In the opening moments of Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye explains how his people survive in a harsh, unstable, and uncertain world. Their life was fragile—like a fiddler trying to keep his balance on a rooftop. What keeps everything from falling apart? Tevye’s answer, delivered with conviction and joy, was “Tradition!”
Christians, especially Protestants, may feel uneasy about that word. The Reformation rightly rejected human traditions that obscured the gospel, burdened consciences, and weakened the authority of Scripture. The Reformers were right to oppose tradition when it claimed authority over God’s Word.
But that does not mean Christians should fear tradition.
Jaroslav Pelikan offers a helpful distinction: “Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living” (The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition, 9). That distinction matters. At its best, tradition is not a rival to Scripture. It is the church remembering, receiving, and handing down what Scripture teaches. Traditionalism, by contrast, is what happens when forms remain, but faith is no longer alive.
Biblical tradition is a gift. It reminds us that we are not the first Christians to read Scripture, confess Christ, pray, worship, suffer, evangelize, or wrestle with difficult theological questions. Theology never emerges in a vacuum. It is always formed by history as the church listens to Scripture amid real challenges.
The Nicene Creed is a good example. It did not invent the doctrine of the deity of Christ but was a faithful response by the Church to a major theological conflict that was affecting the Church’s life. The Nicene Creed gave careful, faithful expression to what Scripture already teaches about the eternal Son of God. In this sense, history and theology belong together.
Church history also touches every area of theological study. It serves systematic theology by showing how doctrines such as the Trinity, Christology, sin, grace, and the church have been articulated over time. It serves biblical theology by helping us see how Christians have understood the unfolding story of redemption. It serves practical theology by reminding us that worship, preaching, prayer, pastoral care, missions, and discipleship have all been shaped by the wisdom and failures of earlier generations.
So, Protestants need not reject tradition. We must test all tradition by Scripture, but we should also receive biblical tradition with gratitude. The goal is not traditionalism—clinging to inherited forms without living faith. Rather, the goal is to receive the living faith handed down to us, return again and again to the Word of God, and confess Christ faithfully in our own day.
By Pastor Chad Burrow
