Church Matters: Retrieving the Great Tradition

Append i x

251

The Problem with Mere Christianity, continued

like Calvin regarded the extrabiblical Trinitarian language in the Nicene Creed.

Holy Spirit at Work Obviously, traditions can be misused. Some may use “in essentials, unity” to say you are not a part of the body of Christ unless you share their particular views on speaking in tongues, predestination, or the sacraments. More than once, a fellow Christian has cross examined me until I could recite the relevant “code words” of his tradition: Did I hold the right views on spiritual gifts, providence, free will, or the millennium? Yet for many, fear of divisiveness has cut them off from the riches of the church’s cloud of witnesses. Rather than providing a path to church unity, avoiding theological distinctives often just leads to superficiality. Voices drawing upon the wisdom of the past help the church bring the gospel into our complex world. If we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, we need to remember that we read the Bible through the illumination of the Spirit who has actively worked in the church for 2,000 years.