The Holy Tradition

The Holy Tradition

For a long time some western writers looked to “tradition” as a blind obedience to the past and a mechanical transmission of a passive deposit. In their point of view, tradition is a precise catalogue of a set of ancient doctrines, cannons and rites, or it is a museum for antiquity. Therefore, the traditional church, in their view, seems to be a solid obscurant and retrograde one, attached to what is old simply for its antiquity.

In this simple work, we would like to explain our concept to “tradition”, through the holy Bible, the patristic thought and our practical church life.

The Meaning of “Tradition”

The Greek word that is translated tradition(paradosis) as it came in the Bible “means a transmission from one party to another, and exchange of some sort, implying living subjects.” It involves the idea fo receiving and passing on. Daniel Williams, in his book “Retrieving the Tradition, and Renewing Evangelicalism: A Primer for Suspicious Protestants (Grand Rapids:Eerdmans ,1999)” notes that tradition is “not something dead handed down, but living being handed over”. It is as much a noun as a verb, meaning “that which is handed over” as well as “the process of handing it over”.

Note,too, that tradition isn’t necessarily something old. As one scholar writes, “The scriptural use of the term tradition has nothing to do with oldness or with a practice or beliefs being time-honored. A tradition, in the strictest sense of the word, becomes tradition the instant it is handed over”

This kind of tradition isn’t to be confused with “traditionalism”, which refers to faith in tradition per se. Historian Joroslav Pelikan contrasts the two this way: “Traditon is the living faith of the dead. Traditionalism is the dead faith of the living”.

Some people often think of traditions as being practices, such as decorating a church a certain way during certain seasons, or conducting worship services certain ways. But traditions can be teachings-beliefs passed from one person to another. St. Paul referred to his teachings as traditions. He exhorts the Thessalonians: “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us.” (2 Th. 3:6 The NIVtranslates the word “tradition” as “teaching”). St. Paul’s job was to pass on what he had been taught so those who heard could pass it on themselves. This idea is expressed clearly in his letter to Timothy, where he said, “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” (2 Tim 2:2)

Someone might object, pointing out that our Lord Jesus speaks only negatively about tradition. “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men”, He says (Mark 7:8) But notice: Jesus is chastising the Pharisees, not for holding to traditions per se, but for letting the traditions of men trump the things of God.

The Subject of Christian Tradition

What is the subject of Christian Tradition? Or what is the heritage which the Church received and preserved through the successive generations?

In fact, Christ did not deliver His disciples and apostles a written document, but rather He prepared them to follow Him and to accept Him dwelling within their hearts. They heard Him teach, followed Him everywhere; they saw Him praying, comforting the people , treating the sinners kindly, healing the sick, giving life to the dead; they saw Him celebrating the Last Supper and granting them peace after His resurrection. At last, He sent them His Holy Spirit not only to remind them of His own words and help them to follow His example but rather to attain the unity with Him and to share in His divine life.

This is the essence of our tradition, it is “the unity with Christ through the Holy Spirit”. For God the Father delivered His own Son to us, and the Son gave Himself up for us (Gal. 2:20; Eph. 5:2).

This is the tradition, i.e. “the faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 3) or the “Gospel” written in our lives and engraved within our hearts. It is a living thing, received by the apostles who delivered it to their disciples by the Holy Spirit, who bears witness to Christ within the life of the Church and unites her with the Savior.

In other words, the action of transmission is realized not only by the apostles’ writings, but rather by the Holy Spirit who guided their feelings, attitudes, worship, behavior and their preaching. He granted them the new life, that is, “the life in Christ”. It is the action of the Holy Spirit that the “tradition of Christ” is preserved in the Church life through the successive generations, as He always lives and acts in the Church-yesterday, today, and tomorrow- inspires her life and makes it a continuity of life, faith and love , and not a mechanical repetition of the past.

Thus, tradition is the living stream of the one life of the Church which brings up the past with all its aspects as a living present, and extends the present towards the morrow without deformation.

Our Coptic Orthodox Church is a traditional Church. Tradition does not just mean accepting what is the past, but according to the Holy Bible, it means to deliver the trust of faith from one generation to the next.

The Lord Jesus prepared Disciples and Apostles who lived with Him, learned from Him, and He lived in their hearts. Then He sent them His Holy Spirit to continue His guidance and to share His Divine life. Tradition is the faith which was once and for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3). It is the Gospel written in our lives and carved in our hearts. For the Church, tradition includes its living faith, interpreting the Word of God, her theology, spirituality, sacraments, rites, saints, history and canons; all as one unit.

We shall deal with the following four points:

1. Tradition in the apostolic age
2. Tradition and the Holy Bible
3. Tradition and Church Life
4. True and false traditions

First : Tradition in The Apostolic Age

In the apostolic age, the New Testament books were already in existence, but these were not yet canonized officially. Tradition was the only source of Christian faith, doctrine and worship. Its role in the Church life of that period may be summarized in the following points:

1. When the Church was born the books of The Old Testament were already existent in use and the early Christians, on the authority of Christ and His apostles, received these scriptures from the Jews and treated them as the inspired and authoritative word of God. The early Church considered herself as the heir of the Jewish Church in this old tradition, i.e. the Scriptures.

It is worthy to note that the early Church was reading the Scriptures with an eye enlightened by specifically Christian revelation. She conceived the prophecies mentioned in these books, and was using a particular method of exegesis, which the Jews did not know yet. This type of exegesis was received from the apostles, and there is every reason to suppose that our Lord Himself set the precedent, e.g. His discourse with the disciples of Emmaus (Luke 24:13-27).

1. Although the books of the New testament were not canonized until the middle of

the second century, but through tradition the Fathers of the Church accepted them as the inspired word of God, and many citations were used in their writings.

1. Through tradition the Fathers of the Church conceived the unity of the Holy Scriptures. We mean the unity between the Old and the New Testaments, as the one and the same word of God, even before the canonization of the New Testament books took place.

4. The apostles revealed that one of the sources of the authority of their apostolate is that tradition which they had received through their discipleship to our Lord Jesus Christ. They preached as eye-witnesses to the events of Christ’s life and His saving deeds.

St. John states: “that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life…” (John 1:1)

In his gospel he also says: “He who saw it has borne witness-his testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth-that you also may believe” (John 19:35).

St. Luke also pointed out that accounts of the events of Christ’s life were delivered to us by those who from the beginning were eye-witnesses and ministers of the word” (Luke 1:2).

When the eleven apostles wished to fill the place of Judas, they determined to choose only one “of the men who have accompanied us during all the time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when He was taken up from us- one of these men must become with us a witness to His resurrection” (Acts 1:21,22)

This apostolic tradition started by their eye-witness to the Lord’s life’s events, but the “eye-witness” was not sufficient to set it. It was founded by the Holy Spirit who guides the life of the Church, reveals the truth and gives her the unity withGod Jesus Christ. “We are witnesses of these things”, the apostles say, “and so is the Holy Spirit”.

St. Paul the apostle, who was interested in depositing “the tradition of Christ” to the Church, was not an eye-witness of these events, but he received a special commission to the apostolate. By the Holy Spirit he received the Church tradition as if it was given to him from God directly. He asserts, “Paul, an apostle- not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father… “(Gal. 1:1). He also says, “received (Paralambano) from the Lord (apo tou Kyriou) what I also delivered (paradidomi) to you” (1Cor. 11:23).

5. The tradition which the apostles received from Christ and was deposited unto the

Church was in its essence “the new life in Jesus Christ”, or “the unity with God in Christ by the Holy Spirit”. In other words, the apostolic tradition was not a static deposit, but it bears within itself the continuity of the Pentecost in the Church as a whole and in every living member.

Through the apostolic tradition not only does the Christian community as a whole practice this new life by the Holy Spirit, but every member of the Church accepts a personal relationship with God in Spirit, without isolation from the universal Church.

Through this point of view we also look to our tradition- in its essence- as a spiritual gift, not offered from person to another, but having its mutual effect upon the giver and the receiver , “For I long to see you” wrote St. Paul to the Romans, “that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine” (Rom. 1:11,12).

In this effect, St. Augustine says, “Because for you I am bishop, with you I am a Christian”. He deeply felt that he was appointed by God to deposit his people the Christian tradition as a bishop, and at the same time he practiced this tradition with them as one of them-as a Christian.

6. The apostles subjected to some Jewish traditions of worship and rites which were in harmony with their faith, after Christianizing them.

7. Through tradition the Church made a stress on the loyalty to the episcopate as she regarded the bishop- the successor of the apostle- as the appointed guarantor of purity of doctrine.

In brief, we can say that the Church in the apostolic age accepted the living tradition, by which she received the books of the Old Testament, conceived its prophecies, discovered its types and symbols, acknowledged its unity with the apostolic testimony, received the witnesses of the apostles, declared the authority of their successors in preserving the Christian faith and practiced the true worship of God.

Second: Tradition and the Holy Bible

a) Tradition is More Ancient Than The Holy Bible:

Moses gave us the written Law between the fifteenth and fourteenth centuries B.C.

Before that time, the conscience (the moral law) was adopted, together with tradition.

The following examples demonstrate the existence of tradition before the written

Law.

1. The sacrifice which Abel brought to God was of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering (Genesis 4:4), and it was superior to the offering of Cain his brother. The Apostle Paul explains this matter by saying : “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks” (Hebrews 11:4). The concept of the sacrifice was received by Abel from his father Adam, who himself received it from God. Likewise, our fathers Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Job, who offered sacrifices to God, received that concept by tradition, long before Moses wrote about it.

2. The notion of building altars for the Lord as did Noah: “Then Noah built an altar to the Lord” (Genesis 8:20), and Abram (Abraham) built an altar to the Lord, who appeared to him at the terebinth tree of Moreh (Genesis 12:6,7). This notion was delivered to the fathers by the tradition, before there was a written Law.

3. The notion of presenting sacrifices from clean animals and clean birds such as Noah presented on the altar which he built after the flood: “Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar “ (Genesis 8:20). This notion must have been delivered to Noah by God directly, long before the time of the written Law.

4. The notion of Priesthood which the Book of Genesisrecorded: “Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him (Abraham) 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). This notion of Priesthood was known by the tradition, before the written Law which describes the Priesthood, its reverence, its work and its blessings to others.

5. The notion of tithes was known to the fathers by the tradition: “And he (Abraham) gave him (Melchizedek) a tithe of all” (Genesis 14:20). Likewise, Jacob received this tradition from his grandfather Abraham; as we hear him saying to the Lord: “And of all that you give me I will surely give a tithe to You” (Genesis 28:22).

6. The notion of consecrating the Houses of God by pouring oil on them, like Jacob did when he saw the ladder (Genesis 28:10-22). This notion was known from the tradition.

7. After the written Law, the Lord kept the tradition as well, as He commanded the people to deliver the teachings to their children (Exodus 13:14-16; Deut. 4:9).

8. We find in the New Testament information about the Old Testament which was delivered from generation to generation. For example, the names of the two sorcerers who resisted Moses were not mentioned in the Old Testament ,yet they are given in the New Testament: “Now as Jannes and Jambers resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith” (2 Timothy 3:8). Again in the story of Balaam, Balaam’s character and teachings were not mentioned in the Old Testament (Numbers 22-25), yet they are mentioned in the Books of the New Testament (2 Peter 2:15; Jude 1:11; Revelation 2:14).

9. For about 20 years after the Ascension of our Lord Jesus, the Christians kept receiving their faith by tradition. That is before the Gospels and Epistles were written. In fact, in “Go into the entire world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15) and in “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15), the word “gospel” means the good news given by the word of mouth, or it means the Divine teachings.

b) The Holy Bible Could Not Record Everything:

There are many signs and teachings which the Lord Jesus did and said which are not recorded in the Gospels. The Apostle John 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). Also he says :“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. Amen.”(John 21:25).