From today's reading from the Larger Catechism:
"Let us not doubt that Baptism is divine. It is not made up or invented by people. For as surely as I can say, 'No one has spun the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord's Prayer out of his head; they are revealed and given by God Himself.' So I can boast that Baptism is no human plaything, but it is instituted by God Himself." (IV:6)
What is so fascinating there is not the point he's making about Baptism, but the incidental comment on the Creed. Not spun from someone's head but "revealed and given by God Himself." What a beautiful confession that the Rule of Faith is not of human origin, but of divine, and that the Holy Spirit has given this gift to the Church and preserved it in her midst: "even as He calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth."
So, my friend, does that mean that the Church's "tradition" is God-given? ;-) Just as "God-given" as the Scriptures? ;-) (Just couldn't resist stirring that pot, you know!)
ReplyDeleteWell, our Symbols at least confess that the Rule of Faith, the Creed, is.
ReplyDelete