On the Fathers, Tradition, and the Creeds

    No longer do we stay within the great towers of the Fathers, the tall sturdy gates of the Creeds, and the wide watchful walls of tradition. When these great defenses of Christianity are assaulted, it can only be imagined that the effects are devastating. Much evil doctrine begins to penetrate the church when the walls of tradition are demolished; the boundaries of truth become vague and unclear upon the dissolution of the towers of the Fathers, and those who remain huddled inside the dilapidated gates of the Creeds become too busy fighting falsity to build upon the once sturdy infrastructure of the city of doctrine. It is concerning to watch these guardians of Christianity fall, ignored, to slow decay.

    Why has the Protestant church allowed this tragedy? The root of the matter lies in the ruling Protestant philosophies of sola scriptura, the universal priesthood of believers, and freedom of interpretation: things that are not bad in their true sense, things good and necessary. But like all good things, they can be carried to distortions and extremes, which seems to be the case in Protestantism.

    The cry of sola scriptura has long rebounded the halls of Protestantism, but now it seems common feeling that scripture alone wields authority, and that we should not listen to the teachings of other men as having any authority over us, for men are fallible and scripture is not. It is undeniable, however, that God has endowed certain men with piercing insight, burning intellect, devoted piety, and minds with wisdom that far exceed ordinary. It would be arrogant and presumptuous to suppose all men to be their equals. If we submit wholly to and obey the king, will we fail to hearken carefully to his magistrate? Will we refuse to believe that the servant of the king who lives daily by his side knows well the decrees and desires of the king? If we subject ourselves to scripture as highest authority, let us not fail to listen closely to and submit ourselves to those great servants of God who lived daily in His presence and his scripture.

    The modern Protestant rejection of all church tradition and her refusal to give it any weight or authority is perhaps indirectly due to the doctrine of sola scriptura, but more so it is due to pride and individualism. Whether we admit it to ourselves or not, many of us sometimes fail to realize that we can err. We adhere so strongly to one preacher or one teacher or one doctrine that we become concerned merely with the attack of what we see as falsity and the defense of what we see as true. We decide to hold to a specific idea, and never seek a greater understanding or more wisdom, never give credit to any but our own ideas, never seek peace, truth, humility. When the church, the body of followers of Christ on earth, follows, accepts, or practices a certain thing, it carries weight as a decision from God. For who will deny that every true believer is filled and led of the Holy Ghost? When we reject tradition without any qualms, do we not reject almost veritable counsel from the Holy Spirit? The reason we are blind to this is because we become consumed with ourselves, and we sometimes feel that our small circle of brothers is the only circle of true believers in our age.

    This individualistic pride in part arises from an abuse of the doctrine of the universal priesthood of believers–essentially the doctrine that all believers have the capacity to be in direct personal relationship with God without any mediating clergy or priests. There is, however, a greater evil that has, with time,  slowly sprung from this doctrine. When this doctrine of the universal priesthood is a premise, personal study of the Bible closely closely follows, which in itself is a good thing. But if the Christian does not take pains to humble himself and stay within the bounds of orthodoxy laid by the ecumenical creeds, then individual interpretation, catalyzed by pride, stubbornness, and lack of care, soon leads to misinterpretation and distortion of the scriptures.

    Therefore must great care be taken to rebuild the city of orthodoxy: The scaffolding of respect and submission must strengthen and renew the ancient towers of the Fathers; the bricks of humility and love of history must rebuild the protective walls of tradition; the iron of diligent study and the wood of caution must renew once again the gates of the Creeds. Let us pray that God grant and will these things.