Church Tradition
Question: What is Church Tradition? What are its sources? Is there biblical evidence for Holy Tradition?
Answer
Tradition is every teaching that has come down to us through apostolic and patristic transmission; that is, oral teaching that was not written in the Holy Bible. Apostolic history is therefore important. Without what the apostolic Fathers handed down to us, we would not have received the general principles governing the rites of prayer, the Divine Liturgy and communion in the Body of the Lord, worship on Sunday, the ordination of priests, the rites of hymns, the praying of the Psalms, or sermons.
Tradition in the Old Testament
There is abundant evidence in the Old Testament that oral tradition was received from the prophets:
There was no written Law from the time of Adam until the days of Moses the prophet. Nevertheless, people received from the Lord knowledge of what was right and what was wrong. There are many examples of this. How did Abraham know about building an altar?
“Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him” (Genesis 12:7).
How did Noah know about offering sacrifices and about the distinction between clean and unclean animals?
“Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma” (Genesis 8:20–21).
How did Abraham recognize Melchizedek as the priest of God Most High?
“Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said:
‘Blessed be Abram of God Most High,Possessor of heaven and earth;And blessed be God Most High,Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.’
And he gave him a tithe of all” (Genesis 14:18–20; see Hebrews 7:6).
How did our father Jacob know about consecrating places belonging to the Lord and anointing them with oil?
“Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel” (Genesis 28:18–19).
How did our father Jacob know about giving tithes and saying to God that everything He gave him belonged to Him?
“Then Jacob made a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God. And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You’” (Genesis 28:20–22).
How did Joseph know that adultery was evil before the Lord, even though preserving his purity would lead to his imprisonment?
“How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9).
The Old Testament does not record the dispute between Michael the archangel and the devil concerning the body of Moses. Nevertheless, the account continued to be transmitted for thousands of years until Saint Jude the Apostle wrote:
“Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’” (Jude 9).
The same applies to the account of the fall of the devil:
“And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day” (Jude 6).
Saint Peter likewise says:
“For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment” (2 Peter 2:4).
Tradition in the New Testament
The Holy Bible does not record every event or all the details of every event. The four Gospels do not contain all the teachings of the Lord Jesus or all His miracles. There is abundant evidence of this:
“And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written” (John 21:25).
It also says:
“And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30–31).
There were also many miracles whose individual details were not recorded:
“When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them” (Luke 4:40).
The Gospels did not record all the Lord’s teachings. They tell us that He travelled through the cities, preached, and taught in the synagogues, without recording everything He taught. Even the Sermon on the Mount does not contain everything.
The same is true of His meeting with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus:
“Then He said to them, ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?’ And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:25–27).
The Lord also remained with His disciples for forty days after His Resurrection, yet the Bible does not record everything He taught them about the Kingdom of God:
“To whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3).
The Lord Jesus commanded His disciples to preach the gospel even though no written Gospels existed at that time. The meaning was clearly that they should preach what the Fathers had orally received from the Lord.
“Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel’” (Mark 1:14–15).
He also said:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19–20).
There is abundant evidence for oral teaching handed down by the apostolic Fathers.
Saint Paul says:
“But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment. And the rest I will set in order when I come” (1 Corinthians 11:34).
In his letter to his disciple Timothy, he says:
“And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2).
To Saint Titus he says:
“For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you” (Titus 1:5).
In his First Epistle to the Corinthians, he says:
“For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me’” (1 Corinthians 11:23–24).
Saint John the Evangelist also says in his Epistles:
“Having many things to write to you, I did not wish to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, that our joy may be full” (2 John 12).
He also writes:
“I had many things to write, but I do not wish to write to you with pen and ink” (3 John 13).
And:
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:1–3).
The New Testament does not record the ordination of Saint Paul as an apostle. It does not tell us who baptized him, who gave him and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, or who gave him the authority of binding and loosing through which he dealt with the sinner in Corinth.
Concerning the right hand of fellowship, he says:
“And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship” (Galatians 2:9).
Concerning the discipline of the offender in Corinth, he says:
“This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man” (2 Corinthians 2:6).
The apostles rejected false tradition that had not been received from the Lord:
“Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8).
The Pharisees asked the Lord Jesus:
“‘Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.’ He answered and said to them, ‘Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? … Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition’” (Matthew 15:2–3, 6).
Saint Mark explains:
“For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders” (Mark 7:3).
Saint Paul says concerning his former life:
“And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers” (Galatians 1:14).
However, he commands believers to preserve the authentic apostolic teaching:
“But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us” (2 Thessalonians 3:6).
The distinction, therefore, is not between Scripture and all tradition. It is between authentic apostolic Tradition, received from Christ and faithfully transmitted by the apostles, and false human traditions that oppose the commandment of God.
References
Comparative Theology, Part One, Pope Shenouda III, chapter on Tradition.
Tradition and Orthodoxy, Father Tadros Yacoub Malaty.
