In some English translations, the word "tradition" in this text (1 Corinthians 11:2) is replaced by the word "teaching". Orthodox: This substitution is not authorized. Let's look at the ancient Greek version of this text: epainw deĀ�umaV otipantamoumemnhsqekai kaqwVparedwka umin taV paradoseiV katecete.

The literal translation would be as follows: epainw (praise) de (same) umaV (you) oti panta mou (that all is mine) memnhsqe (you remember), kai kaqwV (and how) paredwka (I gave it) umin (to you) taV paradoseiV (tradition) katecete (hold). "I praise you, brethren, that you remember all that is mine, and, as I have told you, keep the tradition." As we can see, we are not talking here about traditions or teaching.

Teaching and tradition can be created and established by any person personally, in contrast to tradition, which is accepted and passed on. An example of this is the following words of the Apostle Paul: "For I have received from the Lord Himself that which I have also delivered to you" (1 Corinthians 11:23). St. Vincent of Lirin taught: "Tradition is what you have accepted, and not what you have invented." Jehovah's Witness: What if the apostolic traditions are the very Scriptures of the New Testament? Orthodox: No.

Tradition, first and foremost, is oral instruction. It is said: "Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you have been taught, either by word or by our epistle" (2 Thess. 2:15). As we can see, the word comes first, and the message follows it. Holy Tradition is primary, and Holy Scripture is secondary. There is many confirmations of this from the Word of God itself: the first Scripture was the Pentateuch of Moses (Hebrew Torah).

It sets forth the Law of God – the doctrine of clean and unclean animals, the law of tithes, sacrifices, etc. However, from the Book of Genesis we learn that sacrifices were performed even before the written Law of God. We read: "After a while, Cain brought a gift to the Lord from the fruits of the earth, and Abel also brought from the firstlings of his flock, and from their fat..." (Gen. 4:3-4).

This text shows that ancient people knew not only the law of sacrifices, but also the ritual subtleties of the features of their offering - "from the fruits of the earth a gift to the Lord... from the firstlings of their flock, and from their fat." Noah knew which animals were clean and which were unclean. We read: "And of the clean birds, and of the unclean birds, and] of the clean beasts, and of the unclean beasts, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth" (Gen. 7:8). Abraham knew the law of tithing. It is said: "[Abraham] gave him (the priest Melchizedek) a tenth of all" (Gen. 14:20).

Jacob also knew the law of vow tithes, he said: "... and of all that Thou art God, O God, give Thee a tenth" (Genesis 28:22), etc. On this point, St. John. St. John Chrysostom wrote: "In fact, with Noah, Abraham and his descendants, as well as with Job and Moses, God did not converse through writing, but directly" (Commentary on Matthew, vol. 7, p. 5).

The very authority of Holy Scripture is confirmed by the authority of Holy Tradition. Who told us that the Gospel of Matthew was written by Matthew, and the Gospel of Mark was written by Mark? Who established the number of Epistles of the Apostles Peter, John, and Paul? The canon of the New Testament and Old Testament books of the Bible is the work of the Church, and therefore of Tradition. On the other hand, all the Words of God do not fit into the biblical code.

It is said: "Many other things did Jesus do; but, if we were to write about this in detail, then I think that the world itself would not be able to contain the books written..." (John 21:25). Not all prophetic books and apostolic epistles have been preserved. In the Epistle of the Apostle Jude, a fragment from the Book of Enoch is quoted: "Of them also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying: 'Behold, the Lord is coming with thousands of His holy angels' (Jude 2:10). 1,14)

; and in the first Epistle to the Corinthians we find the following words: "I wrote to you in the epistle" (1 Corinthians 5:9), that is, I wrote earlier. Answer the question: What does the Apostle Paul mean when he writes: "Therefore, leaving the beginnings of the teaching of Christ, let us hasten to perfection; and let us not again lay the foundation for conversion from dead works and faith in God, for the doctrine of baptisms, of the laying on of hands, of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And we will do this, if God permits" (Heb. 6:1-3).

Where, in what epistle are these beginnings of the teaching "on baptisms, on the laying on of hands" given? Many details: how to baptize in one or three immersions, the order of ordination of deacons, presbyters and bishops – all this is preserved at the level of Tradition and is not detailed in Scripture. Concluding the discussion of the significance of Holy Tradition, I would like to draw attention again to the teaching of the Apostle Paul on Tradition: "We bequeath you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to depart from every brother who walks disorderly, and not according to the tradition which they have received from us" (2 Thess. 3:6).

Here again we encounter the word paradosin (tradition), which cannot be translated otherwise than in the Synodal translation. In Weismann's Greek-Russian dictionary, this word is translated as "transmission (of teaching)." Jehovah's Witness: Do you think that what you call "tradition" is something vague and vague? Orthodox: No, on the contrary.

Holy Tradition has a concrete expression in the ancient symbols of the Christian faith, the rules of the Holy Scriptures. The Apostles, the Ecumenical and Local Councils, the ancient liturgies and acts, or in the legends of the martyrs, the works of the Holy Fathers and Teachers of the Church – all these are components of the one Tradition of the Church. 2. About the Church The very nature of the Church as the Body of Christ testifies to the purity of the Church's teaching, based, like the biblical canon, on tradition.

The Apostle Paul wrote: "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?..." (1 Corinthians 6:15); and again: "And you are the body of Christ, and members individually" (1 Corinthians 12:27); and again: "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I make up for what is lacking in my flesh of Christ's afflictions for His Body, which is the Church" (Col. 1:24). Jehovah's Witness: Your organization is not the Body of Christ (the Church).