INTRODUCTION
The cause for writing this book was given to us by a protestant booklet titled: “TRADITIONS – APOSTOLIC OR HUMAN? –An aid for studies, based on the Holy Bible and Ecclesiastic History”. It is a booklet published by the “Apostolic Church”, one of the many Pentecostal groups that exist here and was founded in 1982 by George Krisilas, a former pastor of the “Apostolic Church of the Pentecost”, who asserts that he does not belong to any organization – local or abroad – and does not receive directions from anywhere, being fully independent and self-supported.
We shall not attempt to re-create the booklet that we mentioned above, within the confines of this study. It would not only be futile, but also inappropriate poemantic behaviour, as we shall see further along. We are simply using the book as a point of reference, so that we may expose certain aspects of this immense subject of TRADITION.
What is the Tradition of the Church? What is its affiliation to the Holy Bible? How did the Church survive during its first years without the Bible? And if the only guaranteed revelation of God is the Holy Bible (sola scriptura), then, which was the written authority that supported the faith of Abraham, Noah, or Moses (before he received the stone tablets of the Law)?
Furthermore, if the Apostles hadn’t left any written evidence behind, who would have assuredly given us the –undeniably verbal- teaching of Christ? On what authority was Church teaching based, before the Canon of the New Testament was validated officially?
To these questions we shall attempt to give some answers. Obviously, these are questions that can individually comprise the subject of a separate meeting. Therefore, we shall not fool ourselves into believing that our answers will be extensive.
Our chief guides in the search for these answers will be the late rev. father George Florovsky, as well as one of his dedicated students and true spiritual child (even though they had never met in person), the former protestant and now orthodox Frank Schaeffer.
Schaeffer, who was the son of a prominent protestant pastor of America, described in an incomparable way (he was in fact an author and former producer) in his book with the confessional title “Dancing alone” his road towards the search for the orthodox faith in our time; a time which he very aptly describes as the age of false religions. We are grateful to father Augustin Myros, who translated this book into Greek. (Translators notice: The Greek edition of Mr F. Schaeffer’s Book , was used, in this article)
Archmandrite Barnabas Lambropoulos
Larissa, 31 October 2000.
File created: 10-9-2005.
Last update: 10-9-2005.