The Biblical Case for Holy Tradition

Many Christians have been taught that tradition is the opposite of the Bible: Scripture is God's word, and tradition is what men added later. That way of putting it does not come from the Bible. The New Testament describes the Christian faith as something the apostles received from Christ, handed on by mouth and by letter, entrusted to faithful men, and commanded the Church to keep. That handing on is what the Church calls Holy Tradition, and the strongest case for it is an appeal to Scripture itself.

This article is the scriptural foundation of our Why Orthodoxy page, which gathers the key passages and links every reference to the Bible reader.

In brief

St Paul commanded, "hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle" (2 Thessalonians 2:15). The apostles handed on the Gospel, the Eucharist and a way of life, and told Timothy to commit what he had heard "to faithful men" (2 Timothy 2:2). The New Testament gives the Church authority to teach and decide and says plainly that not everything was written down. The warnings against "the tradition of men" condemn human customs that overturn God's word, not the apostolic deposit. No passage says all binding apostolic teaching would be written down, and the list of New Testament books itself came to us through Tradition.

Thesis: Holy Tradition is not a rival to Scripture but the apostolic faith in which Scripture was given, received and understood; the Bible commands the Church to keep it, and the Orthodox Church has kept it whole.

Three words to keep apart

The New Testament uses the Greek paradosis ("a handing over") both for what Christ condemns and for what Paul commands, so the source of a tradition is what matters.¹

• Holy Scripture: the inspired writings the Church received from the prophets and apostles.
• Holy Tradition: the whole apostolic faith kept in the Church: Scripture as its heart, with the Church's teaching, worship and sacramental life. It is one Tradition, not a second Bible beside the first.
• Human traditions: customs and opinions of men. They can err, and Christ condemns those that set aside God's commandment.

The apostles commanded the Church to keep what they handed down

"Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle." (2 Thessalonians 2:15)

Paul names two ways the traditions came, by spoken word and by letter, and tells the church to hold both. The Greek is paradoseis, the same noun Christ uses in Mark 7. He does not rank the letter above the spoken teaching; both carry apostolic authority.

He praised the Corinthians because they "keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you" (1 Corinthians 11:2); "ordinances" again translates paradoseis. He told the Thessalonians to withdraw from any brother who walks "not after the tradition which he received of us" (2 Thessalonians 3:6). The setting there is disorderly idleness, so we do not claim it proves any particular later practice; it shows that apostolic tradition was a rule a church could be disciplined by.

Then Paul looks past his own lifetime:

"And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also." (2 Timothy 2:2)

Count the links: Paul, Timothy, faithful men, others also. Four generations of teachers, and what passes along is what Timothy "heard." Paul calls it a deposit: "That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us" (2 Timothy 1:14; see 1:13). The Greek is paratheke, something entrusted for safekeeping, as again in "O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust" (1 Timothy 6:20). Elders must be "holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught" (Titus 1:9), and St Jude urges believers to "earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3).

A deposit is not reinvented by each generation; it is received, guarded and handed on. {{very-strong: The New Testament explicitly commands Christians to hold the traditions the apostles taught, whether by word or by letter, and to commit that teaching to faithful men who will teach others.}}

Handed on in preaching, worship and example

The Gospel itself came as tradition: "I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3). So did the Eucharist: "For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you" (1 Corinthians 11:23). Paul wrote about the Lord's Supper to correct abuses in a practice already handed down.

Paul thanked God that the Thessalonians received the preaching they heard "not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God" (1 Thessalonians 2:13). From the first day the believers "continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2:42).

A Church with real authority

Scripture does not picture believers as individual readers who each decide what the faith is. It pictures a Church, "the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15).

When a dispute over circumcision threatened the churches, the apostles and elders met in council at Jerusalem and decided: "For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things" (Acts 15:28). The decision went out by letter and by mouth, for Judas and Silas were sent to "tell you the same things by mouth" (Acts 15:27), and Paul "delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem" (Acts 16:4). Acts 15 does not by itself prove that every later council is ecumenical; the Church discerns that, as we explain in How Does the Orthodox Church Know Which Councils Are Ecumenical? But it shows that conciliar authority is biblical.

Christ told the offended brother to "tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican," and said, "Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven" (Matthew 18:17-18). To those He sent He said, "He that heareth you heareth me" (Luke 10:16). He commanded the apostles to teach the nations "to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you," with the promise, "lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20). He gave "pastors and teachers" so that we would not be "carried about with every wind of doctrine" (Ephesians 4:11, 14). {{strong: The New Testament gives the Church, through her shepherds and councils, real authority to teach, to decide disputed questions and to discipline, and promises Christ's presence with her to the end of the age.}}

The Spirit guides the Church into all truth

Christ promised the apostles that the Holy Spirit "shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" (John 14:26), and "will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13). Spoken first to the apostles, these words do not make every bishop or synod incapable of error; history shows false councils. But the same discourse says the Comforter will "abide with you for ever" (John 14:16), and Christ prayed "for them also which shall believe on me through their word" (John 17:20). The Spirit did not leave the Church when the last apostle died; He keeps her, as a whole, in the faith once delivered.

Not everything was written

St John ends his Gospel: "there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written" (John 21:25). He closes a letter: "Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face" (2 John 12). St Peter warned that Paul's letters hold "things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest" (2 Peter 3:16). These passages do not prove that any particular unwritten teaching is apostolic. They prove that the New Testament never presents itself as a complete inventory of everything the apostles taught.

The warnings: which traditions does Scripture condemn?

An honest case must face the passages Protestants rightly quote. Christ told the Pharisees, "For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men," making "the word of God of none effect through your tradition" (Mark 7:8, 13; compare Matthew 15:3-6). Paul warned, "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ" (Colossians 2:8).

Christ condemns "the tradition of men" used to cancel God's commandment, such as the Corban rule that let a man withhold support from his parents. Paul condemns tradition "not after Christ." Both are defined by their source. The same apostle who wrote Colossians 2:8 wrote 2 Thessalonians 2:15 with the same noun; he cannot forbid tradition as such while commanding it. And when Paul curses anyone who preaches "any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you" (Galatians 1:8), the standard is the apostolic preaching, which is exactly what Holy Tradition keeps.

The Bereans "searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so" (Acts 17:11): they tested Paul's spoken preaching against the Old Testament and, finding it true, received it. "Not to think of men above that which is written" (1 Corinthians 4:6) rebukes Corinthians boasting in rival teachers; it is not a rule that only written teaching binds.

Sola scriptura at its strongest, and why it fails

The Protestant principle of sola scriptura deserves a fair statement. Its classical form does not reject councils or teachers. The Westminster Confession, completed in 1646, holds that "the whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men."² A thoughtful Protestant can accept 2 Thessalonians 2:15 and reply that the necessary apostolic teaching was later preserved in writing, so that Scripture alone is now the infallible rule. He will cite 2 Timothy 3:16-17: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine... That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." (For a full account, see What Is Sola Scriptura?)

The Orthodox Church honours Scripture as inspired and supreme among the witnesses of the faith. But sola scriptura is an error, for three reasons.

First, the text never says it. No passage says that all binding apostolic teaching would be written down, or that once it was, the spoken tradition would lose its authority. 2 Timothy 3:16 calls Scripture "profitable," not the only rule; the verse before tells Timothy to continue in what he learned, "knowing of whom thou hast learned them" (3:14), and the "holy scriptures" he had known "from a child" (3:15) were the Old Testament. A doctrine that says Scripture alone is the rule ought to be found in Scripture. This one is not.

Second, the canon came through Tradition. No verse lists the New Testament books. In the early fourth century Eusebius still counted "the so-called epistle of James and that of Jude, also the second epistle of Peter, and those that are called the second and third of John" among "the disputed writings, which are nevertheless recognized by many."³ In 367 St Athanasius listed the twenty-seven books as "the books included in the Canon, and handed down, and accredited as Divine." He also wrote, "In these alone is proclaimed the doctrine of godliness," and a Protestant may fairly cite that line; but Athanasius knew which books those were because they had been handed down.⁴ St Augustine said of the Gospel itself, "I should not believe the gospel except as moved by the authority of the Catholic Church," meaning the one Church of his day, not the later Roman communion.⁵ Westminster answers that Scripture's authority "dependeth not upon the testimony of any man, or church." True, the Church did not create the Scriptures' authority; she recognized it. But a Church trusted to recognize which books are Scripture is a Church whose Tradition carries authority. Everyone who holds a New Testament relies on Holy Tradition. See How Was the Biblical Canon Actually Formed?

Third, Scripture alone does not end disputes. St Vincent of Lérins asked why the Church's interpretation must be joined to Scripture, and answered: "because, owing to the depth of Holy Scripture, all do not accept it in one and the same sense," so that it "seems to be capable of as many interpretations as there are interpreters."⁶ Arius quoted Scripture too. The question is whose reading of the Bible is the apostolic one.

Tradition is not a blank cheque either. The Church receives no new revelation, and no bishop may declare a new dogma. That is why the Orthodox Church rejects later additions such as the Filioque in the Creed and the papal dogmas Rome defined in 1870, which cannot show that they were held "everywhere, always, by all" (see Papal Infallibility: Ancient Doctrine or Later Development?). Holy Tradition guards the deposit; it does not enlarge it. {{strong: No passage of Scripture teaches that all binding apostolic teaching would be written down, and the New Testament canon itself was received through the Church's Tradition.}}

From the apostles to the Fathers

St Clement of Rome, writing to Corinth near the end of the first century, described the chain of 2 Timothy 2:2 at work: "Christ therefore was sent forth by God, and the apostles by Christ." The apostles appointed bishops and deacons and "gave instructions, that when these should fall asleep, other approved men should succeed them in their ministry."⁷

St Irenaeus of Lyons, writing against the Gnostics about 180, insisted that Tradition is public, not secret: "It is within the power of all, therefore, in every Church, who may wish to see the truth, to contemplate clearly the tradition of the apostles manifested throughout the whole world." Had the apostles known hidden mysteries, "they would have delivered them especially to those to whom they were also committing the Churches themselves."⁸ He named the succession of bishops at Rome, and also Polycarp of Smyrna and the Church of Ephesus, as witnesses of one faith. (His sentence on Rome survives only in Latin translation and is disputed; see Did the Early Church Believe in Papal Supremacy?) Then he asked the question sola scriptura cannot answer: "For how should it be if the apostles themselves had not left us writings? Would it not be necessary, [in that case,] to follow the course of the tradition which they handed down to those to whom they did commit the Churches?" Whole peoples, he noted, kept the faith "without paper or ink" by "carefully preserving the ancient tradition."⁹

St Basil the Great, defending the divinity of the Holy Spirit in the 370s, wrote: "Of the beliefs and practices whether generally accepted or publicly enjoined which are preserved in the Church some we possess derived from written teaching; others we have received delivered to us in a mystery by the tradition of the apostles; and both of these in relation to true religion have the same force." His examples are things Orthodox Christians still do: the sign of the cross, turning East to pray, the words of invocation over the eucharistic gifts, triple immersion in baptism. "On what written authority do we do this?" he asked. "Is not our authority silent and mystical tradition?"¹⁰

St John Chrysostom, preaching on 2 Thessalonians 2:15, drew the conclusion directly: "Hence it is manifest, that they did not deliver all things by Epistle, but many things also unwritten, and in like manner both the one and the other are worthy of credit. Therefore let us think the tradition of the Church also worthy of credit. It is a tradition, seek no farther."¹¹

St Vincent of Lérins, writing in 434, gave the test the Church still uses: "all possible care must be taken, that we hold that faith which has been believed everywhere, always, by all."⁶ And in 787 the Seventh Ecumenical Council summed up the witness in one sentence: "we keep unchanged all the ecclesiastical traditions handed down to us, whether in writing or verbally."¹² For more, see Guard the Good Deposit and The Apostolic Faith Once for All Delivered. {{very-strong: The earliest Christian writers after the apostles appealed to the tradition the apostles handed down and to the succession of those they appointed, and St Basil and St John Chrysostom taught that unwritten apostolic tradition carries the same authority as the written.}}

What we can say confidently

• The apostles taught by word and by letter, and St Paul commanded the Church to hold both (2 Thessalonians 2:15).
• The faith is a deposit to be guarded and handed on to faithful men who will teach others (2 Timothy 1:14; 2:2).
• Christ gave the Church real authority to teach and decide, and the apostles exercised it in council (Acts 15).
• No passage says all binding apostolic teaching would be written down; sola scriptura is not taught by the Bible it appeals to.
• The New Testament canon itself was received through Tradition.

What remains disputed

• Which particular later practices go back to the apostles is a historical question, answered case by case; not every pious custom is apostolic.
• Scholars debate how quickly the ministry of one bishop with presbyters and deacons became universal; in the Pastoral Epistles "elder" and "overseer" are used closely together (Titus 1:5-7).
• The meaning of St Irenaeus's sentence about the Church of Rome (Against Heresies 3.3.2) is disputed between Roman Catholic and Orthodox readers.
• Critical scholars dispute whether Paul wrote 2 Thessalonians and the Pastoral Epistles; the Church receives them as apostolic Scripture, and the argument rests on their place in the canon.

Conclusion

The case for Holy Tradition does not begin with the Fathers or the councils. It begins with Paul writing "hold the traditions... whether by word, or our epistle," with a deposit passed from Paul to Timothy to faithful men to others also, with apostles and elders saying "it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us," and with Christ's promise that the Spirit of truth would abide with His Church for ever. Scripture is the heart of that Tradition, and the Orthodox Church has kept it whole, adding nothing and taking nothing away. To see the passages gathered in one place, and where they lead on the question of Rome's claims, continue to Why Orthodoxy.

Notes

1. Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (1769 text), checked against the KJV text served by this site's Bible reader (https://honestapologist.com/api/bible/connections/texts?v=kjv); words the KJV prints in italics are given without brackets. Greek words are from the SBL Greek New Testament (2 Thessalonians 2:15; 3:6; 1 Corinthians 11:2; 1 Timothy 6:20; 2 Timothy 1:14; Mark 7:8; Colossians 2:8), https://www.biblegateway.com/ (SBLGNT).
2. Westminster Confession of Faith (completed 1646; approved by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 1647), chapter 1, sections 4 and 6, as published by the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, https://www.opc.org/wcf.html.
3. Eusebius, Church History 3.25.3, trans. Arthur Cushman McGiffert, NPNF2 vol. 1, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250103.htm.
4. St Athanasius, Festal Letter 39 (for 367), sections 3 and 6, trans. R. Payne-Smith, NPNF2 vol. 4, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2806039.htm.
5. St Augustine, Against the Epistle of Manichaeus Called Fundamental, chapter 5 (section 6), trans. Richard Stothert, NPNF1 vol. 4, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1405.htm.
6. St Vincent of Lérins, Commonitorium, chapter 2, sections 5-6, trans. C. A. Heurtley, NPNF2 vol. 11, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3506.htm.
7. St Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians 42 and 44, trans. John Keith, ANF vol. 9, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1010.htm.
8. St Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.3.1, trans. Alexander Roberts and William Rambaut, ANF vol. 1, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103303.htm.
9. St Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.4.1-2, same translation, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103304.htm.
10. St Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit 27.66, trans. Blomfield Jackson, NPNF2 vol. 8, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3203.htm.
11. St John Chrysostom, Homilies on Second Thessalonians, Homily 4 (on 2 Thessalonians 2:15), trans. John A. Broadus, NPNF1 vol. 13, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/23054.htm.
12. Second Council of Nicaea (787), the Decree, trans. Henry Percival, NPNF2 vol. 14, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3819.htm.

Bibliography

Scripture

• The Holy Bible, King James Version (1769 text).
• The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition. Ed. Michael W. Holmes. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature; Bellingham: Logos Bible Software, 2010.

Fathers and councils

• Clement of Rome. First Epistle to the Corinthians. ANF vol. 9.
• Irenaeus of Lyons. Against Heresies, Book 3. ANF vol. 1.
• Eusebius of Caesarea. Church History. NPNF2 vol. 1.
• Athanasius of Alexandria. Festal Letter 39. NPNF2 vol. 4.
• Basil the Great. On the Holy Spirit. NPNF2 vol. 8.
• John Chrysostom. Homilies on Second Thessalonians. NPNF1 vol. 13.
• Augustine of Hippo. Against the Epistle of Manichaeus Called Fundamental. NPNF1 vol. 4.
• Vincent of Lérins. Commonitorium. NPNF2 vol. 11.
• Second Council of Nicaea (787). The Decree. NPNF2 vol. 14.

Protestant sources

• The Westminster Confession of Faith. Orthodox Presbyterian Church edition.