Valid and invalid Tradition

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III


Valid and invalid Tradition



Those who reject Tradition build their objection on the pretext that the Lord Jesus Christ rejected Tradition when He reproached the scribes and Pharisees, saying: " Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?" (Matt.15: 3), and when He condemned some of the wrong traditions (Matt.15: 4-6).
They also use the pretext of the Apostle's words, "Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ" (Col.2: 8).
In our discourse about Tradition, we do not mean the vain traditions laid down by men or do we mean those traditions which are not in accord with the doctrine and spirit of the Holy Bible such as the traditions whose voidness the Lord Jesus revealed,.
But we mean the sound Tradition which conforms with
(1) The teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, which was transmitted to us through Tradition.
(2) The Apostolic Tradition, that is, the teachings of the Apostles, transmitted to us through entrustment from one generation to the next.
(3) The Ecclesiastical Tradition, decreed by the holy
Ecumenical councils regarding the Church canons and disciplines
and what we received from the fathers, teachers and heroes of faith of the Church.This leads us to the next point:
Church authority in teaching and legislation