Theology of the Church, Mentor's Guide, MG03

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T H E O L O G Y O F T H E C H U R C H

III. The Marks Regarding Tradition and Faith, or the Vincentian Rule - “What Has Been Believed Everywhere, Always, and by All.”

St. Vincent of Lerins, who died before 450 AD, set forth a good definition of this standard in what has been called the “Vincentian canon, a

The Vincentian Rule gives a way whereby we can determine whether some teaching or practice conforms to the teaching of the “Great Tradition” of the one, true Church of Jesus Christ.

three-fold test of catholicity: quod ubique, quod

A. The rule establishes that the ground for true tradition is “What has been believed everywhere.”

semper, quod ab omnibus creditum est (what has been believed everywhere, always and by all). By this three-fold test of ecumenicity, antiquity, and consent, the Church may discern between true and false traditions. ~ Thomas C. Oden. Classical Pastoral Care. Vol. 4. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1987. p. 243.

1. This is the ecumenical standard (i.e., that which is everywhere believed): the Church is a faith community which has held historically to a core of confessions grounded in the person of Christ.

2. Christian faith is anchored in the person and work of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and this anchor has been believed by all Christians from the beginning.

B. Next, the rule expands the standard to include “What has been believed everywhere always .”

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1. This is the standard of antiquity (i.e., that which is from the beginning): the Church has held to this core of confessional truth grounded in Jesus throughout the ages, starting with the apostles’ generation.

2. The essential core has been confessed always, since the beginning: the salvation of God in Christ is the ground on which all Christian faith and practice are built.