What Tradition Is
The foundational section: Holy Tradition (paradosis) is not a museum of ancient customs but the life of the Holy Spirit in the Church, the handing-on of the whole reality of grace across the generations. It sets out the New Testament meaning of paradosis and Lossky’s decisive distinction of Tradition (capital T) — the one life of the Spirit — from the many traditions (small t) that are its vehicles.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox
Overview
Before any question about Scripture, the Fathers, or the councils can be answered, the prior question must be settled: what is Tradition? The modern Orthodox answer, given its classic form by Vladimir Lossky, refuses to identify Tradition with any of its outward deposits. Tradition is the living transmission of the whole life of grace within the Body of Christ, animated by the Holy Spirit; the “traditions” — customs, rites, formulations — are the vessels through which that life is carried, precious but not to be confused with the life itself.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| paradosis-the-living-memory.md | Paradosis in the New Testament and the Fathers — the act of handing over the whole life of grace (2 Thess 2:15); Tradition as the life of the Holy Spirit in the Church, not merely ancient customs |
| tradition-and-traditions.md | Lossky’s distinction of Tradition (capital T) from the traditions (small t); the vertical and the horizontal; how the outward forms are discriminated |
See Also
- Scripture and Tradition — the first application of the distinction: Scripture within Tradition
- Tradition and the Modern Theologians — the twentieth-century recovery in which this account was forged
- Holy Tradition — the topical article this collection expands