This presentation is adapted from the article “The Dogmatic Tradition of the Orthodox Church” by Rt. Rev.
Maximos Aghiorgoussi, Th.D., Bishop of Pittsburgh, available at goarch.org.
Other sources are quoted from A Companion to the Greek Orthodx Church, ed. Fotios K. Litsas, published by the
Dept. of Communications of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America, New York, NY: 1990.
Tradition in the Orthodox
Church
What is Tradition?




Sacred Tradition is the source of all doctrine and practice in the Church. It
is not a stagnant collection of historical customs, but an organic community
guided by the Holy Spirit in the world. According to George S. Bebis of the Holy
Cross School of Theology, it is “the very life of the Holy Trinity as it has been
revealed by Christ Himself and testified by the Holy Sprit.”
Tradition is both a heavenly and earthly institution. As it exists in history, it is
possible for change to occur within the tradition to adapt to historical settings.
Basic dogma and faith does not change, but how it is expressed can change.
Tradition has its roots in Holy Scripture. The Church acknowledges both the
temporal and eternal aspect of Scripture; it is not seen as the revealed word of
God, but rather as a work of “cooperation” between man and the Holy Spirit. The
Orthodox maintain that, in the words of Maximos Aghiorgoussis, Bishop of
Pittsburgh, “the tradition of the Church includes the Bible, for the Bible is an
epiphenomenon, an “outward form” of our Christian Tradition.”
Tradition is also comprised of the Apostolic Tradition, or the teachings and
writings of the Apostles, and the Patristic Tradition, the commentaries and
writings of the Early Church Fathers which are considered to be faithful
continuations of the earlier Apostolic Faith. It also includes the Ecumenical
Councils and the Eucharist, or celebration of communion.
The Dogmatic Tradition


The Dogmatic Tradition is the most important aspect of the Tradition.
It expresses the basic truths or dogmas of the Faith. Generally, the
term doctrine refers to the articulations of dogma that may take many
forms. However, some Orthodox us the terms interchangeably.
Composed of:







Holy Scripture
The Church Fathers
The Councils
The Nicean Creed
The Divine Liturgy
The Church Canons
Christian Sacred Art (includes Iconography, Architecture, etc..)
Holy Scripture




It has the most authority in the Tradition.
It presides over all aspects of the Christian community.
It is the result of “cooperation” between man and God.
According to Bishop Maximos, in this cooperation, “God leads,
and man follows; God works, and man accepts God’s work in
him, as God’s coworker in subordination to Him.”
Thus, both a perfect and imperfect aspect meet in the creation
of the Bible. According to Bishop Maximos: “Biblical textual
criticism is completely normal and acceptable by the
Orthodox... Nothing human is perfect, including the Bible,
which is the end product of human cooperation with the divine
Spirit.”
The Church Fathers


The Church Fathers are those theologians and
writers who fulfill the truth of the Gospels and
defend it from falsehood. They include not only
early fathers such as St. Basil the Great, St.
John Chrysostom, St. Gregory the Theologian,
and St. Gregory of Nyssa, but “newer” fathers
such as St. Gregory Palamas (14th cent.)
Other Fathers include St. Cyril of Alexandria, St.
Maximos the Confessor, St. Theodore of
Studion, and St. John of Damascus.
The Councils of the Church

The Ecumenical Councils were communal meetings of church
leaders that led to the establishment of Orthodox doctrine. The
Orthodox Church acknowledges 7 as being ecumenical, or
universal:








The first council of Nicaea (325)
The first council of Constantinople (381)
The council of Ephesus (431)
The council of Chalcedon (451)
The second council of Constantinople (553)
The third council of Constantinople (681)
The second council of Nicaea (787)
The church Tradition also includes other councils in the East that do
not represent the united Christian Church as it was prior to the
schism in 1054; these councils are therefore not considered to be
ecumenical, such as the councils of 1341 and 1351.
The Nicaean Creed


The Nicaean Creed is the fundamental formulation of Orthodox Christian
dogma; for the Orthodox, it is the only ecumenical creed and was first spread at
the Council of Nicaea in 325; it was later edited and completed at the council of
Constantinople in 381.
The Nicaean Creed reads:








I believe in One God, Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth and of all things
visible and invisible.
And in One Lord, Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father
before all ages. Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten, not created, of one
essence with the Father, through whom all things were made.
For us and for our salvation He came down from heaven and was incarnate by the
Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became Man. He was crucified for us under
Pontius Pilate, and He suffered and was buried.
On the third day He rose according to the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is
seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead. His kingdom will have
no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father,
who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, who spoke
through the prophets.
In one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the
forgiveness of sins.
I expect the resurrection of the dead; and the life of the age to come.
Amen."
The Divine Liturgy



The Divine Liturgy is a service held every Sunday, and at various other
times, that culminates in the celebration of the Eucharist, or sacrament
of Holy Communion.
It has scriptural roots and expresses the faith and doctrines of the
Orthodox Church.
It is also characterized by a focus on the Resurrection and by a
poetical element.
Divine Liturgy;
St. Tikhon’s
Monastery,
Pennsylvania
The Church Canons



Church law, or canon law, is the system of laws is derived from the
Church’s teaching. While it encompasses all aspects of life, both
spiritual and material, and aims at the spiritual well being of the person,
canon law in no way defines the essence of Orthodoxy, and is
acknowledged as being imperfect.
It is second in importance to theology and spirituality. According to
Lewis Patsavos of Hellenic Holy Cross School of Theology: “...it is most
important not to confuse the Gospel and the Pedalion (collection of
canons), theology and legislation, morality and jurisprudence... The
Canons are at the service of the Church; their function is to guide her
members on the way to salvation and to make following that way
easier.”
Nicholas Afanasiev, in an article published in St. Vladimir’s Theological
Quarterly, describes canon law: “Canons are a kind of canonical
interpretation of the dogmas for a particular moment of the Church’s
historical existence... They express the truth about the order of Church
life, but rather than expressing this truth in absolute forms, they conform
to historical existence.”
Orthodox Christian Art

Orthodox dogma is also
expressed by the iconography and
architecture of the Orthodox
Church.
Cathedral; 19th
cent.; Riga, Latvia
Icon of St. Nicholas;
modern
Vladimir Mother
of God;
Byzantine, 12
cent.
Christ is Risen!