Many questions can be raised regarding correct and incorrect tradition. How do we know sound tradition from bad tradition? Who do we follow and why would we assume that the Orthodox Tradition is the correct tradition? The short answer is that all Orthodox Tradition can be traced back to the authority given to the Apostles by the Lord Himself.
The Lord told the apostles “… whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matt.18: 18). The early church consisting of the Apostles and elders then began this duty given to her directly by the Lord when they met holding the first church council in Jerusalem in 45 A.D. This council is described in Acts 15, and it convened to discuss the acceptance of faith by the Gentiles.
The Apostles decided not to make the new faith difficult for them, saying: “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality” (Acts 15: 28.29). Notice that the verse starts by saying, “it seemed good to the Holy Spirit,” confirming that this authority was given to them by God.
Councils and meetings like this were held consecutively through the life of the church. Every generation poses new issues and new matters arise that need clarification. Hence the Church, through her teaching and legislative authority, presents the opinion of Religion in such matters, because the Holy Bible says that the Law is sought from the mouth of the priest. “For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, And people should seek the law from his mouth; For he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.” (Malachi 2:7) Through the succession of generations the Church teachings have become Tradition to be inherited by all generations.
Throughout the time of the early church, many heresies arose that were teaching incorrect beliefs about God. To fight this over the years, the Church convened in what is known as Ecumenical Councils, which followed the Holy Tradition that was inherited and traced back to the Apostles.
To summarize, Fr. Tadros Malathy writes the following:
The Church and Holy Tradition are but two aspects of the life of faith. They are inseparable; we cannot know one of them without the other. By Holy Tradition the Church acknowledges her Bridegroom and accepts His mysteries. By Holy Tradition we discover the Holy Gospel, accept it, preserve it, live its rule and preach it. By Holy Tradition we recognize the Sacraments, the Liturgies, hymns, and rites. By Holy Tradition we meet with the Saints and Fathers, discover their lives in our Lord Jesus Christ, their writings, take the blessing of their prayers and enjoy our fellowship with them in our Lord Jesus Christ. By Holy Tradition we understand the Church canons, come in touch with the holy councils and their work. In brief, we say that Holy Tradition is the core of the Church, and without Holy Tradition the Church cannot exist, cannot practice her apostolic life, her continual renewal, her unity, nor live with her genuine characteristics.
Fr. Tadros Malathy
Simply speaking, our Orthodox faith is not just the Bible alone, but its all the Tradition that surrounds it. For those who only believe the Bible, and not the Tradition, ask yourself the following: Who assembled the Bible and why would you trust their assembly of the Bible if you do not believe in Tradition? Through Tradition passed down from word of mouth, from generation to generation, and by the Holy Spirit, the Bible was assembled as we know it today. If we trust that assembly process, then we should trust all the other instructions and traditions passed down to us by the Fathers of our church, that can be traced back to the Apostles, and to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Chrism 