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Revision as of 15:11, September 6, 2019
Apostolic Tradition, also called sacred tradition, or holy tradition, is a theological term used by major Christian traditions such as the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian, and Anglican traditions, primarily those claiming apostolic succession, in reference to the divinely revealed foundation of the doctrinal and spiritual authority of Christianity.
Living Tradition
Christians believe that the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles came from God, who gave it to Jesus[1] to pass on to his apostles and preserved by word of mouth and handed on by them to the whole church through their authorized successors as a single deposit of doctrine and practice, to be faithfully guarded by them under the guidance and help of the Holy Spirit[2]. This perpetual handing on of the tradition received and passed down from the Twelve Apostles to be rightly understood, interpreted and applied by the leaders of the church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God is called the "Living Tradition", believed to be the faithful and constant transmission of the teachings of the Apostles from one generation to the next. The Deposit of Faith (Latin: fidei depositum) refers to the entirety of divine revelation preserved by apostolic tradition.
In Eastern Orthodox theology, Holy Tradition is the inspired revelation of God and orthodox catholic teaching (Greek katholikos, "according to the whole") of the Church, not an independent contradictory source of dogmatic authority to be regarded as a supplement to biblical revelation. Tradition is rather understood as the fullness of divine truth proclaimed in the scriptures, preserved by the apostolic bishops and expressed in the life of the Church through such things as the Divine Liturgy and the Holy Mysteries (Eucharist, baptism, marriage, etc.), the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed and other doctrinal definitions of the First seven ecumenical councils, canonical Christian iconography, and the sanctified lives of godly men and women. The organic and seamless whole of this catholic and orthodox Christian culture of the living and breathing life of the church comprises the living expression of the unchanging essence of the apostolic tradition.
According to Catholic theology, two accessible sources of divine revelation in Christ constitute a unified single "Deposit of Faith", meaning that the entirety of divine revelation and the Deposit of Faith is transmitted to successive generations in scripture and sacred tradition through the teaching authority and authentic interpretation of the Church's Magisterium, which consists of the Church's bishops, in union with the Pope, the Patriarch of the West, typically proceeding from the doctrinal decisions and definitions of synods of bishops and ecumenical councils, preserved from error by the discernment of the Holy Spirit.
According to the Christian theological understanding of these Churches, scripture is the written part of this larger tradition, recording (sometimes through the work of the individual authors) the community's experience and understanding of God and more specifically of Jesus as the Living Word of God. Thus, the Bible must be interpreted within the context of sacred tradition and within the community of the church.
This is rejected by many Protestant traditions based on the principles set forth by the leaders of the Protestant Reformation, which teach against the centuries-old tradition of the Church that the Bible alone is a sufficient basis for all Christian teaching (a position known as sola scriptura).
Oral tradition
Judaism
The idea of a Judeo-Christian oral tradition as part of the divine revelation of truth finds its origin in the Jewish doctrine of the Oral Law transmitted to Moses and the elders at Mount Sinai. With the rise of the Christian Church in the first century, rabbinical authorities began to be concerned with what they saw as corrupt and deviant interpretations of the sacred scriptures of Israel as illicit attempts to support the claims of the Christian sect that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised Messiah. To safeguard the traditions of the fathers handed down orally over the centuries, these traditions were carefully collected and eventually codified in the Talmud, in two recensions: the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud.
Christianity
Christian experience of schisms in the first century caused by the deviations of heretical innovations in doctrine by "false brethren", already seen in the warnings in the Letters of Saint Paul as threating the true faith of the community, prompted the writings of the Gospel by the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and during the four successive centuries after them the apologetical writings of the Ante-Nicene Fathers in defense of the true faith. All of this was part of the apostolic tradition.
Apostolic Tradition in the New Testament
The New Testament contains several passages referring to the authority of doctrinal tradition corresponding to the established teaching and praxis (Greek "practice") of the church (assembly) of the Apostles of the Lord as necessary for salvation.
Acts 15:2, 15:6 and Matthew 16:18-19; 18:15-20.
John 14:15-17; 16:12-15; 20:30; 21:25.
1 Corinthians 11:2; 1:10-13; 2:14–3:2; 4:1; 4:14-17.
Hebrews 1:1-2; 5:11-14; 13:17.
Quotations about Apostolic Tradition both East and West
The early Church Fathers, who were links in that chain of succession, recognized the necessity of the traditions that had been handed down from the apostles and guarded them scrupulously, as the following quotations show.
Papias A.D. 120
“Papias, who is now mentioned by us, affirms that he received the sayings of the apostles from those who accompanied them, and he, moreover, asserts that he heard in person Aristion and the presbyter John. Accordingly, he mentions them frequently by name, and in his writings gives their traditions [concerning Jesus].... [There are] other passages of his in which he relates some miraculous deeds, stating that he acquired the knowledge of them from tradition”[3].
Eusebius of Caesarea - Teachers of the faith A.D. 150
“At that time there flourished in the Church Hegesippus, whom we know from what has gone before, and Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, and another bishop, Pinytus of Crete, and besides these, Philip, and Apollinarius, and Melito, and Musanus, and Modestus, and, finally, Irenaeus. From them has come down to us in writing, the sound and orthodox faith received from tradition”[4].
Irenaeus A.D. 189
“As I said before, the Church, having received this preaching and this faith, although she is disseminated throughout the whole world, yet guarded it, as if she occupied but one house. She likewise believes these things just as if she had but one soul and one and the same heart; and harmoniously she proclaims them and teaches them and hands them down, as if she possessed but one mouth. For, while the languages of the world are diverse, nevertheless, the authority of the tradition is one and the same”[5].
“That is why it is surely necessary to avoid them [heretics], while cherishing with the utmost diligence the things pertaining to the Church, and to lay hold of the tradition of truth.... What if the apostles had not in fact left writings to us? Would it not be necessary to follow the order of tradition, which was handed down to those to whom they entrusted the churches?”[6].
“It is possible, then, for everyone in every church, who may wish to know the truth, to contemplate the tradition of the apostles which has been made known throughout the whole world. And we are in a position to enumerate those who were instituted bishops by the apostles and their successors to our own times—men who neither knew nor taught anything like these heretics rave about.
“But since it would be too long to enumerate in such a volume as this the successions of all the churches, we shall confound all those who, in whatever manner, whether through self-satisfaction or vainglory, or through blindness and wicked opinion, assemble other than where it is proper, by pointing out here the successions of the bishops of the greatest and most ancient church known to all, founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul, that church which has the tradition and the faith which comes down to us after having been announced to men by the apostles.
“With this church, because of its superior origin, all churches must agree—that is, all the faithful in the whole world—and it is in her that the faithful everywhere have maintained the apostolic tradition”[7].
Clement of Alexandria A.D. 208
“Well, they preserving the tradition of the blessed doctrine derived directly from the holy apostles, Peter, James, John, and Paul, the sons receiving it from the father (but few were like the fathers), came by God’s will to us also to deposit those ancestral and apostolic seeds. And well I know that they will exult; I do not mean delighted with this tribute, but solely on account of the preservation of the truth, according as they delivered it. For such a sketch as this, will, I think, be agreeable to a soul desirous of preserving from loss the blessed tradition”[8].
Origen A.D. 225
“Although there are many who believe that they themselves hold to the teachings of Christ, there are yet some among them who think differently from their predecessors. The teaching of the Church has indeed been handed down through an order of succession from the apostles and remains in the churches even to the present time. That alone is to be believed as the truth which is in no way at variance with ecclesiastical and apostolic tradition”[9].
Cyprian of Carthage A.D. 253
“[T]he Church is one, and as she is one, cannot be both within and without. For if she is with Novatian, she was not with [Pope] Cornelius. But if she was with Cornelius, who succeeded the bishop Fabian by lawful ordination, and whom, beside the honor of the priesthood the Lord glorified also with martyrdom, Novatian is not in the Church; nor can he be reckoned as a bishop, who, succeeding to no one, and despising the evangelical and apostolic tradition, sprang from himself. For he who has not been ordained in the Church can neither have nor hold to the Church in any way”[10].
Athanasius A.D. 330
“Again we write, again keeping to the apostolic traditions, we remind each other when we come together for prayer; and keeping the feast in common, with one mouth we truly give thanks to the Lord”[11].
“But you are blessed, who by faith are in the Church, dwell upon the foundations of the faith, and have full satisfaction, even the highest degree of faith which remains among you unshaken. For it has come down to you from apostolic tradition, and frequently accursed envy has wished to unsettle it, but has not been able”[12].
Basil the Great A.D. 375
“Of the dogmas and messages preserved in the Church, some we possess from written teaching and others we receive from the tradition of the apostles, handed on to us in mystery. In respect to piety, both are of the same force. No one will contradict any of these, no one, at any rate, who is even moderately versed in matters ecclesiastical. Indeed, were we to try to reject unwritten customs as having no great authority, we would unwittingly injure the gospel in its vitals; or rather, we would reduce [Christian] message to a mere term”[13].
Epiphanius of Salamis A.D. 375
“It is needful also to make use of tradition, for not everything can be gotten from sacred Scripture. The holy apostles handed down some things in the scriptures, other things in tradition”[14].
Augustine A.D. 400
“[T]he custom [of not rebaptizing converts]...may be supposed to have had its origin in apostolic tradition, just as there are many things which are observed by the whole Church, and therefore are fairly held to have been enjoined by the apostles, which yet are not mentioned in their writings”[15].
“But the admonition that he [Cyprian] gives us, ‘that we should go back to the fountain, that is, to apostolic tradition, and thence turn the channel of truth to our times,’ is most excellent, and should be followed without hesitation”[16].
“But in regard to those observances which we carefully attend and which the whole world keeps, and which derive not from Scripture but from Tradition, we are given to understand that they are recommended and ordained to be kept, either by the apostles themselves or by plenary [ecumenical] councils, the authority of which is quite vital in the Church”[17].
John Chrysostom A.D. 402
“[Paul commands,] ‘Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you have been taught, whether by word or by our letter’ [2 Thess. 2:15]. From this it is clear that they did not hand down everything by letter, but there is much also that was not written. Like that which was written, the unwritten too is worthy of belief. So let us regard the tradition of the Church also as worthy of belief. Is it a tradition? Seek no further”[18].
Vincent of Lerins A.D. 434
“With great zeal and closest attention, therefore, I frequently inquired of many men, eminent for their holiness and doctrine, how I might, in a concise and, so to speak, general and ordinary way, distinguish the truth of the Catholic faith from the falsehood of heretical depravity.
“I received almost always the same answer from all of them—that if I or anyone else wanted to expose the frauds and escape the snares of the heretics who rise up, and to remain intact and in sound faith, it would be necessary, with the help of the Lord, to fortify that faith in a twofold manner: first, of course, by the authority of divine law [Scripture] and then by the tradition of the Catholic Church.
“Here, perhaps, someone may ask: ‘If the canon of the scriptures be perfect and in itself more than suffices for everything, why is it necessary that the authority of ecclesiastical interpretation be joined to it?’ Because, quite plainly, sacred Scripture, by reason of its own depth, is not accepted by everyone as having one and the same meaning....
“Thus, because of so many distortions of such various errors, it is highly necessary that the line of prophetic and apostolic interpretation be directed in accord with the norm of the ecclesiastical and Catholic meaning”
Vincent of Lerins, The Notebooks [A.D. 434]</ref>.
Pope Agatho A.D. 680
“[T]he holy Church of God...has been established upon the firm rock of this Church of blessed Peter, the prince of the apostles, which by his grace and guardianship remains free from all error, [and possesses that faith that] the whole number of rulers and priests, of the clergy and of the people, unanimously should confess and preach with us as the true declaration of the apostolic tradition, in order to please God and to save their own souls”[19].
See also
Historical-critical method (Higher criticism)
References
- ↑ Revelation 1:1; Hebrews 1:1-2
- ↑ John 14:15-17; 16:12-15; Acts 20:28; 2 Timothy 1:14; 1 Peter 1:10-12.
- ↑ fragment in Eusebius, Church History 3:39 - A.D. 312
- ↑ Eusebius, Church History 4:21 - A.D. 312
- ↑ Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1:10:2 [A.D. 189]
- ↑ Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3:4:1
- ↑ Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3:3:1–2
- ↑ Clement of Alexandria, Miscellanies 1:1 [A.D. 208]
- ↑ Origen, The Fundamental Doctrines 1:2 [A.D. 225]
- ↑ Cyprian of Carthage, Letters 75:3 [A.D. 253]
- ↑ Athanasius, Festal Letters 2:7 [A.D. 330]
- ↑ Athanasius, Festal Letters 29
- ↑ Basil the Great, The Holy Spirit 27:66 [A.D. 375]
- ↑ Epiphanius of Salamis, Medicine Chest Against All Heresies 61:6 [A.D. 375]
- ↑ Augustine, On Baptism, Against the Donatists 5:23[31] [A.D. 400]
- ↑ Augustine, On Baptism, Against the Donatists 5:26[37]
- ↑ Augustine, Letter to Januarius [A.D. 400]
- ↑ John Chrysostom, Homilies on Second Thessalonians [A.D. 402]
- ↑ Pope Agatho, Letter read at fourth session of III Constantinople [A.D. 680]
External links
Quotes About Apostolic Tradition - Christian History for Everyman (christian-history.org)
Quotes About the Apostles - Christian History for Everyman (christian-history.org)
Apostolic Tradition (catholic.com)
Who were the Church Fathers? (catholic.com)