Sárospataki Füzetek 21. (2017)
2017 / 1. szám - TANULMÁNYOK - Kodácsy Tamás: A protestáns örökösítés teológia öröksége
Kodácsy Tamás Abstract The Way of Succession of the Protestant Inheritance What is our Protestant inheritance from the Reformation? - we ask this question regularly in the year of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. What common portion has been dedicated to us? What gifts do we share and what are our responsibilities? Have we got a “delightful inheritance”? (Ps 16:6) How can we today express those theological recognitions that the reformers proclaimed? Answering these questions, we may refer to the remarkable Sola-principles that imply several other Protestant thoughts. However, besides the content of heritage, the formulation process and the form are equally important for us, referring to the Psalter, it is the way of singing in a choir. How can we talk about old traditions within a concept that subordinates the tradition itself to the Scripture as the principle of “Sola Scriptura” indicates? In brief we may raise the question, whether the tradition of degrading tradition is anachronistic. The way of succession of the Protestant heritage is an integral part of the inheritance, as content cannot be separated from form in theology. Following Calvin’s biblical footsteps, on the one hand, we are free to speak about inheriting and the carrying of the oral tradition in Scripture, on the other hand, we can recognize and identify this tradition in the history and methods of our exegesis, from the apostolic age, through the Church Fathers, Reformers, and different theological trends, to contemporary proclamation of the Word of God. The internal testimony of the Holy Spirit (Testimonium Spiritus Sancti Internum) is a very particular claim of our inheritance that unites the theological schools not only in the present ecumenical sphere, but in the past also, in the succession of the tradition. The 500th anniversary of the Reformation should be a stage to recognize how much we have inherited in five hundred years and alike in two thousand years of Christianity. 66 Sárospataki Füzetek 21. évfolyam 2017 - 1
