by Adam » October 14th, 2005, 1:20 am
In my understanding, it was not until the Protestant reformation that the concept of the divine logos as God's revelation to man in Christ, the kerygma as the good news to which the apostles testify, and the two testaments of written Scripture all became synonymous ideas. The early church did not understand the Scripture to be the logos, because the logos illuminates and moves faith, while the fathers believed that faith illuminated and interpreted the Scriptures. Similarly they would not have understood the Scripture to be the kerygma, because the good news is the heart and focus which tests and guides our interpretation of Scripture, therefore it must be in some sense apart from Scripture. The combination of the three concepts into one is indicative of the Protestant treatment of the Scriptures as a sacrament, a means of grace which can be independently experienced and understood apart from the worthiness or even the influence of the church. The early church did not attribute this particular power or authority to the Scriptures apart from interpretive principles and limits, because that is precisely how they believed heresies occured.
Peace.
Adam
"Love is the only art that poorly imitates nature."
