Trad

TRADITION (RCIA)

2022 10/31

Introduction: note participants' backgrounds and personal histories. Address 'Sola Scriptura' concepts. Tradition includes Doctrine and Discipline, studied in more detail below.

Creeds: are short summaries of doctrine used in our liturgies. The first Council of Nicaea in 325 gave us an early Creed and articles of Canon Law. The Nicene Creed was an early definition of Christian doctrine and has changed little since its formulation (Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) 185-197). It states that God is the Creator of all things, 'visible and invisible.'

Doctrines, from Scripture and CCC:

Psalm 111 God's wise design and covenant faithfulness endure forever. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Psalm 119 God's Word is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path.

Mt 16.18-19, 18.18 keys, binding and loosing.

Mt 23.2 Moses' seat of authority.

Mt 28.18f the Apostles are commissioned.

Mk 2 Son of Man has authority to forgive sins, He is Lord of the Sabbath. Penance plus apostolic authority imply law is invariant but the penalties can change.

Lk 10.17, Jn 14.15f the Holy Spirit teaches the Apostles.

1 Cor 11.2 Maintain the traditions taught.

2 Thess 2.15 Hold the traditions you have been taught.

1 Tim 6.20 The bishop should guard what has been entrusted to him.

2 Tim 2.1-26 Teach what you have heard from me, says St. Paul. Avoid evil, do not dispute about words. Correct opponents with kindness.

2 Tim 3.10-17 Remain faithful to the Christian purpose. All Scripture is inspired by God, equipping the Christian for every good work.

Titus 1.7-13 A bishop should hold fast to the true message as taught.

Heb 13.17 Obey your leaders and defer to them...they will have to give an account.

2 Peter 1 We have not followed cunningly devised fables or myths.

CCC 74-87 Proclaim Christ in every place. The Gospel is handed down orally and in writing. Sacred Scripture is the speech of God written down. The Word of God and Deposit of Faith is given to the entire Church, whose Magisterium is the servant of Revelation.

CCC 88-100 Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium support each other.

Canon of Scripture Confirmed as a List:

367 St. Athanasius

397 Aurelius

At the Council of Rome in 382 AD, the Church decided on a canon of 46 OT books (including the Deuterocanonical books) and 27 NT books. This decision was ratified and confirmed by the councils at Hippo (393), Carthage (397, 419), 2 Nicaea (787), Florence (1442) and Trent (1546).

Also:

405 Pope Innocent 1

495 Gelasian Decree

1546 Council of Trent

1870 Vatican 1

1965 Vatican 2

Scripture is inerrant: CCC 107. Analogy of Scripture: CCC 114. Senses of Scripture: CCC 115-119.

Scripture as Canon: CCC 120.

OT and NT are both the Word of God, no Marcionism: CCC 123.

Councils:

Ecumenical Councils of bishops in communion with the Pope define doctrine infallibly. For example, Nicaea 325, Carthage 397, Trent 1545 all define the Canon of Scripture. Nicaea 325 and Chalcedon 451 define Christological doctrines.

Many other councils are important but are too many to cover in a limited time. So we move ahead in history to the nineteenth century.

Vatican 1 in 1869-70 states that infallibility comes 'not from the consent of the Church,' and that infallible doctrines are 'irreformable of themselves.' The Vatican 1 formulation of infallibility was a compromise between the Ultramontanes and the Gallicans, the latter generally favoring national colleges of bishops over plenary papal authority.

Vatican 1 also ruled against Modernism, made clear distinctions between areas of faith and reason, and clarified church-state relationships.

Vatican 1 scattered hastily in October 1870 after war broke out between France and Prussia. Vatican 1 was vigorously opposed by Germany and Austria. Chancellor Bismarck began the 'Kulturkampf' in Germany against the Catholic Church, which he believed endangered German unity. Several Catholic bishops were imprisoned. By 1887 most German anti-Catholic laws had been repealed, due to strong opposition from the German people. Note the parallels with Henry 8 and Elizabethan England.

Vatican 2 in 1962-5 made it a point to begin by formally closing Vatican 1. Many forces which disrupted Vatican 1 also led to the two World Wars, and arguably the subsequent Cold War.

Vatican 2 changed our liturgy, encouraged ecumenism and evangelical efforts, involved more lay activity, and promoted religious freedom. The thought of the American Jesuit John Courtney Murray contributed to advocacy of religious freedom. Christian unity was a primary goal of Vatican 2.

Popes:

Pius 9 in an 1854 Papal Bull defined the Immaculate Conception, which had been suggested by the Council of Trent. Pius 12 in 1950 defined the Assumption of Mary in a Papal Bull. Papal Bulls are infallible, as defined in Vatican 1, and are signed by the College of Cardinals.

Discipline:

Discipline includes Church customs and local traditions that can be changed, often at the discretion of the local Bishop. Included are some aspects of liturgy, and some requirements for joining the Church, for marriage and related issues, and for some penances.

One example of a changed discipline was eating fish instead of meat on Fridays. This is now done, at least in the US, primarily only during Lent.

Bishops help provide a 'common frame of reference' (Mr. Spock) for logical discussion and application of disciplines.

History:

Note ancient secular and philosophical background: Pagan Pantheon, Aristotle (Demiurge), Plato (Eternal Ideas culminating in the Logos), neo-Platonists (emanations tending to monism, chains of being).

Church history shows the working and growth of Tradition, and changes in Discipline. Outside of Sacred Tradition, there is often confusion about what the Bible means concerning crucial doctrines. The early Church Fathers include many canonized Saints. The following, frequently cited in the CCC, are very early and very important, in rough order of their closeness to the Apostles:

St. Polycarp

- Bishop of Smyrna c. 69-155 AD.

- Martyred for refusing to recant his faith in Christ.

- Said to have known St. John and the other Apostles.

- Opposed the Gnostics; for more on this see Irenaeus below.

- Opposed the Marcionites, who claimed that the Gospel of Love excludes Law. Marcion and his followers also rejected the OT, said that Jesus came to overthrow the OT Demiurge, made early Manichaean claims, and edited (as in cut and paste) the NT extensively.

St. Ignatius of Antioch

- First Century, died about 107 AD.

- Probably met St. John the Apostle, also St. Polycarp.

- Wrote at least seven letters, died a martyr.

- Opposed Docetism, which denied the humanity of Christ and therefore the real presence in the sacraments.

- Supported both the Divinity and Humanity of Christ, Whose Birth, Passion and Death were not appearances but realities.

- Asserted that the life of Christ is continued in the Eucharist.

- Understood the bishop as a shepherd who deserves our respect and obedience.

St. Irenaeus of Lyons

- Bishop from 177-202 AD.

- Heard St. Polycarp as a boy.

- Advocated unity of doctrine, presented the Apostles' Creed.

- His 'Against Heresies' opposed Gnosticism and other errors.

- Gnosticism usually involved Platonic or Neoplatonic 'emanations' from God.

- Gnostic knowledge or 'gnosis' was a kind of enlightenment, often secret and only available to the initiated.

- Some Gnostics thought their knowledge made their behavior irrelevant.

- Others said their knowledge made perfection an important goal.

- Gnosticism included Valentinians, who thought that the spiritual world or pleroma is made of thirty 'aeons' forming a succession of pairs, essentially neo-Platonic emanations from god the Demiurge. Valentinians believed that Jesus was not really Divine but was instead an Aeon, knowable primarily by the spiritually 'enlightened.'

- Irenaeus, by contrast, advocated a public, teachable orthodoxy, including the cooperation of the Father and Son in the work of Revelation and Redemption and sending of the Holy Spirit.

- He asserted the coordinate orthodoxy of all four Gospels.

St. Athanasius

- c. 296-373, Bishop of Alexandria from 328.

- Presented the Canon of Scripture as a list.

- Opposed Arianism, which denied the Divinity of Christ and said that Jesus was just a very good man.

- Promoted the orthodox Christology: two natures, One Person.

- In 343 Pope Julius I called the Council of Sardica which vindicated Athanasius' doctrine and bishopric against some Eastern opposition.

St. Augustine of Hippo

- Bishop from 396-430 AD, Doctor of the Church.

- Showed a biblical basis for doctrines in the Creeds.

- Opposed Manichaeism, a Gnosticism which taught that Good and Evil are equally powerful opposing forces.

- His movement of thought away from his early adherence to Manicheism led to his concept of privative evil: most evil is a privation (absence) of the Good.

- St. Augustine's writings against the Manichaeans contain his clear views on the problem of evil: physical evil comes from the 'imperfect character' of creatures. Moral evil, 'the kind of evil that makes men evil', comes from free will.

- He opposed Arianism, Pelagianism. The latter denies original sin, makes freedom to choose a driver of righteousness without the need for Grace.

- His 'City of God' asserted and defended Christian faith, conduct and morality, especially against the popular religions and superstitions of Rome.

- His 'Confessions' is noteworthy for its devotional candor and autobiographical sketches.

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