Let's
Aim To Be United By Habitus
By Bruce Cameron
The
recent publication of the first volume of Johann Gerhard’s
17th-century Loci Theologici reminds us
that, “Theology is the God-given condition conferred on men
by the Holy Spirit through the Word” (Theological
Commonplaces, CPH 2006, p.42).
The word here translated
“condition” is the Latin habitus.
As Robert Preus pointed out, the word habitus is
hard to render precisely into English.
It is a “property,” a “posture,” an
“attribute,” and “aptitude,” or a “capacity” given
by God.
There is therefore no
such thing as a theology of those who do not have this
attitude toward God, toward His Word, His Son, His grace, etc.
Where there is no faith in God’s grace or trust in
his Word, there is no theology—only words.
Purpose
of Habitus
According to Gerhard the
principal and most important purpose of the theological
attitude is the glorification and praise of God.
The intermediate goal is bringing people the message of
their salvation and the immediate goal is bringing people to
the “actual attainment of blessedness or eternal life.”
He says, “Therefore
whatever does not lead or draw one to this goal either
directly or at least indirectly, either immediately or
mediately, does not pertain to the theological knowledge”
(p.40).
In other words, it’s
either Gospel-centered AND mission–driven or it’s not
theology.
Purpose
of Confession
In the 20th
century Hermann Sasse pointed us to the original confession of
the church—the words “Jesus Christ is Lord,”—and said:
“To understand the
sense of this confession more deeply is the great, yes,
basically the only task of all Christian theology. To
repeat this confession, to speak it in ever new forms, to
translate it into the language of all times and people, to
protect it against misunderstandings and reinterpretations,
and to understand its meaning for all areas of life—that is
the task of all confession-building within Christendom” (We
Confess Jesus Christ, p. 9).
This theological
task—speaking “Jesus Christ is Lord” in new forms for
new people, against new misunderstandings—can unite every
Christian who relies on God’s grace in Jesus Christ,
with every other Christian believer.
United
in Theological Attitude
Where Christian people
are united in this theological attitude toward God and His
message, there we can never count anyone out.
Even where there are
differences between various Christian communities and
confessions (so that we do not invite people with a different
message to teach our children or instruct our congregations
with their distinctive messages), even there the theological
attitude toward God and His Word will give us the common
ground and the God-given viewpoint we need to enable us, by
God’s grace, to heal the division.
How else will divisions heal?
Like Walther, we can be
confident that wherever people hold fast the central doctrine
that our salvation comes to us through the life and death and
life of Jesus Christ—not by our works (even our church-y
works)—there we have not only a common starting point, we
have a truth that will lead them and us to put away error.
To be led to unity
through attitude toward God’s Word, two other conditions
must occur.
Words
of Peace and Boundaries
In his biography of
Martin Chemnitz, Jacob Preus pointed out the necessity, in
times of theological question of not only finding the words
that lead to peace and harmony, but also the words that
“define the boundaries which serve as our limits to our
compromises.”
May
God give us the ability, together
·
to
hear His Word;
·
to
silence our voices where Scriptures are silent;
·
to
differentiate clearly between scriptural truth on the one hand
and human wisdom (or changeable human formulations of
scriptural truth) on the other;
·
to
differentiate clearly between the unchanging eternal doctrine
of life and the ever-changing applications and practices that
vary from Peter to James to Paul to Luther to Walther to us
and to our children.
Watch
Yourself
Within a congregation or
a synod, as within all of Christendom, a united theological
attitude toward God and His Word will enable us to talk to
each other with harmony and concord, even as we deal with our
differences. However,
human history, inside the church as well, shows the continual
presence of those works of the flesh—discord, jealousy,
dissensions, and factions—that lead even God’s people to
bite and devour each other.
So we need to watch
ourselves, especially in these days that lead up to a
convention that brings the whole Synod together.
We need to speak with respect and caution, especially
when we speak of those with whom we at present disagree.
If we do not watch ourselves, we might be building
walls of simple human malice where bridges might be been more
in order.
Gerhard has a delightful
phrase for God’s gift of the theological attitude:
the theology of the embraced (p. 23).
And if He has so embraced us, we can embrace each
other--even in a Synod, even in a convention.
May God grant us His gifts for our time.
