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Relationship Between Tradition And Scripture

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Tradition and Scripture One cannot talk about tradition without acknowledging the fact that the definition of tradition within the Church is continuously changing. At first, the Apostles were the tradition. Tradition meant the Apostle’s Christological preaching and interpretation of scripture. A few centuries of later, the Church had to distinguish itself and set boundaries to what would be considered traditional, and in-line with the teachings and interpretations of the Apostles. The Nicene Creed for example, is a kanon, literally meaning a measuring stick, that determines what is within the boundaries of this tradition, and what is considered to be outside of it. This rule of faith, is composed of scriptural verses that form the foundation of the Christian Faith. This clearly explains the relationship between tradition and scripture. Tradition is within scripture, and defined by scripture, but scripture is also read through the scope that the tradition provides. Going back to the definition of tradition, centuries later and specially today in the 21st century, tradition is no longer defined by just the Apostolic interpretation and the rule of faith. Today tradition includes, but is not limited to, conciliar statements, writings of church fathers, liturgy, iconography, and iconography. Some would argue that it is limited to that, and some even say that I provided a very broad definition of tradition. However, looking at the progression of tradition we can see that it
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