Wolterstorff on Tradition
Last week I returned to seminary to begin my spring classes. While I was in the bookstore (which is kind of like my Cheers), I picked up a new collection of essays by Nicholas Wolterstorff called Hearing the Call. I've never read anything by him before, but I've wanted to for awhile.Wolterstoff is an amazing writer. He's at the same time clear, thoughtful, and devotional. I haven't yet finished the first essay, and I have already been moved almost to tears by several passages. Here is one where Wolterstorff talks about tradition:
The grace of God that shapes one's life came to me in the form of induction into this [Reformed] tradition. That induction into tradition should be an instrument of grace is a claim deeply alien to modernity. Tradition is usually seen as a burden, not grace. But so it was in my case. If you ask me who I am, I reply: I am one who was bequeathed the Reformed tradition of Christianity.I realize that I partly feel the force of those words so strongly because I identify with them. I too am one who was bequeathed the Reformed tradition of Christianity. I see this as a gift, and the grace of God in my life. Having a tradition with which I identify myself is not a burden. It is freedom. It lays forth boundaries within which I am free to confidently live my life. I am free to live life to God's glory.
What features of the Reformed tradition can give such confidence? Leading up to the passage quoted above, Wolterstorff offers three. The first is "a holistic understanding of the effects of sin." Against the human tendency to make some parts of human nature good and others bad, the Reformed tradition teaches that every single aspect of human nature is touched by sin and is therefore a mixture of good and bad. Reformed believers don't want to totally disparage the mind on the one hand, or the emotions on the other. Rather, they recognize the need to submit both to God's direction.
Second, the Reformed tradition carries an equally holistic view of the scope of faith. Faith is not merely something tacked on to one's life to give an assurance of salvation (contra much of modern evangelicalism). It is much more. Faith is the very confidence about which I have been speaking! Wolterstorff calls it "the fundamental energizer of our lives." This faith extends to every area of human life, and even gives us hope in the redemption of nature. Wolterstoff says again, "No dimension of life is closed off to the transforming power of the Spirit."
The third feature Wolterstorff offers is that the Scriptures, according to the Reformed tradition, are "a guide, not just to salvation but to our walk in the world." The way we would say this in seminary is that Scripture is our fundamental presuppostion. Accordingly, we can be confident in the guidance provided by God's Word, not just where our own justification before God is concerned, but in every area of our lives. The Bible informs the Reformed believer's habits at work, at play, in the home, and public life - even civic duty. As an aside I must acknowledge my belief that Christians who consciously try to live according to this principle are often sorely inept and so cause much harm. Yet to this we are called, and primarily because there is no other faithful way to live.
Needless to say, I look forward to continuing through Wolterstorff's essays. I'm sure I'll find more nuggets of wisdom to share with you!
