
This is another repost from sister blog Freedom In Orthodoxy:
I came across an article today that I really appreciated. The folks over at Credo House Ministries have a great blog by C. Michael Patton called Parchment & Pen. They posted this article a couple years back: Six Views of What it Means to Be Orthodox.
While limiting the views to these six may cause a bit of reduction, I think it offers a pretty workable typology for evaluating the spectrum. The six views are (1) aOrthodoxy (2) Scriptural Orthodoxy (3)Paleo-Orthodoxy (4) Dynamic Orthodoxy (5) Developmental Orthodoxy and (6) Reform Orthodoxy.
Similar to Patton's own leanings, I found myself falling somewhere between Paleo-Orthodoxy and Reform (Progressive) Orthodoxy. Though, I think that is largely due to the way he defined them. Paleo-Orthodoxy does not reject that the Church progresses in her Theology, it only claims that the Ancient consensual creeds are the canon (measure) for Orthodoxy. These creeds do not supersede or take the place of Scripture, but they offer faithful interpretations of Holy Writ.
In the same way that the early Church's recognition (you could even say interpretation) of the New Testament writings as Authoritative is understood as trustworthy and God-inspired, so also their expressions in the creeds can be deemed as, in a real sense, authoritative. The Holy Spirit worked in the Church to produce the creeds of old.
I'm still thinking through lots of these ideas, and I'm certainly not set, but as of now I do lean Paleo-Orthodox. I measure Orthodoxy by the consensuses of the early Church.
Where do you fall in Patton's Six Views of Orthodoxy? What tradition/denomination are you a part of? What has led you to your position?
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