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Lex orandi, lex credendi

 

 
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Lex orandi, lex credendi (Latin loosely translatable as the law of prayer is the law of belief) refers to the relationship between worship and belief, and is an ancient Christian principle which provided a measure for developing the ancient Christian creeds, the canon of scripture and other doctrinal matters based on the prayer texts of the Church, that is, the Church's liturgy.






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Lex orandi, lex credendi (Latin loosely translatable as the law of prayer is the law of belief) refers to the relationship between worship and belief, and is an ancient Christian principle which provided a measure for developing the ancient Christian creeds, the canon of scripture and other doctrinal matters based on the prayer texts of the Church, that is, the Church's liturgy. In the Early Church there were about 300 years of liturgical tradition before there was a creed
Creed

A creed is a statement of belief ? usually religious belief ? or faith often recited as part of a religious service. The word derives from the for I believe and credimus for we believe. It is sometimes called symbol , signifying a "token" by which persons of like beliefs might recognize each other....
 and about 350 years before there was a biblical canon
Biblical canon

A Biblical canon or canon of scripture is a list or set of Bible books considered to be authoritative as scripture by a particular religious community, generally in Judaism or Christianity....
. These liturgical traditions provided the theological framework for establishing the creeds and canon.

Catholicism

The principle is considered very important in Catholic
Catholic

Catholic is an adjective derived from the Greek language adjective , meaning "whole" or "complete". In the context of Christianity ecclesiology, it has a rich history and several usages....
 theology. The Catechism of the Catholic Church
Catechism of the Catholic Church

The Catechism of the Catholic Church or CCC, is an official exposition of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. It was first published in Latin and French in 1992 by the authority of Pope John Paul II....
 states: "The Church's faith precedes the faith of the believer who is invited to adhere to it. When the Church celebrates the sacraments, she confesses the faith received from the apostles - whence the ancient saying: lex orandi, lex credendi (or: legem credendi lex statuat supplicandi, according to Prosper of Aquitaine
Prosper of Aquitaine

Saint Prosper of Aquitaine , a Christian writer and disciple of Saint Augustine of Hippo, was the first continuator of Jerome's Universal Chronicle....
 [5th cent.]). The law of prayer is the law of faith: the Church believes as she prays. Liturgy is a constitutive element of the holy and living Tradition."

At a symposium held in connection with the publication of a set of reproductions of the first editions of the Tridentine liturgical texts
Tridentine Mass

The Tridentine Mass is a common name for the form of the Roman Rite Mass contained in the typical editions of the Roman Missal that were published from 1570 to 1962....
, including the Roman Missal
Roman Missal

The Roman Missal is the Liturgical books of the Roman rite that contains the texts and rubric s for the celebration of the Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church....
 and the Roman Breviary
Liturgy of the hours

The Liturgy of the Hours or Divine Office is the official set of daily prayers prescribed by the Roman Catholic Church to be recited at the canonical hours by the Clergy#Christian_clergy, Christian monasticism, and laity....
, Archbishop Piero Marini
Piero Marini

Piero Marini is a Roman Catholic archbishop, currently serving as the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses, having previously served for 20 years, as Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations....
, former Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations, presented a paper entitled "", in which he said: "It is above all in the Liturgy that renewal cannot do without a sincere and profound return to the sources: sources of that which is celebrated and sources of that which is believed (lex orandi, lex credendi). Digging deep into the sources, the theologian and the liturgist aim simply to penetrate the profundity of the mystery of the faith as it has shown itself in the concrete life of the Church all through her history."

Traditionalist Catholic
Traditionalist Catholic

Traditionalist Catholics are Roman Catholic Church, or people who identify as Roman Catholics, who believe that there should be a restoration of many or all of the liturgy forms, public and private devotions and presentations of Catholic teachings which prevailed in the Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council ....
s appeal to this principle, claiming that orthopraxis
Orthopraxis

Orthopraxy is a term derived from Greek language meaning "correct action/activity", and is a religion that places emphasis on conduct, both ethics and liturgy, as opposed to faith or Divine grace etc....
 is threatened by the 1970 revision of the Roman Missal
Mass of Paul VI

The Mass of Pope Paul VI is the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church Mass of the Roman Rite Promulgation by Paul VI in 1969, after the Second Vatican Council ....
 and by .

Anglicanism


Lex orandi, lex credendi is a fundamental character of Anglicanism
Anglicanism

Anglicanism is a tradition of Christianity faith. Churches in this tradition either have historical connections to the Church of England or have similar beliefs, worship and church structures....
. Its importance is due primarily to the fact that there is no distinctive Anglican theology as propounded in other traditions which take their name from their founding theologian (e.g., Calvinism
Calvinism

Calvinism is a theology system and an approach to the Christian life that emphasizes the rule of God over all things. It was developed by several theologians, but it bears the name of the French Protestant Reformation John Calvin because of his prominent influence on it and because of his role in the confessional and ecclesiastical debates t...
, Lutheranism
Lutheranism

Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the teachings of the sixteenth-century Germans Reformer Martin Luther....
, Mennonite
Mennonite

The Mennonites are a group of Christianity Anabaptist denominations named after Menno Simons , though his writings articulated, and thereby, formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders....
, or Zwinglianism). Furthermore, there is no established authority (such as the Roman Catholic magisterium) or extra-creedal summary of doctrine (such as the Westminster Confession of the Presbyterian Church). This is not strictly true, as the 39 Articles of Faith, contained within the Book of Common Prayer functions as an Anglican equivalent [almost in time too, to the Westminster Confession.

Instead, Anglicans have typically appealed to the Book of Common Prayer
Book of Common Prayer

The Book of Common Prayer is the common title of a number of prayer books of the Church of England and used throughout the Anglican Communion. The first book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI of England, was a product of the English Reformation following the break with Roman Catholic Church....
  (BCP) as a guide to Anglican theology and practice. In this sense Thomas Cranmer
Thomas Cranmer

Thomas Cranmer was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII of England and Edward VI of England....
, principal author of the prototypical 1549 BCP, could be said to be the first Anglican theologian. His theology is expressed in the selection, arrangement, and composition of prayers and exhortations, the selection and arrangement of daily scripture readings (the lectionary
Lectionary

A Lectionary is a book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings appointed for Christianity or Judaic worship on a given day or occasion....
), and in the stipulation of the rubric
Rubric

Rubric can refer to:* Rubric, a section of red text used for emphasis, such as a title or a heading, and hence instructions concerning what actions are performed in a religious service, and hence an established rule or tradition, or an explanatory or introductory commentary...
s for permissible liturgical action
Liturgy

A liturgy is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to their particular traditions. The word may refer to an elaborate formal ritual such as the Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy and Mass , or a daily activity such as the Muslim salat and Jewish Jewish services....
 and any variations in the prayers and exhortations.

Given its locus in the worship of the Church, Anglican theology tends to be pragmatic and strongly liturgical and ecclesiological
Ecclesiology

Ecclesiology is the study of the Christian theology understanding of the Christian church. Specific areas of concern include the church's role in salvation, its origin, its relationship to the historical Jesus, its discipline, its eschatology, and its clergy....
, placing a high value on the traditions of the faith. It acknowledges the primacy of the worshipping community in articulating, amending, and passing down the Church’s theology; and thus, by necessity, is inclined toward a comprehensive consensus concerning the principles of the tradition and the relationship between the Church and society. In this sense, Anglicans have traditionally viewed their theology as strongly incarnation
Incarnation

Incarnation which literally means embodied in flesh, refers to the Conception and birth of a Sentience creature who is the material manifestation of an entity or force whose original nature is immaterial....
al.

At the same time, the approach has its weaknesses. First, it is “text-centric,” creating a tendency to focus on the technical, historical, and hermeneutical
Hermeneutics

Hermeneutics is the study of interpretation theory. Traditional hermeneutics - which includes Biblical hermeneutics - refers to the study of the interpretation of written texts, especially texts in the areas of literature, religion and law....
 aspects of the Prayer Books rather than the relationship between faith and life. Second, the emphasis on comprehensiveness often results instead in compromise or tolerance of other views. This can undermine Anglicanism’s evangelistic
Evangelism

Evangelism is the practice of attempting to convert people to a religion. The term is used most often in reference to Christianity, but is also used to refer to other religions, including Judaism, Islam, and less frequently, Buddhism and Hinduism....
 potential. Finally, while lex orandi—lex credendi helped solidify a universal Anglican ethos when the 1662 English BCP and its successors predominated, and while prelate
Prelate

A prelate is a high-ranking member of the clergy who either is an ordinary or ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from Latin pr?latus, the past participle of pr?ferre, literally, "carry before," or "to be set above, or over," or "to prefer," hence a prelate is one set over others....
s of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 enforced its conformity in territories of the British Empire
British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, and other Dependent territory ruled or administered by the United Kingdom , that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries....
, liturgical reform and the post-colonial reorganisation of national churches has led to a splintering of common worship since the middle of the twentieth century.

Orthodoxy

Eastern Orthodoxy's Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople
Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I is the Archbishop of Constantinople - New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch, and thus "first among equals" in the Eastern Orthodox Communion, since 2 November 1991....
 quoted this phrase in Latin on the occasion of the visit of Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI is the List of popes and reigning Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the head of the Roman Catholic Church and, as such, monarch of the Vatican City....
, drawing from the phrase the lesson that, "in liturgy, we are reminded of the need to reach unity in faith as well as in prayer."

Some traditionalist Catholic
Traditionalist Catholic

Traditionalist Catholics are Roman Catholic Church, or people who identify as Roman Catholics, who believe that there should be a restoration of many or all of the liturgy forms, public and private devotions and presentations of Catholic teachings which prevailed in the Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council ....
s have claimed that the patriarch's homily showed he considered ancient liturgies like the Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy

The Divine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine church tradition of Christian liturgy. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholic Churches....
 of John Chrysostom
John Chrysostom

'Saint John Chrysostom' , archbishop of Constantinople, was an important Early Church Father. He is known for his eloquence in Sermon and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, the Divine Liturgy of St....
, which he was celebrating, to be orthodox and catholic, while he considered the revised rite
Mass of Paul VI

The Mass of Pope Paul VI is the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church Mass of the Roman Rite Promulgation by Paul VI in 1969, after the Second Vatican Council ....
 in force in the Latin Church since 1970 to be a break with Sacred Tradition
Sacred Tradition

Sacred Tradition or Holy Tradition is a technical theological term used in some Christian traditions, primarily in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox traditions, to refer to the fundamental basis of church authority....
 and the historical aspect of the Roman liturgy
Roman Rite

The liturgy of the Catholic Church of Rome is called the Roman Rite. The quite distinct term Latin Rite usually refers not to a liturgical rite but to the particular Church within the Roman Catholic Church that was sometimes referred to also as the Patriarchate of the West....
 and liturgy in general. They have cited no part of the homily in support of this claim that the Ecumenical Patriarch was thus speaking derogatorily of his papal
Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI is the List of popes and reigning Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the head of the Roman Catholic Church and, as such, monarch of the Vatican City....
 guest's present-day liturgy.

Bibliography

  • William R. Crockett, Eucharist: Symbol of Transformation. New York: Pueblo, 1989.
  • W. Taylor Stevenson, “Lex Orandi—Lex Credendi.” In The Study of Anglicanism, ed. by Stephen Sykes and John Booty. London: SPCK, 1988, pp. 174-88.
  • William J. Wolf, “Anglicanism and Its Spirit.” In The Spirit of Anglicanism: Hooker, Maurice, Temple, ed. by William J. Wolf. Wilton, CT: Morehouse-Barlow, 1979.


See also

  • Adiaphora
    Adiaphora

    Adiaphoron was a concept used in Stoic philosophy to indicate things which were outside of moral law – that is, actions which are neither morally mandated nor morally forbidden....
  • Liturgy
    Liturgy

    A liturgy is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to their particular traditions. The word may refer to an elaborate formal ritual such as the Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy and Mass , or a daily activity such as the Muslim salat and Jewish Jewish services....
  • Orthopraxis
    Orthopraxis

    Orthopraxy is a term derived from Greek language meaning "correct action/activity", and is a religion that places emphasis on conduct, both ethics and liturgy, as opposed to faith or Divine grace etc....
  • Praxis
    Praxis

    Praxis may refer to:* Praxis , the process of putting theoretical knowledge into practice* Praxis , the practice of faith, especially worship...
  • Ritualism


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