Marcus Cicero once said:"Not to know what has been transacted in former times is to always be a child. If no use is made of the labors of past ages, the world must remain always in the infancy of knowledge."
I believe this is really what the authors of the Crux are trying to say in Chapter 4 (Yes, I know we skipped chapter 3, but to summarize: certain of us fall into different groups and we see life with different perspectives which translate into how we approach scripture. End of summary). For those of us who have grown up in the Church of Christ tradition, it was a real eye-opener. We found out that our roots are closely tied to many groups: Lutherans, Calvinists, Anabaptists, Presbyterians. Moreover we discovered that each of these groups added something to the way we practice our faith today. It helped me to realize that when I struggle or have questions about our tradition or our practices, I might be able to find the foundations of those practices in more modern times. With this knowledge, I can look to recent history and possibly discover the reasoning and understand the culture in which these practices or beliefs were established. I realized that we as a tradition are the culmination of centuries of shaping and forming that happened far after the church in Acts and continues right up until today. Some of our greatest traditions, while perhaps based in the "early church," were actually formed and formulated in the last 200-300 years. To Martin Luther we owe our understanding of the "priesthood of all believers;" to Ulrich Zwingli our view of scripture as the ultimate authority; to the Anabaptists our commitment to full immersion baptism of adults; to John Calvin the idea that God is "ultimately, completely, and solely in charge of everything;" to Alexander Stone and the Presbyterians our commitment to autonomous congregations led by elders... and the list goes on. Each group subsequently working and shaping the tradition we honor today. Some practices or beliefs were of great benefit and scripturally based, others less so, but they are all part of the history of our faith. Chapter 4 really brought home that the story continues to be formed and with it our tradition and our faith. What will our contribution be?
In class on Sunday morning a pertinent question was asked that went something like this: "If honest, intelligent, hardworking people study the scriptures faithfully, will they all come to the truth? Will that truth be the same for each person? What are the implications of your answer?"
This question brought on much discussion both in class in some subsequent small groups. Would everyone come to the SAME truth? Would we all arrive at the SAME understanding? Our group found it hard to accept that EVERYONE would come to the SAME truth. While we might agree on some things, we would surely not agree on EVERYTHING. So what are the implications?
