Yesterday was Reformation Sunday. During the service, which was a fully written liturgy (Yes, we reformed can do this and can choose not to) Bazza noted that the text from Hebrews did not need much elaboration.
We are all priests. But by sitting looking at an overhead we forgot that because people were at the front. The table and elements were in the centre… and everything had to be written out and printed. The prayers were said by the congregation.
We are reformed. We continually question our practice, our understanding, ourselves. As part of this yesterday I added an overtly Orthodox site to the weblinks. The Orthodox (God bless ’em) have frozen their practices. Their perspective is useful, even to those who have some theological disagreements with them. (There are a whole pile of Catholic commentators already in the linkage, for exactly the same reason).
Which is not really an introduction to the gospel for today.
14Now he was casting out a demon that was mute; when the demon had gone out, the one who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed. 15But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” 16Others, to test him, kept demanding from him a sign from heaven. 17But he knew what they were thinking and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself becomes a desert, and house falls on house. 18If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? – for you say that I cast out the demons by Beelzebul. 19Now if I cast out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your exorcists cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you. 21When a strong man, fully armed, guards his castle, his property is safe. 22But when one stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his plunder. 23Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
24“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25When it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. 26Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first.
Now, there are many who talk about how the spiritual life is warfare from this passage. I’d suggest that the point to take home from that is each day we have to deal with our sins, our weaknesses, and each day live in a regulated and disciplined manner. This is one place where tradition can help. If you do something habitually, you may not think about it and you may not do it as well, but you do it routinely. And this has an efficacy.
However, I want to push this a bit: the false beliefs of the church at this time are not new. They are ancient. They were confronted before the Orthodox and West split. They are corrected in the creeds.
Heresies return with different faces but the same content. The heresy that besets our church is Gnosticism. It is seen in the overtly spiritual teaching: the emphasis on spiritual warfare but no personal reform, and the fact that the body is ignored. The sins of the body — lust, sloth and gluttony are not confronted. Instead, the Gnostics talk about spiritual growth, angels, demons, and being perfect in this life.
Which is wrong. If you think you are without sin, you are a liar. It is when we confess our sins with repentance that forgiveness comes.
It is not about knowledge or spiritual power. It is about love, truth and justice. And since the church has been broken and shattered, we need to look not only at the light coming through our congregation but how the same light is filtered in our Christian Brothers across the Tiber or Bospheros.
Now there is a tradition we all agree on that is all practices and practices is to be based on what is written. Just as Jesus and all the new testament authors based their arguments on the scriptures.
If a proper priority is given to scripture over the (questionable) “Oral tradition” passed down from the apostles as they say many of the problems of the orthodox and catholic church will be solved. And even if they had their tradition passed down from apostles it will be consistent with the new testament and based on what is written in the old testament justified as it were from the tanakh.
OH, yes. Everything should follow scripture. But they do not: the evangelicals are as bad as the Catholics when it comes to inventing traditions, and the emergent churches are some of the worst.
I agree about Sola Scriptura. What we do should conform to the bible.
However, a fair amount of the evangelical church, let alone the emerging church, are adding traditions. glosses and precedents that contradict scripture. Now, the Orthodox and Catholics love their tradition and also have blind spots.
However, they are blind in different places. We can correct our straying by looking at why they do things. Not always, but often enough.
Not that I forget the apostasy of many in the evangelical church as it is the tendency of man to turn away from the precepts of god. However I do get annoyed when people say ours is the only One true church then I feel compelled to say “Really if your church is the only true church how come what you teach and practice is contrary to the word of god?”