Dr. Michael Barber briefly discusses how some Protestants have a kind of tradition, before expounding more fully the Greek etymological roots of the word and how its uses in Scripture relate most of all to the Catholic Liturgy.
Transcript:
Host: Ben in Fairfield, California, listening–also listening–on Immaculate Heart Radio. You are on with Dr. Michael Barber, what’s your question?
Caller: Yes, Dr. Barber, just a quick question. Non-denominational Protestants, even though they claim not to have tradition, the Sola Scriptura, they still do have the tradition, and they’re not anarchists, they have some kind of structured organization, and they do have their own rituals.
Dr. Barber: Absolutely. That’s 100% true.
Caller: Basically, they’re just disagreeing with Catholic tradition–but Catholic tradition can be sourced back through the Bible, and also has a separate authentication, you know, historical authentication, compared to their newer rituals, and traditions, would you agree with that?
Dr. Barber: Right, I think that’s certainly–I think that’s true. Non-Catholic Christians do have tradition. Can we take a step back, or are we up against a break here?
Host: You have about a minute.
Dr. Barber: Okay, one thing that I really want to underscore is, I don’t want us to fall into a trap that I think we can sometimes fall into: Tradition isn’t just a bunch of data. It’s not like, okay, here are a whole bunch of key concepts, and key ideas, that have been passed on. It’s not just that, right? And if you look at Scripture very carefully, you’ll recognize this, because the word that’s used for tradition, “paradosis” in the Greek–or, you know, that’s the noun form–the verb is “paradidomi.” So “paradosis” means “tradition,” the noun; “paradidomi” would be “to ‘tradition’ something,” “to pass something on,” right? “To hand something over.”
And it’s a really important word. It’s used throughout the New Testament in ways people may not expect. So for example, in Romans 8, it talks about how God the Father “paradidomi,” how he gave us His Son. And we also read in Galatians, too, about how the Son gave us–or, delivered Himself up for us, He gave Himself up for us, “paradidomi.” In John 19:30, we read about how Christ delivered over the Spirit.
So this whole idea of tradition is a lot broader than just a concept. What is tradition? It’s ultimately nothing less than the communication of the fullness of revelation. And the fullness of revelation is not just an idea, it’s the Word. It’s Christ Himself, right? So tradition is not just, “I got this idea,” right, or, “Here’s the truth: The Assumption.” It’s more than that, right? Tradition is the giving over of the fullness of the Word, the passing on of the Word.
Right, and so for us, where does that happen? Where does Christ–where is the Word fully communicated to us? Well, it’s especially linked with the Liturgy, right? It’s especially linked with the Eucharist, and you might think, “Well, that’s a Catholic notion;” that’s actually a Pauline notion. So I’m actually working on a book right now, with Brant Pitre and John Kincade, called The Apostle Paul, it should be out, oh, hopefully next year. And one of the things, in researching and writing the book, that really stood out to me was what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11. In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul says, “I commend you because you remember me in everything, and maintain the traditions (“paradosis,” there’s that word, right, “tradition”) even as I paradidomi (even as I “traditioned”) them to you.”
Well, what is it that you “traditioned” to them, Paul? This is what he goes on to say: “For I received from the Lord what I also paradidomi (what I also “traditioned”) to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread…” and you know the rest, right? So for St. Paul, the idea of tradition is inextricably linked to what? The Lord’s Supper. And that shouldn’t be surprising to us, because elsewhere in his letters, that’s the word, “paradidomi,” tradition, to hand over, that’s the idea that you find in reading about, or in Paul’s preaching of the way God the Father gives us the Son, the Son gives us Himself, and so on and so forth. That happens especially in the Eucharist, when we receive His Body and Blood, and so in Catholic theology, tradition is especially linked to the LITURGY.
So, how do you know which books belong in the Bible? Okay, well, yes, the Church defines that, but we already mentioned that the whole list of the Biblical books is a sort of tradition. It really was; in the early Church, the reason they needed to know which books belong in the Bible was because they needed to know, “Which books can you read in the Liturgy?” They didn’t sell Bibles in a Barnes & Noble down the street, right? If you went to Mass, you were gonna hear–if you went to the Liturgy, if you went to the Lord’s Supper–you were gonna hear Scripture read. The big question was, “Which books can you read in the churches?”
And so, right there, the question of the Canon is a tradition question, it’s a Liturgical question. See, all these things sort of come together there.
Host: Yes, and the Eucharist, as you said, is the full handing over, or “traditioning,” to use your term, the full handing over of Christ to us, and that’s what the whole thing leads to, and then the whole thing proceeds from.
Dr. Barber:That’s correct.