Week 1 Comments
Friday, September 1, 2023
12:08 PM
Focus on defining the term--describe what it is, how it functions, how different theologians or theological communities understand it.  Avoid evaluating the term or moving too quickly to describing your own personal convictions about the term.  For example, Tradition as a source of theology--Tradition refers to the faith as it has been expressed, interpreted, and handed down over time.  The Tradition, generally refers to those elements of the Christian Faith that are widely held by most Christians.  The Apostles' Creed and Nicene Creed are two salient examples of The Tradition.  Tradition might also be understood in its particularity to a stream (like "Reformed), denominational family (the Restoration), denomination (Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)."  Why be particular about this?  In ministry we often assume that people understand what we mean.  Because we have the capacity to make sense out of what a person says but not know what they mean, we need to take time explain what we mean specifically.  
Canon--The 66 Books of the Bible is a way to refer to the Protestant Canon.  Different traditions have different Canon's.  Explicitly, it refers to those writing that a particular manifestation of a religion regards to be holy.  
Apostolicity refers more to continuity with the Apostles and less about paying homage to or revering the Apostles.  Some streams of Christianity (particularly Roman Catholic but also Anglican) use apostolicity in reference to authority--who has inherited the authority entrusted to the Apostles?  For Protestant Churches, it is more manifest in The Tradition of a simple expressed faith.  