Morphemics

Voiding the Word

This is written in response to My Account of Scripture and Tradition, which I see a heartfelt account of the meaning of the Orthodox faith. I wish everyone believed that the church's life was something given to it by Christ; that this life is no mere doctrinal concept. To this extent, we agree. Yet, the substance of the account consists in beautifully worded descriptions of the Life of the Church interwoven with unsubstantiated claims concerning the origin of extra-Biblical tradition. I believe that the Church has been blessed with Life; however, I am far from being persuaded that this Life is not fully attained (as much as it can be before the return of Christ) when the church believes and puts into practice that which is recorded in Scripture.

Consider this quote, "Because this Tradition is filled with the Life of Christ himself, it carries His authority, and is thus infallible. But this Tradition is not, nor ever could be, separable from the Church, for the Church Herself is the Body of Christ, and is filled with Christ in whom is the fullness of the Godhead." This statement would be fine if "Tradition" meant those beliefs and practices which exhibit the truths of the Gospel and are common to all those who profess the name of Christ. But it does not. It refers to the beliefs and practices of a specific denomination. The Orthodox Church is the true church of Christ. It has a specific way of doing things, which it defines as its "Tradition." This, it claims, is given in infallible and unbroken form all the way from Christ. The proof of such a pedigree is found in the fact that it is this church that does these things.

But, if Tradition is defined as the Life of the Church, what does this say for all other Christian denominations? Precisely this, that they have no life. If the Tradition cannot be separated from the Church, then those denominations that do not practice this Tradition are no part of the Church. If this Church, the one that has all of this Tradition, is defined as the Body of Christ, then denominations without the Tradition are no part of the Body of Christ. If it is this body of Christ that is filled with Christ, then no other denomination can claim such a fulness. In fact, it would seem that, besides the Orthodox Church, that no other church that professes Christ can claim Christ at all. If Christ's Church is thus defined by its Tradition, then no other church belongs to Christ. These are conclusions necessarily drawn from so strong an account of Tradition.

Am I saying that this is not possible? Not at all. I do not shy away from an exclusive faith. There is life in Christ and in Christ alone. Any creed that does not acknowledge this has already been condemned to death. I am saying that Scripture sets the parameters both of the Gospel and of the Church. I am saying that Scripture gives no warrant whatsoever for a particular church to say, "plus all the things that we've been doing," and then call this, "Life." Even more, I am saying that Christ has given no such authorization. It is unthinkable that the One whom Scripure so fully reveals in the simplicity of the Gospel should have entrusted extra conditions for Life to a particular church with no indication that he had done so, no indication of what these conditions are, and no way of determining which church has this extra-Biblical but oh so essential truth. For every other doctrine and practice, we can know how close a church is to the will of Christ by comparing it to his inscriputurated will. Not so with Orthodox Tradition.

I have seen particular churches throughout history fall into heresy or some other sin far too often to think that it can't happen to any other church. The only defense against this, and only sure way by which the Church will triumph agaisnt the gates of Hell, is to know the will of God as it has been given in Scripture. What possible motivation could there then be for following a church whose distinctive beliefs are not a misinterpretation of Scripture simply by virtue of the fact that they are not based on Scripture at all? The claim that these distinctives, otherwise called Tradition, are infallible is of little comfort. This amounts to little more than the claim that the church that holds to these Traditions is infallible, for an infallible Tradition must be infallibly preserved in the actions of the people, else the Tradition changes.

So then, even though Scripture has presented the Gospel, which is life, in its simplicity, the Orthodox Church says that this is not enough, our Tradition is life; trust us, we're infallible. I cannot doubt the sincerity. Years, even centuries of doing things the same way can make any group think they're right. What bothers me most, though, is the corresponding idea that the Orthodox cannot be wrong. It is a church that has outgrown the need both for humility and for repentance. I can think of nothing more devastating to the soul.