The Canons and the Church’s Order

Tradition is embodied not only in dogma and worship but in the Church’s order and discipline — the canons that govern her life and the ascetic practices that shape the faithful. This section treats the canonical Tradition (the canons of the councils and Fathers, and the twin principles of akribeia and oikonomia) and the disciplines of the body — fasting, the calendar, the rhythms of the Church’s year — as the lived embodiment of the faith.

Tradition: Pan-Orthodox

Overview

A living Tradition orders a way of life, and the Orthodox Church has always understood that the faith is handed on not only in what is believed and worshipped but in how the Body governs and disciplines itself. The canons — the legislation of the councils and the received rulings of the Fathers — are the Church’s living order, applied with the discernment of akribeia (strictness) and oikonomia (economy). And the disciplines of fasting, the calendar, and the seasonal rhythms of the Church’s year are Tradition embodied in the flesh and the clock — the faith made a manner of life.

Files in This Section

File Description
the-canonical-tradition.md The canons of the councils and Fathers as the Church’s living order; the corpus and The Rudder; akribeia and oikonomia; canons as the application of dogma, not a second law
tradition-and-the-life-of-the-church.md Fasting, the calendar, and the disciplines as the embodiment of Tradition; the ascetic and monastic life as lived gospel; the calendar question

See Also