Regula fidei
With regulators fidei ( latin for "faith rule", "Standard of faith"; Greek ὁ κανών τῆς πίστεως, ho canon Tēs pisteos or ἀναλογία τῆς πίστεως, analogía Tēs pisteos ) described the Fathers the essential content of the Christian faith in the apostolic tradition. A synonymous expression, often used interchangeably, is the Latin regula veritatis , Greek ὁ κανών τῆς ἀληθείας, ho kanṓn tē̂s alētheías ("rule of truth").
The Regula fidei was for the Fathers of the second and third centuries before the existence of generally accepted beliefs and a recognized canon of the New Testament , a scale for the assessment of Christian doctrine and practice. According to the Church Fathers (especially St. Irenaeus ), the content of the Regula fidei is derived directly from the testimony of the Apostles. St. Irenaeus describes him as follows ( Against Heresies 1,10,1):
“The Church extends over the whole universe to the extreme limits of the earth. She received faith from the apostles and her disciples, faith in the one God, the Almighty Father, the Creator of heaven and earth and the seas and everything that is in them, and in the one Christ Jesus, the Son of God who took flesh in order to redeem us, and to the Holy Spirit, who through the prophets proclaimed God's order of salvation, [...] his birth of the virgin, his suffering, his resurrection from the dead and our physical ascension love the Lord Christ Jesus and his return from heaven in the glory of the Father [...] "
An essential point of the Regula fidei is the consistent reference to "the Scriptures", by which the Old Testament is meant: the gospel of Jesus Christ is rooted in the law and in the prophets, and these are reinterpreted through reference to Jesus Christ. This tradition can already be found in the New Testament, for example in Paul in 1 Cor 15.3–6 EU or in the sermons of Peter and Stephen in Acts 2.14–36 EU , Acts 3.12-26 EU and Acts 7.1 -53 EU . It is precisely this tradition that is repeated over and over again in order to distinguish Christianity in the direction that Celsus calls the “great church” from other, especially Gnostic, directions.
The regula fidei is used extensively in Christian literature in the second and third centuries, for example in Polyerates of Ephesus , Clement of Alexandria , Irenaeus of Lyon, ( adversus haereses , III, ii.iv), Tertullian and Novatian . Regula veritatis can be found in Dionysius of Corinth (around 160), Clemens of Alexandria, Irenaeus, Hippolytus of Rome , Tertullian and Novatian.
The baptismal confessions of that time summarized the essential contents of the Regula fidei for the faithful. Such baptismal confessions were in use everywhere in slightly different forms.
literature
- John Behr : The Tradition and Canon of the Gospel According to the Scriptures . In: The Way to Nicea . St. Vladimir's Seminary Press et al., Crestwood NY 2001, ISBN 0-88141-224-4 , ( Formation of Christian theology 1)
- Karlmann Beyschlag: Outline of the history of dogmas . Volume 1: God and the world . 2nd revised and expanded edition. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1988, ISBN 3-534-04610-2 , ( Grundrisse 2), pp. 168-172.
- JND Kelly: Tradition and Scripture and The Holy Scriptures . In: JND Kelly: Early Christian Doctrines . Revised Edition. 5th print. Harper & Row, San Francisco CA et al. 1978, ISBN 0-06-064334-X .