A Pelikan Brief

My favorite church historian is Jaroslav Pelikan (December 17, 1923-May 13, 2006). I have his magnum opus, five volume collection of the Church Tradition. What amazes me about him is his respect and compassion for the Body of Christ. He gives an account of the Catholic Tradition, the Eastern Orthodox Tradition, the Reformed Tradition, plus his documentation of Medieval Theology and the Modern Culture. He is careful with the Bride, pointing out her history and progress with all of her magnificent risings, and all of her disheartening downfalls. He has found her roots and branches and has pointed out every new leaf. These books are a wealth of history. His favorite quote was from Goethe "Take what you have inherited from your fathers and work to make it your own." It reminds me of Saint Paul in the book of 1Corinthians admonishing the church concerning divisions. Some were saying that they were of Paul, or of Apollos, or of Cephas, or of Christ. The truth was that they were all theirs. All the saints, with their giftings and callings within the Church, are yours and mine. Now, a quick disclaimer. I am a 5 point Calvinist and a firm proclaimer of Jude's warnings concerning contending earnestly for the faith. Yes, there are certain people who have crept in, or pareisduno. I believe that all are mine in the faith. David Hazzard once stated that we are all a mixture of clay and gold. I believe that we need to all be careful in how we glean. It is important to sit at the feet of great theologians, and in order to do that, we need to read. I believe a vast library shelved with Christian tomes from the entire body, past and present, is best. Os Guiness gives this caveat, "...to jump from Revelation 22 to somewhere in the 20th century is tremendously impoverishing of discipleship. The Christian should be much more like Isaac Newton who recognized that everything he did, he did on the shoulders of the giants who had gone before him." With that said, I want to encourage the reading of Pelikan's historical works. I will end with my favorite quote from Jaroslav, "If Christ is risen, nothing else matters. And if Christ is not risen, nothing else matters."