of Martin Luther and John Calvin. This doctrine of Sola Scriptura states that the Bible, and all contained therein, is the one and ONLY authority in life, and that every aspect of worship and life should be governed by the texts of Holy Scripture.
But is the Bible the ONLY authority in life and faith?
I am begining to think not. Now please DO NOT MISUNDERSTAND ME, I believe with every fiber of my being that the Holy Scriptures are the absolute, complete, inerrant and infallible Word of the True Living God. For we know without a doubt that "all scripture is God-breathed and profitable." But there are certain issues that one MUST look at when being confronted with this question.
1. What do we do with the gray areas (or issues with which the bible doesn't speak)?
-There are many issues that we deal with on a daily basis that we simply don't find in Scripture. Some call these areas things that are "written in silence." Some are simple issues such as: how much a Pastor should be paid? how large should a church be? what is the proper mode of baptism?
-Others though are more complicated, such as: where do babies go when they die? how are mentally handicapped people able to express faith if they can't comprehend the Gospel? what about people who commit suicide?
Whether simple or complex, these are issues that simply are not spoken about in the pages of the Bible. What do we do with these?
2. How do we deal with the fact that the Church carried on for almost 300 years without the benefit of the Canon of Scripture that we enjoy today? What did the early church do when different churches held different books (even some apocryphal ones such as the Gospel of Thomas) as authoritative?
The answer to these, at least I feel, is not found in the doctrine of Sola Scriptura. Scripture alone is simply not a viable response to these issues.
The early church had little other than Apostolic Tradition as their authority. Paul encouraged the churches to "carry on in the traditions" that the Apostles had taught them. The first centuries of the Church were governed by the Traditions of the Faith that were passed on by the Apostles themselves, without the benefit of the Scriptures to guide them.
Once the Canon of Scripture was formally put in place it was a wonderful solidification of the truth of the Gospel and of Salvation, but the practice of the Church remained governed by the Apostolic Tradition. The Bible became not the SOLE authority, but rather the FINAL authority.
When Luther put forth the doctrine of Sola Scriptura he did so not as a way of saying that the Church should ONLY do that which She finds in the Bible, but rather that the Church should not do anything that is CONTRARY to Scripture, and that Scripture is the Authority of Salvation. Meaning that it is in the pages of Holy Writ that we find the means of our salvation in the narratives of the Gospel of Our Lord Christ, and the Epistles of the Holy Apostles.
I would not push a harsh Sola Scriptura position any longer, rather I would put forth the doctrine of Prima Scriptura. Prima is a Latin word meaning "first" or "foremost." So scripture is not the ONLY authority, but rather the First authority.
The Anglican Church allows for this in its Three Steps of interpretation: Scripture, Tradition & Reason.
Scripture is the first and foremost authority, but as stated earlier it does have gray areas. With those gray areas we can look at the Traditions of the church, or another way of stating this would be to look at how the church has always dealt with these issues. Then take the orthodox teaching of the Church and stack it against the Scripture. If the two do not contradict then we should use our reason to determine that the orthodox interpretation is probably the right one.
Our church has given us a wonderful tool to use in touching on the Scriptural gray areas, and even with Scriptures that are difficult to interpret!
Praise God for the Holy Scriptures, and for the Traditions of His Church, that shed light on our interpretation!
May you all be blessed by God, our Father, as you live in the nuture of the Church, our Mother.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit+
As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria,
-Matthew
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Coffee, Crucifix, and St. Benedict
There's not really any significant thought behind this blog other than what I have right in front of me: Some coffee, the crucifix I wear around my next and a book about St. Benedict.
These things got me thinking though.
First thought:
I drink a lot of (and spend far too much money on) coffee. That is a sad but true fact of life. It's an addiction like any other, and I don't think I'm willing to let this one go. Deal with it people!
Second (and slightly more serious) thought:
As I read this book about St Benedict I am deeply convicted about some of my lifes pursuits. Benedict of Nursia was a man deeply devoted to making every aspect of his life aim toward God. He is considered the "father of Western Monasticism," and many people, monks and nuns, layperson and clergy, see him as a wonderful example of what it means to give up every fleshly desire and follow after Christ.
I am so convicted because I, just like the rest of my American peers, am chasing after the wind. I always want more stuff. Do I need more useless crap in my life? Absolutely not. Yet I keep longing and coveting the things that I don't have. Benedict is a wonderful reminder that Christ is all I really need. That vain pursuits are not lasting and will fade away, but those things that are done for the cause of Christ Jesus will last forever. Praise God.
Third (and final) thought:
Recently I was spending time with some family and the crucifix I wear around my neck became visible. A family member of mine scoffed at it and made the remark "Protestants don't hang Jesus on the Cross."
Well, this got me thinking a bit and asking a hard question. Am I a protestant? No, I don't think so. Not in the American Evangelical sense of the word anyway. I don't hold to a narrow view of Christianity that only allows for what the "emergent/emerging/seeker/charismatic" movements shove down our throats either.
I would much rather allign myself with Christs One, Holy, Apostolic and Catholic Church. I need something with roots, and deep ones at that. It's not enough for me to look back to a Christian tradition that only goes as far back as 1960, I'd rather link up with a tradition that goes back to AD 60.
We have a glorious history in our faith, and for whatever reason we Americans are content to let it stay history. There's a problem with that though; it is our pasts that make us who we are. As individuals our personalities, quirks, preferences and thoughts are shaped by our experiences growing up.
At the risk of falling into an existential heresy I will say that the Church is this way as well. We as a Church have been shaped and formed by our past. The Great Persecution, the Church Councils, the Reformation, the Inquisition, the Crusades, the Calvinist/Arminian debate, Billy Grahm, etc... For better or for worse our faith is shaped by our history.
Our faith has splintered into so many different factions and sects, and things as petty as a cross with a little Jesus figure on it is enough to separate Christians. This makes me sick. This is why I refuse to call myself a Protestant. Ridiculous little things divide Protestants.
I am a Catholic Christian in the Anglican tradition, and I am very proud to be a part of Christs ONE universal (catholic) Church. These are my thoughts. As scattered and random as they may be.
Soli Deo Gloria,
-Matthew
These things got me thinking though.
First thought:
I drink a lot of (and spend far too much money on) coffee. That is a sad but true fact of life. It's an addiction like any other, and I don't think I'm willing to let this one go. Deal with it people!
Second (and slightly more serious) thought:
As I read this book about St Benedict I am deeply convicted about some of my lifes pursuits. Benedict of Nursia was a man deeply devoted to making every aspect of his life aim toward God. He is considered the "father of Western Monasticism," and many people, monks and nuns, layperson and clergy, see him as a wonderful example of what it means to give up every fleshly desire and follow after Christ.
I am so convicted because I, just like the rest of my American peers, am chasing after the wind. I always want more stuff. Do I need more useless crap in my life? Absolutely not. Yet I keep longing and coveting the things that I don't have. Benedict is a wonderful reminder that Christ is all I really need. That vain pursuits are not lasting and will fade away, but those things that are done for the cause of Christ Jesus will last forever. Praise God.
Third (and final) thought:
Recently I was spending time with some family and the crucifix I wear around my neck became visible. A family member of mine scoffed at it and made the remark "Protestants don't hang Jesus on the Cross."
Well, this got me thinking a bit and asking a hard question. Am I a protestant? No, I don't think so. Not in the American Evangelical sense of the word anyway. I don't hold to a narrow view of Christianity that only allows for what the "emergent/emerging/seeker/charismatic" movements shove down our throats either.
I would much rather allign myself with Christs One, Holy, Apostolic and Catholic Church. I need something with roots, and deep ones at that. It's not enough for me to look back to a Christian tradition that only goes as far back as 1960, I'd rather link up with a tradition that goes back to AD 60.
We have a glorious history in our faith, and for whatever reason we Americans are content to let it stay history. There's a problem with that though; it is our pasts that make us who we are. As individuals our personalities, quirks, preferences and thoughts are shaped by our experiences growing up.
At the risk of falling into an existential heresy I will say that the Church is this way as well. We as a Church have been shaped and formed by our past. The Great Persecution, the Church Councils, the Reformation, the Inquisition, the Crusades, the Calvinist/Arminian debate, Billy Grahm, etc... For better or for worse our faith is shaped by our history.
Our faith has splintered into so many different factions and sects, and things as petty as a cross with a little Jesus figure on it is enough to separate Christians. This makes me sick. This is why I refuse to call myself a Protestant. Ridiculous little things divide Protestants.
I am a Catholic Christian in the Anglican tradition, and I am very proud to be a part of Christs ONE universal (catholic) Church. These are my thoughts. As scattered and random as they may be.
Soli Deo Gloria,
-Matthew
Monday, May 25, 2009
Via Media Emerging
As I begin this little blog, I am hoping to use it as a tool to share with those close to me as well as those who may not know me well the things that are on my mind and heart.
The thing that is on my heart right now more than anything else is something that (as I talk with more and more people) most folks are unaware of.
I hope to use this blog as a means to share this with you all.
The thing that has captured my heart is what I will call the "Anglican Movement." Throughout the world the Anglican Communion is growing by leaps and bounds, and spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. But what is it?
The Anglican Church (the Church of England) has existed since christianity first landed in Britain in the third century. The Church as we know it though has come to us as a result of the 16th Century Reformation.
When Martin Luthers Reformation finally hit England it found a nation that was not willing to take the shift in the church as far as Luther and Calvin were taking it. It was a Church that wished to remain catholic, but to fix the abuses that the Roman Church had caused.
The result was a body of believers that was BOTH catholic AND reformed. Niether Protestant nor Roman Catholic. It was truly the ecclesia reformata, qui semper reformanda (the reformed church, and always reforming).
But how is this body that is the middle way between the two faiths changing the face of modern Christendom?
This holy body is moving across the world pulling double duty as a instrument of the Gospel to the world that is perishing, as well as an example of Orthodoxy to a church drowning in post-modern, existential, relevancy doctrine.
Our [Anglican] Church represents and uses the beauty of the Ancient Future mode of worship, using the liturgical elements of our Churches 2000 year history as well as looking forward to our future. The Anglican Way allows for the Church to include cultural worship styles, to reach out in worship in ways that people everywhere of any background can embrace, while all the time grounding ourselves in the illustrious history of our Faith.
And now, 500 years after the great Reformation, our Church is being called to stand for the faith once again.
When the Episcopal Church began to deny the Gospel, going so far as to ordain homosexuals to the Priesthood and even to the Episcopate, to bless same sex union, and to bless and defend the right of women to abort a child they abandoned their place as the representative body of the Anglican Church. When these things began to happen the churches of Africa began to send Missionaries to the U.S.
Since that time new Churches have been planted, parishes have left the Episcopal Church, and a new Province of the Anglican Church is rising. God is doing a wonderful thing in our midst, and He is using the Anglican Communion to share the Gospel of Christ with millions.
This is what has touched my heart. I hope that you will all inform yourselves as to what God is doing in the world! I praise God for the Anglican Church, and what He is doing in it!
Soli Deo Gloria,
-Matthew
The thing that is on my heart right now more than anything else is something that (as I talk with more and more people) most folks are unaware of.
I hope to use this blog as a means to share this with you all.
The thing that has captured my heart is what I will call the "Anglican Movement." Throughout the world the Anglican Communion is growing by leaps and bounds, and spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. But what is it?
The Anglican Church (the Church of England) has existed since christianity first landed in Britain in the third century. The Church as we know it though has come to us as a result of the 16th Century Reformation.
When Martin Luthers Reformation finally hit England it found a nation that was not willing to take the shift in the church as far as Luther and Calvin were taking it. It was a Church that wished to remain catholic, but to fix the abuses that the Roman Church had caused.
The result was a body of believers that was BOTH catholic AND reformed. Niether Protestant nor Roman Catholic. It was truly the ecclesia reformata, qui semper reformanda (the reformed church, and always reforming).
But how is this body that is the middle way between the two faiths changing the face of modern Christendom?
This holy body is moving across the world pulling double duty as a instrument of the Gospel to the world that is perishing, as well as an example of Orthodoxy to a church drowning in post-modern, existential, relevancy doctrine.
Our [Anglican] Church represents and uses the beauty of the Ancient Future mode of worship, using the liturgical elements of our Churches 2000 year history as well as looking forward to our future. The Anglican Way allows for the Church to include cultural worship styles, to reach out in worship in ways that people everywhere of any background can embrace, while all the time grounding ourselves in the illustrious history of our Faith.
And now, 500 years after the great Reformation, our Church is being called to stand for the faith once again.
When the Episcopal Church began to deny the Gospel, going so far as to ordain homosexuals to the Priesthood and even to the Episcopate, to bless same sex union, and to bless and defend the right of women to abort a child they abandoned their place as the representative body of the Anglican Church. When these things began to happen the churches of Africa began to send Missionaries to the U.S.
Since that time new Churches have been planted, parishes have left the Episcopal Church, and a new Province of the Anglican Church is rising. God is doing a wonderful thing in our midst, and He is using the Anglican Communion to share the Gospel of Christ with millions.
This is what has touched my heart. I hope that you will all inform yourselves as to what God is doing in the world! I praise God for the Anglican Church, and what He is doing in it!
Soli Deo Gloria,
-Matthew
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