 Apostolic Tradition
In
Scripture & and the words of the early Church Fathers
"Simon, Simon, behold
Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have
prayed
that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you
must
strengthen your brothers"
(2 Tim 2:2)
"And the things that thou has heard of me among many witnesses, the
same
commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also"
1 Thess 3:13
"And we also thank God
continually
because, when you received the word of God,
which you
heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as
it actually
is, the word of God, which is at work in you who
believe."
"I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the
traditions
even as I have delivered them to you" (1 Cor. 11:2), "So then,
brethren,
stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us,
either
by word of mouth or by letter" (2 Thess. 2:15). "Now we command
you,
brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from
any
brother who is living in idleness and not in accord with the tradition
that
you received from us" (2 Thess. 3:6).
"What you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to
faithful
men who will be able to teach others also" (2 Tim. 2:2).
The
Church Fathers recognized that Jesus made Peter the rock on which he
would
build his Church, that the gates of hell would not prevail against it. That Peter was given a special authority, that
Peter
went to Rome,
and that he left successors there to continue on the mission that
Christ
had set forth..
The apostles entrusted the "Sacred
deposit"
of the faith (1 Tim 6:20, 2 Tim 1:12-14), contained in Sacred Scripture and
Tradition,
to the whole of the Church. "By adhering to this heritage the entire
holy
people, united to its pastors, remains always faithful to the teaching
of
the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of the bread and the
prayers.
So, in maintaining, practicing, and professing the faith that has been
handed
on, there should be a remarkable harmony between the bishops and the
faithful."
Catechism of the Catholic Church
75 "Christ the Lord, in whom the entire Revelation of the most high God
is summed up, commanded the apostles to preach the Gospel, which had
been
promised beforehand by the prophets, and which he fulfilled in his own
person
and promulgated with his own lips. In preaching the Gospel, they were
to
communicate the gifts of God to all men. This Gospel was to be the
source
of all saving truth and moral discipline." (Mat
28:19-20;
Mk 16:15)
In the
apostolic
preaching. . .
76 In keeping with the Lord's command, the Gospel was handed on in two
ways:
- orally "by the apostles who handed on, by the spoken word of their
preaching,
by the example they gave, by the institutions they established, what
they
themselves had received - whether from the lips of Christ, from his way
of
life and his works, or whether they had learned it at the prompting of
the
Holy Spirit";33
- in writing "by those apostles and other men associated with the
apostles
who, under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, committed the
message
of salvation to writing".34
77 "In order that the
full
and living Gospel might always be preserved in the Church the apostles
left
bishops as their successors. They gave them their own position of
teaching
authority."35 Indeed, "the apostolic preaching, which is expressed in a
special
way in the inspired books, was to be preserved in a continuous line of
succession until the end of time."36
78 This living
transmission,
accomplished in the Holy Spirit, is called Tradition, since it is
distinct
from Sacred Scripture, though closely connected to it. Through
Tradition,
"the Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and
transmits
to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes."37
"The
sayings of the holy Fathers are a witness to the life-giving presence
of
this Tradition, showing how its riches are poured out in the practice
and
life of the Church, in her belief and her prayer."38
Early
Church Fathers
Peter as Pope
The Tradition continues.
Pope Clement I "Then
the reverence of the law is chanted, and the grace of the prophets is
known,
and the faith of the Gospels is established, and the tradition of the
apostles
is preserved, and the grace of the Church exults" (Letter to the
Corinthians 11 [A.D. 80]).
Papias
"Papias [A.D. 120], 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" (fragment in Eusebius, Church History 3:39 [A.D.
312]).
Eusebius of Caesarea
"At that time [A.D. 150] 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" (Church History 4:21).
Irenaeus
"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" (Against
Heresies 1:10:2 [A.D. 189]).
"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?"
(ibid.,
3:4:1).
"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" (ibid., 3:3:1–2).
Clement
of Alexandria
"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" (Miscellanies 1:1
[A.D.
208]).
Origen
"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" (The
Fundamental Doctrines 1:2 [A.D. 225]).
Cyprian
of Carthage
"The 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" (Letters 75:3
[A.D. 253]).
Athanasius
"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. Thus giving thanks
unto
him, and being followers of the saints, ‘we shall make our praise in
the
Lord all the day,’ as the psalmist says. So, when we rightly keep the
feast,
we shall be counted worthy of that joy which is in heaven" (Festal
Letters 2:7 [A.D. 330]).
"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" (ibid., 29).
Basil
the Great
"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"
(The Holy Spirit 27:66 [A.D. 375]).
Epiphanius
of Salamis
"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" (Medicine Chest Against All Heresies
61:6
[A.D. 375]).
Augustine
"[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"
(On Baptism, Against the Donatists 5:23[31] [A.D. 400]).
"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" (ibid., 5:26[37]).
"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" (Letter to
Januarius [A.D. 400]).
John
Chrysostom
"[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" (Homilies
on Second Thessalonians [A.D. 402]).
Vincent
of Lerins
"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" (The
Notebooks [A.D. 434]).
Pope
Agatho
"[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"
(Letter read at fourth session of III Constantinople [A.D. 680]).
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