Tradition

From Bishop Kallistos Ware's book, "The Orthodox Church":

Orthodox Christians are always talking about Tradition. What do they mean by the word? A tradition is commonly understood to signify an opinion, belief or custom handed down from ancestors to posterity. Christian Tradition, in that case, is the faith and practice which Jesus Christ imparted to the Apostles, and which since the Apostles' time has been handed down from generation to generation in the Church.

But to an Orthodox Christian, Tradition means something more concrete and specific than this. It means the books of the Bible; it means the Creed; it means the decrees of the Ecumenical Councils and the writings of the Fathers; it means the Canons, the Service Books, the Holy Icons - in fact, the whole system of doctrine, Church government, worship, spirituality and art which Orthodoxy has articulated over the ages. Orthodox Christians of today see themselves as heirs and guardians to a rich inheritance received from the past, and they believe that it is their duty to transmit this inheritance unimpaired to the future.

Note that the Bible forms a part of this Tradition. Sometimes Tradition is defined as the oral teaching of Christ, not recorded by His immediate disciples. Not only non-Orthodox but many Orthodox writers have adopted this way of speaking, treating Scripture and Tradition as two different things, two distinct sources of the Christian faith. But in reality, there is only one source, since Scripture exists within Tradition. To seperate and contrast the two is to impoverish the idea of both alike.

To hear Dn. Gheevarghese John's teaching on this subject, please visit:

http://indian-orthodox.net/2008/06/28/scripture-and-tradition/