Ministry in a Multi-Cultural and Unchurched Society

Sess i on 7: Chur ch Mat ter s and Go i ng Back to the Future

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3. The Church, therefore, is the pillar and ground of the truth, 1 Tim. 3.15.

4. The Church is the guardian and witness of the Abrahamic promise which is fulfilled in Jesus Christ and expressed in the life and ministry of the Church, Gal. 3.7-9 (ESV) – Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. [8] And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” [9] So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

C. The Great Tradition was anchored on an apostolic witness and faith (apostolicity), 1 Cor. 15.1-8.

1. It was the norm that governed its view of Scripture and the canon.

2. It was their preferred connection with the things of God (i.e., in terms of whom they preferred to listen to and follow, e.g., Papias (c. 150) preference for a “living and abiding voice” of oral tradition above the texts then circulating among the apostolic churches. 3. It was the rule whereby practical decisions were made in terms of lived spirituality and doctrinal emphases, note Paul’s statement in 2 Cor. 11.28 (ESV) – And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. 4. It determined for them the roots and ground of legitimate authority in the body of Christ (i.e., apostolic succession and informed practice), “Study, therefore, to be established in the doctrines of the Lord and the apostles” (Ignatius, c. 105 [cf. David W. Bercot, ed. A Dictionary of Early