What role does Tradition play in spirituality?
In addition to the Scriptures, religion often looks to tradition as a source of authority. For example, the Roman Catholic Church does this more overtly than the Protestant church, though each branch has its own traditions. Catholics may look to historic church practices, to saints, scenes of past miracles and visions and so on. Protestantism too may look to its heritage of martyrs who died for the faith as a means of encouraging a continuance of a religious doctrine or practice. The characteristic images of the Amish people with their horse drawn buggies and so on reveals a particular interpretation of Scripture and tradition. In Islam, the Hadith: sayings that are attributed to the prophet but not in the Koran, are used by some groups as authoritative supplements to Scripture. The use of tradition helps to settle issues not covered directly by the Scriptures and also gives a sense of continuity and authority. To go against the tradition may be seen as to go against the wisdom and authority of the religious institution, to be in danger of heresy, apostasy, or rebellion. In other words, it can be a form of orthodoxy by another name, and once again, it is likely that this tradition has been encouraged, interpreted and established by the ruling priestly class, who may or may not be right.
A CONTEMPORARY APPROACH
However, traditions are the ideas of another generation, which were correct for them, but which may not be correct for us now. We should adopt in other words, the use of Relativism and Perspectivism. Subjective Relativism is ‘True for…’: for example, ‘This is true for me’. Subjective Perspectivism is ‘True from….’, for example, ‘This is true from where I am standing’ or ‘It may be true for you over there, but not for me here’. These traditions, these ideas, which are in the culture that surrounds us and which we have been brought up in, may have been maintained by an ideology for hundreds of years and are hard to shake off. Sometimes, aspects of religion are treated as traditions: thus the Christian idea in Genesis of a fall from grace in the Garden of Eden is treated as a tradition. So, in times past, there were other doctrines, other theologies and gods and people follow the gods of their generation, but in all generations, some have found the Luminous Path. Once again we see a hint of the division between the extrinsic [traditions] and the intrinsic [Luminous Path] with superiority being assigned to the intrinsic path. It is traditions that give rise to many festivals, religious feast days and celebrations. Sometimes these traditions are valuable and helpful to the individual Pilgrim. They often contain truth, or point to truth, in part and so should not be thrown out or dismissed and discarded. Neither should they be adhered to or clung to as infallible, because ultimately, in approaching the Divine, they have to be transcended.
Tags: Divine, God, religious authority, Religious tradition, tradition
