Benefits of Tradition

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III

Benefits of Tradition

(1) Through Tradition, we came to know the Holy Bible itself. Through entrustment the Divine Books reached us and we would not have been able to know or distinguish them except through Tradition. The holy councils defined the books of the New Testament to us.

(2) Through Tradition, the Church heritage, rituals and disciplines have reached us.

(3) Tradition preserved for us the sound faith that was handed down from one generation to the next. If the interpretation of the Bible were left to the comprehension of each individual, we would have various groups and denominations fragmented by the one faith, because the Holy Bible is one thing and the way of interpreting it is another.

(4) Tradition has kept for us certain beliefs and teachings such as the consecration of Sunday, the making of the sign of the cross, the law of monogamy, prayers for the departed and the work of each order of priesthood.