Tradition (Christianity)

The word "tradition" comes from the Latin "traditio" which means both what is transmitted that the very act of transmitting it.

In Christianity , Tradition (with a capital letter ) is the revelation continues the Gospel of Christ to his Church by the Holy Spirit.

The Catholicism Roman thinks that this tradition is also carried through the successors of the apostles ( apostolic tradition ). The Orthodox have a similar design tradition. The Eighth Ecumenical Council (Constantinople IV), considered the question of tradition as a rule of faith.

Others, such as the Latter-day Saints , admit other revelations complementary thereof (eg the Book of Mormon ).

The Christian tradition is rooted in the traditional Jewish interpretation of Scripture in four directions: peshat , Remez, drash , sod (see Pardes (Kabbalah) ). These meanings were transmitted to Christian tradition, by Origen and John Cassian , in the form of four senses of Scripture , used in lectio divina.

The Roman Catholic Church says the revelation comes from a single source: the Christ who proclaimed the Gospel . Thus the tradition can not simply be understood as a reference to the past, but it is a living tradition in the sense that it calls for a reception at the present time.

Latin and Catholic Tradition

The Apostolic Tradition for the content of faith, Christ's message, the institutions necessary for him but it is not tied to a specific culture. Although the entries are in Hebrew and Greek which belongs to the tradition, but there is no language in this sacred tradition: neither Hebrew nor Greek and Latin, much less come late. In Rome, when Latin replaced Greek in the liturgy, there was a schism in 218 the priest with St. Hippolytus of Rome. Then the root in the Latin liturgy, and it corresponded to the popular language and the culture of the elite during the Middle Ages. The Council of Trent against the Protestant Reformation has preferred to keep the Latin, the Vatican Council II has, in addition to Latin, the use of local languages for the liturgy. So Latin is a secondary tradition of the Catholic Church but it is not part of the tradition rooted in the Apostolic Tradition of the Catholic Church. However traditionalist Catholics are very attached to that liturgical language both as a symbol of geographical unit (same language in the world) and timeless unit (one language through the centuries).

Important note on traditionalism

The controversy over the "traditionalist" Catholics shaken in recent decades, particularly in France. The difference of opinion between Catholics, who received the Second Vatican Council, and the "traditionalists", referring to the tradition of the Church as it has developed since the sixteenth century, focuses on issues of liturgy , the ritual and the nature of the report that the church should have with the modern world and other religions in the statement of faith.
It does not directly address the fundamental issues of faith as the communion of the Church, the Eucharist , the reference to the saints ...
Pope John Paul II issued a letter about the Catholic traditionalists, to appease the liturgical question. However, liberalization of the extraordinary rite (rite of St. Pius V) by Pope Benedict XVI has not yet allowed the reinstatement of the Catholic priests who attended ^MonsignorMarcel Lefebvre.

As a specific issue of controversy on the liturgy born with traditionalist Catholicism is not addressed in this article.

Tradition and Orthodox Church

Tradition and Protestant Churches

The sola scriptura of the Reformation Protestants opposed the idea that the authority of Church tradition would be equivalent to the biblical scriptures. But the reformers received the dogmatic definitions and symbols of the early councils and the early Church, and considered in accordance with biblical revelation. The Reformed churches today have found a real esteem for tradition, yet without giving it the authority that belongs only to the last Bible.

That's because of the importance attributed to biblical studies in the Protestant tradition.

History

The New Testament, with St. Paul uses the word tradition in several texts: "Hold on. Hold the traditions which you have learned from us, orally or by letter" (2 Th 2:15) or "Keep traditions such as I've sent you "(1 Cor 11, 2). We hear about the transmission of the Gospel may be oral: Luke 1, 2, 1Co.11, 23, 15.3; 2P.2, 21 and can be a lifestyle: 2 Th.3, 6. The writings of the Apostolic Fathers were also intended to convey what has been received from the apostles. For example, the title of the Didache is explicit: "Doctrine of the Lord sent to the nations by the twelve apostles." The principle of the Apostolic Tradition has been formalized for the first time by St. Irenaeus of Lyons around 190 and by St. Hippolytus of Rome , a student of Irenaeus of Lyons in the early ^third century .

The primacy of Rome in tradition is based, for Catholics, on the promise made by Jesus to Peter : "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church. "

The question of tradition regarded as a rule of faith was discussed at the fourth council of Constantinople in 869.

Bibliography

• Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Franzelin , Tradition, ed. Courier Rome, 2009 (translation of De divina traditionalist)
• Stella Ghervas, Reinventing tradition. Alexander Stourdza and Eastern Europe the Holy Alliance, Paris, Honor Champion, 2008, ISBN 978-2-7453-1669-1 (for the Orthodox tradition)
• Pierre Grelot , What tradition?, Christian Life, Paris, 1985
• Marc Lods, Protestantism and tradition of the Church, Paris, Cerf, Heritage, 1988
• Bernard Sesbo Jesus Christ in the tradition of the Church, Paris, Descle, Jesus and Jesus Christ, 1982
• Rene Remond , rights now Audibert, Paris, 2005 (for the traditionalist Catholic)
• Yves Congar , Tradition and traditions, 2 volumes (test historical and theological essay), Paris, Fayard, 1960 and 1963, 301 and 364 pages
• Christoph Theobald , "" The transmission of divine revelation "about the reception of Chapter II of" Dei Verbum "," in Bordeyne Philip VILLEMIN Lawrence (ed.), Vatican II theology, Prospects for the twenty-first century , coll. Cogitatio fidei (254), Paris, Editions du Cerf, 2006, p. 107-126
• Karl Rahner , "Scripture and Tradition. About the conciliar schema on divine revelation "(trans. Henry ROCHE), theological writings, t. VII, Paris, Descle de Brouwer, 1967, p. 79-93

See also

• Fourth Council of Constantinople ( 869 )
• Philosophy of Mind
• Metaphysics

References

• Christianity portal

Leave a Reply