Position · 180

Holy Tradition

The Orthodox teaching that the faith is handed down as one living tradition, of which Scripture is the central part, together with the creeds, the councils, the Fathers, the liturgy and the icons.

The Orthodox see tradition as the life of the Holy Spirit in the church, not as a second source added to Scripture. Irenaeus of Lyon (c. 180) already appealed to the tradition handed down from the apostles against the Gnostics. Authority rests in the church as a whole, expressed above all in ecumenical councils, rather than in a single office. The Eastern Orthodox accept seven councils, ending with Nicaea II in 787; the Oriental Orthodox accept the first three. The view differs from the Magisterium over papal authority and from Sola Scriptura over the place of tradition.