Reflection on Papacy

In Apostolic tradition from On the Papacy, Apostolic tradition is described through examples and references from Scripture.  The letter talks about apostles along the line of Apostolic Tradition ranging from Papias to Pope Agatho. I picked apostolic tradition because of my limited prior knowledge on the subject.

This passage starts off with the question, “Is Scripture the sole rule of faith for Christians?” It then says no based off of the Bible’s references to the necessity of holding on to apostolic tradition. Then he mentions and describes how Paul tells us how important apostolic tradition is. An example of this is when the passage says, “I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I have delivered them to you.” Then the passage describes other Church fathers and their teachings on apostolic tradition such as, Eusebius of Caesarea, Clement of Alexandria, Cyprian of Carthage, and others.

I feel that this passage does a good job on getting the point of apostolic tradition across to the readers. It says, “Not according to the Bible.” This was in reference to the question asked, “Is Scripture the sole rule of faith for Christians?” The passage then goes to mention the references from the Bible about apostles, such as Paul, speaking of apostolic tradition. This tells us that that inspired writings of disciples of Christ shows us the importance of apostolic tradition. To make sure that the apostolic tradition is passed down after the deaths of the apostles Paul told Timothy, “What you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” This quote shows how Paul knew the importance of apostolic tradition and how he wanted it passed down to the fathers of the Church. The passage has good examples from Scripture and Church fathers proving apostolic tradition which do a good job of getting its points across and teaching its readers about apostolic tradition and just how important it is for Christians. 

I had very little knowledge on apostolic tradition so, I learned a lot from the passage and it gave me the opportunity to have some kind of thought on apostolic tradition. This passage did a good job on teaching me what apostolic tradition is and gave good examples for me too reference if I had any questions on it. “From them has come down to us in writing, the sound and orthodox faith received from tradition.”(Church History 4:21). This example come to the conclusion that apostolic tradition is very important. Our mission is to act like Christ each day and apostolic tradition shows just exactly how to do it. It helps us live like God every day by acting like the apostles. We are able to learn from Scripture how important apostolic tradition and that is leads me to believe so much of it. I feel apostolic tradition is essential to Christians.

This passage taught about apostolic tradition mainly through examples. These examples did a good job of informing and explaining apostolic tradition to the reader. This passage showed me just how important apostolic tradition really is to Christians. Overall this passage was very informative and convincing, I feel like I learned a lot from it and understand apostolic tradition a lot more than I did before I read this passage.