Every Christian should read and study the Bible. Every Christian should think deeply about God and the truths of the faith. Yet not every Christian is a Bible scholar or a theologian. Expertise gotten by education and hard work are required. And even those of us who are trained in Bible scholarship and theology make mistakes. We all need the wisdom, leadership, and correction that are God’s gifts to his Church.
It is right that lay people consult their pastors and teachers who in turn consult scholars. In addition, pastors, teachers, and scholars need to hear the insights of lay people. There is a reciprocity and an interconnectedness in the Church and it transcends space and time.
We waste our heritage if we limit our conversations with those who happen to be near by and alive today. The Church has nearly 2,000 years of Bible scholarship, preaching, and theological reflection on which we can draw. When we do, it gives us a perspective beyond the narrow confines of our own era with its blind spots.
I’ve always thought that the patently unbiblical innovations that afflict parts of the Church could well be a consequence of the workings of the Holy Spirit, in the sense that He hardens the hearts of those who willfully oppose Him (cf. [url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+12:40&version=ESV]John 12:40[/url]). Of course, that’s nothing like what the [i]spirit-feelers[/i] in the article have in mind. In fact, I’d guess such a notion would be incomprehensible to them.
Somewhere, IIRC, CS Lewis recommended reading four old books to each new book – a ration inclined to the cumulative wisdom of the Church in this case! He also noted that reading from other times than our owns opens the windows of our minds to the fresh sea breeze that can blow away the cobwebs of the characteristic errors of our own age.
The Tradition is vitally important to the contemporary and we become “chronological snobs” if we do not pay attention to other ages. We become “our cultural snobs” if we do not pay attention to the whole Body. The trainwreck that is the ECUSA/TEC/GCC is observable, empirical evidence of the same.