Tradition and traditions - Yeago 1

A lot of my theological thinking was challenged and also crystallized in Systematic Theology classes at Wycliffe. In this class I remember we made the distinction between Tradition (with a capital T) and traditions (lowercase and plural). I think this distinction is quite useful.

Our textbook in this class was a work in progress by David Yeago. Yeago says that at the heart of what it means to be the church is the process of receiving, holding-fast, and handing-on, something he calls a “tradition process” (The Apostolic Faith, Part 1, pg 6). (Cf. 1 Cor 15:1-2) These actions are “core modes of Christian practice” (6). What is being received, held on to and handed down? Essentially the apostolic witness. The apostolic witness is not a thing, or a book, or a doctrine, but “a knowable truth and a corporate way of life built on that truth” (6). Yes, it includes Scripture, but it is bigger than that. It’s a new way of thinking and living, made possible by a new relationship with God through Jesus. As the apostolic message, the gospel (kerygma), is faithfully passed down it takes a form of continuity, and this is what Yeago calls tradition (11). So Tradition is the form of continuity of the apostolic witness.

Yeago say the word of God founds tradition (10). The tradition process has its origin in divine action, in God’s revelation to humanity through the life, teachings, death and resurrection of Christ. God got the process going. The apostles were the first to receive this, hold on to it, and pass it down to the next generation of believers. They didn’t just pass down their own ideas, insights or traditions, but The Word of God spoken definitively in Jesus. So Tradition is not man-made, it is divine in origin.

Yeago also brings up the question of Scripture and tradition. He says it’s a different discussion than what it was like in the days of the reformers, when they were speaking out against human traditions such as indulgences and the like. The real question today in ecumenical discussion is about tradition in the singular. This idea of tradition refers to the “proper formative environment of scriptural interpretation” (27). In order for Scripture to be read and interpreted properly, it must be read from within the Church community, its proper environment, so to speak. Scripture and tradition are not set up as opposing forces. Tradition in its proper sense is the environment/context/perspective from which Scripture should be read.

I really like Yeago’s idea of the formative environment. Christianity includes but is bigger than the Bible. It includes but is bigger than individuals. It includes but is bigger than the present. The Christian worldview and way of life has been passed down in a community with particular attitudes and actions which accompany the Christian message. This community was started by Jesus and the apostles and continues today. The whole Christian package, where it is faithful to the apostolic witness, is what I think is meant by Tradition.

What do you think?


~lg