Mellom tradisjon og modernisme

Abstract

The article surveys the development of the concept of 'tradition' in the Roman-Catholic Church, with special regard to the 19th century and the First Vatican Council in 1870. Both the political and the ideological context of this development is taken into consideration, and the thinking of important theologians like Johann Adam Möhler, John Henry Newman and Giovanni Perrone is commented upon. The dogma of the papal infallacy is interpreted both as a result of the conscious strategy building of Pius IX (pope 1846-1878), as a construction meant to serve the 19th century mariology, and as a more general ideological solution to questions raised by modern historical research. Despite the fact that even the Protestant parts of Europe obviously found the concept of 'tradition' a fruitful one, the article argues the differences between the Roman-Catholic and the Protestant concepts.