A Note To The Reader

For anyone who still checks here regularly, I wanted to let you know that the three authors here at By Whose Authority? are all graduate students, and as such we're insanely busy with school work at the moment. I am currently working on several posts that I hope will be ready in the near future, but school must always take priority.

So, our posting will likely continue to be sporadic for the next few weeks, but don't lose heart! We'll be back to normal in no time!

Thank you all for your patience.

Irenaeus (130-200) AD (Cont)

What is the Ground and Pillar of our faith?

"We have learned from none others the plan of our salvation, than from those through whom the Gospel has come down to us, which they did at one time proclaim in public, and, at least a later period, by the will of God, handed down to us in the Scriptures, to be the ground and pillar of our faith. For it is unlawful to assert that they preached before they possessed 'perfect knowledge,' as some do even venture to say, boasting themselves as improvers of the apostles..." Shortly after this, Irenaeus mentions the writings handed down by the apostles and work of Paul.
-ANF, Vol.I, Against Heresies, 3.1.1

What is the Tradition that binds and unifies the Church?

"The Church, though dispersed through out the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith: [She believes] in One God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations of God, and the advents, and the birth from a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of our beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His [future] manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father 'to gather all things in one,' and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race, in order that to Christ Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Savior, and King, according to the will of the invisible Father, 'every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess' to Him, and that He should execute just judgment towards all; that He may send 'spiritual wickednesses,' and the angels who tansgressed and became apostates, together with the ungodly, and unrighteous, and wicked, and profane among men, into everlasting fire; but may, in the exercise of His grace, confer immortality on the righteous, and holy, and those who have kept His commandments, and have persevered in His love, some from the beginning [of their Christian course], and others from [the date of] their repentance, and may surround them with everlasting glory.

As I have already observed, the Church, having received this preaching and this faith, although scattered throughout the whole world, yet, as if occupying but one house, carefully preserves it. She also believes these points [of doctrine] just as if she had but one soul, and one and the same heart, and she proclaims them, and teaches them, and hands them down, with perfect harmony, as if she possessed only one mouth. For, although the languages of the world are dissimilar, yet the import of the tradition is one and the same."
-ANF, Vol. I, Against Heresies 1.10.1-2.

What if...

"For how stands the case? Suppose there arise a dispute relative to some important question among us, should we not have recourse to the most ancient Churches with which the apostles held constant intercourse, and learn from them what is certain and clear in regard to the present question? For how should it be if the apostles themselves had not left us writings? Would it not be necessary, [in that case,] to follow the course of the tradition which they handed down to those to whom they did commit the Churches?...Since, therefore, the tradition from the apostles does thus exist in the Church, and is permanent among us, let us revert to the Scriptural proof furnished by those apostles who did also write the Gospel, in which they recorded the doctrine regarding God, pointing out that our Lord Jesus Christ is the truth, and that no lie is in Him.
-ANF, Vol. I, Against Heresies 3.4.1; 3.5.1

Recommended reading list:

1) all primary sources dealt with
2) Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of Our Faith Vol.I David T. King
3) Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of Our Faith Vol.III David T. King and William Webster
4) The Shape of Sola Scriptura Keith A. Mathison
5) Tradition, Scripture, and Interpretation: A Sourcebook of the Ancient Church D.H. Williams
6) Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes John Meyendorff