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bearing the wisdom of the ages

Bearing the Wisdom of the Ages: Evangelicalism and Tradition

by Luke Stamps

Since the time of the Reformation, there have been some Protestants who have denigrated the role of tradition in Christian theology. “No creed but the Bible” has been their mantra. Leaving to one side the fact that, “No creed but the Bible,” is itself a creed—albeit in abbreviated form—since it expresses in extrabiblical terms a belief about the doctrine of Scripture and its normativity for Christian faith and practice (a point brought to my attention by my friend Matt O’Reilly), this biblicistic rejection of tradition has often led to disastrous consequences. After all, virtually every heretical movement in the history of the church has been content to stick to the words of Scripture when defending their aberrant views. Arius quoted Scripture, too.

With this in mind, I recently came across an article by David Wells on the role of tradition in evangelicalism (“Living Tradition,” in Where Shall My Wond’ring Soul Begin? The Landscape of Evangelical Piety and Thought, ed. Mark A. Noll and Ronald Thiemann, pp. 87-96). Wells points out that one can find statements in the Reformers that appear to dismiss tradition, but he argues that their views concerning tradition were more nuanced than these statements might suggest. The Reformers resisted the Roman Catholic temptation to exalt tradition as an authority alongside of or even above Scripture. Scripture alone (sola Scriptura) was the final, authoritative rule for faith and practice. But at the same time, the Reformers—one thinks especially of Calvin—often cited the Patristic literature as support for their own biblical interpretations. So, tradition was revered as an important guide in interpreting Scripture, but never exalted to the status of divine revelation. Wells nicely summarizes the view which emerged among many Protestants and which he thinks should characterize evangelical theology today. For what it’s worth, I think he’s right.

While it is certainly the case that one can find people using history as a repository of opinions that could be raided in order to substantiate a doctrinal position they favored, there were those who came to see [Christian history] as a thing in itself—that the Holy Spirit who had inspired the scriptures had not then abandoned the church, but that there was in the life of the church a wisdom and an understanding that needed to be consulted and, where appropriate, assumed. It is in this sense that evangelical theology, when it has acted on its best instincts, has self-consciously made itself a part of tradition. It is at its best when it has been able to bear within itself at least some of the wisdom, some of the understanding of Augustine and Calvin and Luther and Wesley and Edwards (p. 89).


Luke Stamps is a Ph.D. candidate at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in systematic theology. Luke is a weekly contributor to the Credo blog and also blogs at Before All Things. Luke is married to Josie, and they have two children, Jack and Claire. Luke is a member of Clifton Baptist Church in Louisville, KY.

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