Developing Christian Thought

Scholars

  • When reading the Bible it can influence people through tradition. and different ways of thinking

Richard Hays

'No matter how seriously the Church may take the authority of the Bible... the interpretation of scripture can never occur in a vacuum. The new testaments is read by interpreters under the formative influence of some particular tradition.'

William Spohn

'some ... view their work as strictly descriptive, providing no path from what a text meant to what it might mean for believers today.'

  • these scholars argue how you cannot examine scripture without reference to the church communities and traditions in which it functions

Allen Verhey

'Biblical ethics is unyieldingly diverse. The bible contains many books and more traditions, each addressed once to a particular community in a specific cultural and social context facing concrete questions of moral conduct and character.'

Anglican tradition

Anglican conception of church traditions refers both to early tradition and current traditions

for anglicans the Bible comes first but tradition can also be interpreted for them as it should be listened and practised

the methodist church also refer to tradition as the connection between the current christian community and the first christian community

Richard Hays defines the church tradition as the time-honoured practices of worship

traditions is not separate from scripture

church tradition is how the community of the church worships and prays using scripture

Catholic Sacred Tradition

tradition procedes the bible

sacred tradition is an equal means of coming to know the revelation of Jesus alongside the Bible because it is oral tradition handed down

Sacred tradition therefore had equal authority to the Bible because they are teachings from Jesus

Catholic Sacred Tradition

'sacred tradition and sacred scripture from one sacred deposit of the word of God, committed to the church ... but the task of authentically interpreting the word of God, whether written handed on, has been entrusted exclusively to the living teaching office of the church, whose authority is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ.'

the catechism is a summary of how a church integrates tradition and scripture together through a process of reasoning

the catechism resolves to provide an unambiguous answer to many moral problems that Christinas face today

reflects the importance of sacred tradition as a binding authority and source of guidance in moral life

catholic tradition can be expressed as tradtiton, scripture, magisterium and then reason

Anglican tradition can be expressed as scripture, tradition and then reason

Reason

reason is required to make sense of experience and respond to it, to process and reflect on the Bible and the tradition that it carries

the rules and principles used for reasoning are justified or influence by our culture or the people we surround ourself with

2 Thessalonians 2:15

'so then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter'

Reason

Alasdair McIntyre

rationality itself, whether theoretical or practical, is a concept with a history... there are a diversity of traditions on enquiry...'

Richard Hays

'reason itself is always culturally influenced ... rationality is a continent aspect of particular symbolic worlds.'

chrisitans need to negotiate between the world of the new testament and their particular world in the present to find a way to make a moral decision

modern views place men and women in leadership are different from this expressed in some comments about women made by St Paul

reason can create different interpretations of the bible resulting in differing view points and different decision making