How to Be an Orthodox Christian
Holy Tradition: Scripture, Councils, Fathers, and Liturgy [EP. 7]
Where does all of it come from — the eastward-facing altar, the icons, the hymns, the precise theological claims woven into every prayer? In this episode Dcn Seraphim takes up the question of Holy Tradition: not a rulebook or a second Bible, but the whole living transmission of the Christian faith from the Apostles to today, the river in which Scripture itself flows. Drawing on St. Paul, St. Irenaeus, the ecumenical councils, and the witness of saints from St. Athanasius to St. Sophrony of Essex, he shows how the Church discerned the canon, defined the faith at councils like Nicaea and Ephesus, and continues to confess that faith in her worship under the principle of lex orandi, lex credendi — the law of prayer is the law of faith.
Handouts and resources: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CD0DyDFbR8DEr1yNyb_N2tdrrX8PCmUL?usp=sharing
Intro: 0:00
Two Modes of Transmitting Tradition: 4:04
Scripture in Tradition: 6:45
St. Irenaeus on Tradition: 12:06
Conciliary Principle/Councils : 13:56
Fathers of the Church: 21:45
What the Church pray is what we believe: 26:14
tradition vs. “T”radition: 30:36
Closing statements: 32:16
Monday, June 1, 2026
36 mins
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