Tradition and Transformation

"Tradition and Transformation" - how could these two words possibly belong in the same sentence? In a recent blog article, Things You Can’t Invent, Fr. Stephen Freeman explains that nearly everything we have is something that has been handed down to us -

"Most of the things in our lives are not of our own making – they were given to us. Our language, our culture, the whole of our biology and the very gift of life itself is something that has been 'handed down' to us. In that sense, we are all creatures of 'tradition' (traditio='to hand down'). Of course, these things that are not of our own making and are the least controllable are also those things that we take most for granted. We may hate our culture and our biology, but will still have to use our traditioned language (or someone’s traditioned language) to say so. Tradition is simply the most foundational, inescapable aspect of human existence."

Lately we have been bombarded with instances in which certain public persons have tried to change their gender or race, resulting in something ludicrous if it weren't so sad. One can't re-invent oneself as a different race or gender - these are permanent characteristics we are born with, and they will be with us until death, if not beyond. Fr. Freeman goes on to say -

"A common fallacy in the contemporary world is to treat tradition as an option, the sort of thing you can value or dismiss at will. A number of contemporary Christian groups dismiss tradition as a stumbling block and hindrance to the spiritual life. But such an attitude creates a false spirituality, one that assumes that we can live without the necessity of tradition.

"The Christian faith is a Tradition. This is inescapable. Everyone who names Jesus as “Lord,” does so because the story of Jesus, and even the reality of His Person have been handed down to them from someone else. The concepts with which they practice their discipleship will not be new – they will have been handed down as well. Christianity is a traditioned faith."

Every culture, religion, Christian sub-grouping, or denomination has its traditions, things handed down from previous leaders and generations. Even if they are not called traditions, in reality that is what they are. Some traditions are merely cultural preferences, such as the types of ethnic foods certain nationalities prefer. But other traditions claim to be based on unchanging, divinely revealed truths. If a Baptist were to attend a meeting of Jehovah's Witnesses and begin sharing his beliefs about salvation by grace or singing "Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound" - he would be quickly given the left foot of dis-fellowship. And conversely, if a Jehovah's Witness or a Mormon were to begin asserting his doctrine that Jesus Christ was a finite, created being, he would be invited out of an Orthodox Christian meeting.

There are both "traditions of men," and "Holy Tradition." But heterodox doctrines, beliefs that do not agree with Orthodox Holy Tradition, often are not bluntly and overtly asserted: they are gradually insinuated, hinted at, then perhaps using "modern science" or isolated Scripture verses out of context they are quietly introduced: "Modern genetics tells us that some people are born with indeterminate gender" (using this extremely rare case to excuse those people who choose to have their gender altered) - or - "Nobody actually witnessed Christ's resurrection from the dead," implying that He didn't really rise from the dead, although the blinding light of some angels appearing caused the guards to become like dead men. Nobody has witnessed a nuclear explosion with their bare eyes and had their vision remain intact, either!

The step-brother of our Lord Jesus, Jude, humbly describes himself as "a servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James" (Jude 1:1). He was so overwhelmed by the majesty of Jesus Christ that he would not make any claim to a relationship in the flesh, but rather he was content to be just a servant of Christ the Lord. He went on to write -

"Beloved, while I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I was constrained to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For there are certain men who crept in secretly, even those who were long ago written about for this condemnation: ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying our only Master, God, and Lord, Jesus Christ. Now I desire to remind you, though you already know this, that the Lord, having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who didn't believe" (Jude 1:3-5).

Here we see the words "the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints": the word "delivered" in Greek is paradotheisi, meaning "traditioned" or "handed down." Jude tells us that we must "contend earnestly for the faith", we must not sit back quietly when some people try to insert ideas that contradict traditional Christian doctrines, such as saying that Jesus Christ was merely a good man or a prophet but not the pre-eternal Son of God, or that all religions point to the same god. Indeed, Christ was a good Man and a prophet, but He was also the eternal Word of God incarnate. And yes, there are many so-called gods, but even human logic tells us there can only be one true God, one Absolute Being.

How should we "contend earnestly for the faith"? Are we to be contentious and argumentative? Just the opposite: those people who rely on "modern science" are often proud, contentious and argumentative in their efforts to put down any and all traditional beliefs. Fr. Freeman continues - "the rejection of tradition creates a false sense of competency. One of the great errors of our contemporary society is its assumption that the present exists in order to correct the past. There are inherent utopian assumptions about our ability to create a better world. The arrogance of those assumptions consistently produces a world of unforeseen consequences."

Our contending for the faith must be "marked by a spirit of humility and stewardship. Through no particular competence other than being born at this time, we have been given stewardship for everything that has gone before. It is the treasure of countless lives" - writes Fr. Freeman. The Apostle Paul tells us - "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace that was given me, to every man who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think humbly, as God has apportioned to each person a measure of faith" (Romans 12:2-3). Our faith that has been handed down to us is not something we just now dreamed up, but rather it is apportioned to us by God. To humbly contend for the faith requires real transformation of our character.

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 21 June 2015.)