‘Tradition Enquiry’ in theological studies locates the research a scholar is conducting within and with respect to theological traditions. It helps researchers consider the state of an exegetical, theological, ethical, missiological, pastoral, etc. issue in a particular tradition of enquiry and in relation to other traditions.
Too often, theological researchers address a contemporary issue with only a cursory engagement with Scripture—even ignoring Biblical studies (exegesis, Biblical theology)—and ignore the Church’s engagement with the issue for hundreds or thousands of years. The result is that they turn to the social sciences, contextual theology, practical theology, or public theology without even a glance at theological traditions of the Church.
The proper
theological training for tradition enquiry requires a person to be trained in
Biblical exegesis, Biblical theology and ethics, historical theology and ethics,
Church history, and the contemporary Church.
Tradition Enquiry will undertake such studies with an eye toward the
development of various Christian traditions, including where such traditions
stand today. The researcher must
understand purely academic studies on the relevant issue and not only study
materials in his or her own tradition.
The point of tradition enquiry is to study the issue with an awareness
of where a tradition’s point of view matters.
Some guidance towards this end is provided here.
A tradition can
be described diachronically (through time, historically) and synchronically (at
a particular time). It can be defined narratively
or systematically. It can be described
internally or with reference to other (external) traditions with which it
overlaps and differs.
Following
Alasdair MacIntyre, a tradition enquiry will:[1]
1.
Entail a prior commitment to a
particular perspective
2.
Appreciate a narrative view of
history
3.
Have and work from a particular
understanding of authority with respect to a certain community, a certain
collection of texts, and a certain tradition of interpretation
4.
Appreciate the role of trusted
teachers to form others in the tradition
5.
Employ dialectic reasoning,
working from faith to understanding or from convictions towards first
principles
Tradition
enquiry should, however, also explore other traditions in the same way, not
just one’s own tradition. The goal
should be to see what implications and ramifications a given tradition’s
presuppositions have. This is not relativism. If enquiry leads to views that are
irreconcilable with the tradition one has held, then the researcher ought to be
converted to a new tradition. The
difference this approach offers from Enlightenment enquiry is that it works
from convictions rather than imagines that convictions can be made irrelevant
and a pure reasoning can proceed.[2]
Method
I would suggest
the following steps for tradition enquiry.
1. Identify your traditions. The first step in tradition enquiry would be to identify the traditions of which one is a part. For example, someone might be a Reformed Baptist who is Evangelical. This person shares a tradition with Presbyterians in being Reformed and also, more broadly, Evangelical. As an Evangelical, this person also shares things in common with others who are orthodox theologically and ethically in the Orthodox Church and in Roman Catholicism.
2. Understand your traditions generally. In this, one needs to be well-enough educated about the traditions to be conversant with the history and views held. This may involve reading denominational history and theology in a more academic way while also being aware of current news of the traditions. Our example person, therefore, might study Reformed Church history and systematic theology while also being aware of how being Baptist and Reformed distinguishes himself from other Evangelicals, such as Wesleyans and Pentecostals. He will be able to explain how being a Baptist is different from other Reformed denominations, such as Presbyterians.
3. Understand the topic being researched historically, with particular attention to one’s own traditions.
4. Understand the topic Biblically, including how Scripture has been interpreted regarding the issue under investigation.
5. Enquire into the issue both in terms of how one’s tradition has come to its convictions over against or in agreement with others and in terms of whether the research raises challenges to the traditional interpretation.
Such a description
of tradition enquiry clarifies which books, journals, and resources will be
needed for the study and what questions need to be answered. It also explains how research needs to bring
together the fields of study that have been separated in academia. The orthodox, Evangelical researcher approaching
his or her subject through tradition enquiry will engage with Biblical
scholarship (both exegesis and Biblical theology/ethics), historical
theology/ethics, and different ecclesial traditions. Tradition enquiry will not skip over the
Church’s history and replace it with a raw, contextual interpretation, and it
will not minimize Biblical studies and replace this with a simplistic reference
to some Biblical passages in translation.
Finally, the enquiry into one’s tradition will be analytical
(understanding why convictions are held), critical (assessing the strengths and
weaknesses of the tradition’s convictions), and relevant (fully engaged with
the contemporary Church and relevant context).
Tradition
enquiry will absorb certain interests and approaches of contextual, practical,
and public theology. At the same time,
it will redirect these fields by addressing their concerns from the standpoint
of a tradition. It will also correct
failures in such approaches to theology.
Contextual theology typically ignores theological traditions and
undermines the authority of Scripture in favour of being amenable to a particular
context (such as Asian Theology, African Theology, South American Theology/Liberation
Theology, Post-colonial theology).
Practical theology may be more amenable to tradition enquiry, yet it
prioritises a practice and its contemporary execution over the distinctives of
different traditions. It typically
favours study from the social sciences over more in-depth Biblical,
theological, and historical enquiry.
Public theology intentionally translates theological enquiry into non-traditional
language and approaches theology through generic values rather than from
authoritative texts, communities, and interpretations.
In seminary
training, Biblical courses would be more theological and historical, theology course
would be more Biblical and historical, and historical courses would be more Biblical
and theological. In all the courses, the
contemporary practices and convictions of various traditions would be
critically studied, and personal faith and ministerial practice would be
discussed and applied. Moreover, the
classroom curriculum would be integrated with the worship and practices of the
faith community, and this would be done with an intentionality in regard to the
tradition.
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