With Tradition: Understanding Christian Tradition, Gerald O’Collins offers an excellent primer to the study of tradition that will be helpful in the church and the academy. This slim volume serves as a handy introduction to the subject of Christian tradition, integrating sociology, history, and theology to give a broad overview of the subject. While O’Collins’s is a relatively succinct study, he offers detailed footnotes of both primary and secondary sources that point the reader in the right direction for further study.
Though one might conclude from reading the book’s description that it is intended as an introduction to Christian tradition that is general or ecumenical, this is hardly the case. O’Collins is working from a Roman Catholic perspective, and while he includes examples from other Churches, his overall vision of tradition is firmly grounded in the teaching of the Magisterium. Readers will want to take note of this, otherwise the title may mislead them.
In a preface that offers a helpful overview of the text, O’Collins notes that this book is the last part of a trilogy that he has authored on revelation (Revelation: Towards a Christian Interpretation of God’s Self-Revelation in Jesus Christ [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016]), Scripture (Towards a Christian Interpretation of Biblical Inspiration [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018]), and finally tradition.
In his first chapter, O’Collins offers some background to Christian tradition, starting with Reformation disputes over sola Scriptura. He then refers to more recent documents such as the 1963 Montreal report of the Faith and Order Commission as well as the Constitution on Divine Revelation of the Second Vatican Council to show that there has been some convergence between Churches on issues such as Christ being the one who is ‘handed on’ in tradition and the unfeasibility of solely referring to Scripture for doctrine (pp. 13, 18).
The book’s second chapter engages social scientists to understand Christian tradition as a human reality. O’Collins notes that while theologians have used sociology as a conversation partner, studies on Christian tradition have failed to do so. O’Collins fills this lacuna by engaging with scholars such as Edward Shils, Peter Berger and Anthony Giddens among others.
The third chapter of O’Collins’s book tackles the subject of tradition as the act of transmitting revelation, which is primarily the self-disclosure of God, and secondarily the formal articulation of that self-disclosure (p. 37). Furthermore, O’Collins goes on to note that tradition is also part of the object of transmission and is related to the forming of ‘culture’.
The fourth chapter is largely illustrative of the kind of traditions that make up the larger Christian tradition. O’Collins sets out to discuss twelve particular traditions, including the creeds, the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), and traditional rites of worship, but seems to have forgotten to include an eleventh between the tenth and twelfth (pp. 66-69). Following these examples is a discussion on the way families, councils, and artists transmit these traditions. The collective transmission and reception of tradition – the sensus fidelium – is Spirit-led.
Tradition and Scripture is the subject matter of the fifth chapter, in which O’Collins discusses the way the interpretation of Scripture is shaped by tradition. For example, he uses the figure of Christ as the ‘second Adam’, and comments on the way various interpreters throughout Christian history have made this a stepping stone to creative exegesis. More specifically, O’Collins illustrates this by suggesting that as Eve was taken from Adam’s side, so the Church was born from the blood and water that came from Christ’s side (p. 80). This chapter ends with two examples of the way Scripture has corrected the ‘false traditions’ of the Roman Catholic Church on religious freedom and proper relations with Jews (pp. 85-91).
The discussion in Chapter 6 covers the possible emergence of traditions as it charts the way they developed and the ways they may continue to do so. For instance, O’Collins notes the way that traditions such as the service of Nine Lessons and Carols have been introduced and taken up by many Churches, or the way that Walsingham has developed into a place of pilgrimage for Christians across ecclesial divides (p. 95).
The seventh chapter is a helpful summary of the previous six and is followed by an appendix that looks at the intersection between tradition and memory studies, suggesting that tradition might be viewed as a kind of collective memory.
While O’Collins is forthright about his Roman Catholic viewpoints, it would have strengthened his argument to critically engage with perspectives that might challenge certain Roman Catholic assumptions. For example, while O’Collins suggests that ‘through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the community’s tradition led to the formation of the Sacred Scriptures’, he might also have noted the more Protestant emphasis that it is through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that the Sacred Scriptures led to the formation of the community’s tradition (p. 6). Acknowledging some of the divergence and nuance over questions of ecclesiology would have brought further depth to O’Collins’s study.
This book has limited value for Anglican studies. It is worth noting that throughout the text O’Collins treats the Anglican Communion as unique, mentioning it alongside other Christian bodies such as Roman Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants. Moreover, O’Collins briefly touches on the way that Anglicanism has influenced the Roman Catholic Church through its contribution to biblical studies (alongside of Protestant scholarship), and its rich musical tradition (p. 108). Furthermore, O’Collins suggests that the Anglican Communion’s decision to ordain women may have an impact on other more traditional Churches as they work through this question for themselves.
In summary, O’Collins’s book will appeal to anyone who is interested in the study of Christian tradition. It is an affordable, compact, and erudite addition to the library of any scholar of Christianity.
