Sacred Roots Workshop

100 Sacred Roots Workshop: Retr ieving the Great Tradi t ion in the Contemporary Church

c. Nicene Creed was incorporated in the Eucharistic sequence (i.e., the Lord’s Supper service), first in the East, then in Spain, and finally in Rome

d. Often was placed after the reading of the Scripture as a congregational response of faith to the Word of God

III. The Vincentian Canon: The Role of Christian Tradition in Christian Devotion

[The] “Vincentian Canon” refers to the concise rule laid down by Vincent of Lerins (c. early fifth century) for distinguishing orthodox belief from heresy, namely, “what has been believed everywhere, always, and by all” ( quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus, credium est ) . . . Specifically, in the Church itself, we must be careful to believe that which has been believed everywhere, always, by all. For that is truly “catholic,” which as the name itself implies encompasses universality. And indeed, we follow this rule by observing universality, antiquity, and consent.

~ Robert F. Lay. Readings In Historical Theology . Grand Rapids: Kregel Publishing, 2009. p. 150.

The rule of faith, indeed, is altogether one, alone immoveable and irreformable. The rule is: to believe in only one God Almighty, the Creator of the universe, and His Son Jesus Christ, born of the virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate, raised again the third day from the dead, received in the heavens, sitting now at the right [hand] of the Father, destined to come to judge the living and the dead through the resurrection of the flesh. ~ Tertullian, c. 207. Cf. David W. Bercot, ed. A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs . Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998. p. 28.

A. Would an ordinary member of the ancient-undivided Church have known what the term “theology” meant?

1. Kerygma : essential message of apostolic teaching, i.e., Christ crucified, buried, and raised from the dead (1 Cor. 15.1-8; Rom. 8.34)