Guard the Good Deposit

Section I: Why Must We Guard the Good Deposit? • 17

theology, retelling and reenacting it in our worship, embodying it in our spirituality, and continuing it in our witness. The good deposit we guard consists of what has been believed and practiced everywhere, always, by all Christians. In the words of Dr. Don Davis: The Great Tradition represents the central core of Christian belief and practice derived from Scripture that runs between the time of Christ and the middle of the fifth century. In a formative way, this Tradition articulates the Church’s faith and practice, its joyful, faithful response to the truth of God’s sovereign work of grace in the world. We believe that most of what has proven essential and foundational to Christian theology, spirituality, and witness was articulated by the ancient undivided Church . . . 3 Isn’t the Bible enough? Does retrieving the Great Tradition threaten the authority of Scripture? Let us be completely clear: The Scriptures alone are the final authority for Christian life and faith. They are the very Word of God and nothing compares with them. They are sufficient for life and godliness. The problem is that false teachers and weird groups used the Scriptures to defend ideas that went against the Apostles’ teachings. This forced the early church to work out biblical doctrines and practices. The

3 Davis, Sacred Roots, p. 74.