The references to the
Christian tradition (7) are concentrated in chapters 3-5 of book 3 of Against
Heresies. There are only four passages elsewhere. A key passage is 1.10.1.
Having summarized the faith of the church, Irenaeus says that this kerygma the
church believes, proclaims, teaches, and hands down in harmony: “although the
languages of the world are different, the power of the tradition [παραδοσεως] is one
of the same.” The leaders of the church, however eloquent, do not teach
differently, nor do “those deficient in speech diminish the tradition [παραδοσιν]” (1.10.2). The tradition
of the church is here, as elsewhere in Irenaeus, equivalent to the preaching of
the church, summarized in the confession of faith. The other three passages
refer to the tradition from the apostles (Against Heresies 2.91 about
the one God; 3.21.3 about the Greek translation of Is 7:14 [since he proceeds
to name Peter, John, Matthew, and Paul, references to whom in Irenaeus are to
their writings, it is clear that Irenaeus here includes the New Testament
writings under the term tradition . . . ).
The emphases in Irenaeus
that the tradition derives from the apostles, that it is maintained in the
church and that it is transmitted orally (as well as in Scripture) were
dictated by the requirements of the polemic against Gnostics, who claimed their
teaching came to them from the apostles in a secret oral tradition. These
points are repeatedly stated in the opening chapters of book 3. The heart of these
chapters has the character of a “digression,” occasioned by the Gnostics’
resort to a secret tradition. Irenaeus’s main task was to refute the heretics
from the Scripture, and this he does in the remainder of book 3 through book 5.
After his statement
about the Gnostics’ retreat from Scripture and appeal to oral tradition (3.2.1),
Irenaeus says,
When we refer to them
that tradition which is from the apostles and is preserved by the successions
of presbyters in the churches, they object to tradition, saying they are wiser
not only than the presbyters but even the apostles . . . IT comes to this that
they consent to neither Scripture nor tradition. (3.2.2)
“IT is possible for
all who want to see the truth to perceive in every church the tradition from
the apostles manifest in all the world.” If the apostles had any hidden mysteries
they would have imparted them to the bishops appointed over the churches
(3.3.1). The apostolic tradition, therefore, is public, not secret.
At this point
Irenaeus introduces the church of Rome, and especially its bishop, Clement, and
the letter of 1 Clement, as an example of “preserving the tradition of
the apostles” (tradition used four times—3.3.2). In this passage tradition is
the equivalent of the “preaching of the apostles” and the “preaching of the
truth” (tradition used twice—3.3.3). Irenaeus next adduces Polycarp, bishop of
Smyrna, and then the church at Ephesus as “a true witness of the tradition [παραδοσεως] of the
apostles” (3.3.4).
These things being
so, “we must choose with great diligence the things pertaining to the church
and hold fast to the tradition [traditonem] of the truth.” If the
apostles had not left us writings, “would it not be necessary to follow the
order of the tradition [traditionis] which they delivered to those to
whom they committed the churches?” (3.4.1). Barbarian churches without benefit
of writing “have salvation written in their hearts by the Spirit and preserve
diligently the old tradition [traditionem]” and by means of it do not
listen to the doctrines of heretics (3.4.2).
Irenaeus concludes
his discussion of tradition and returns to the argument from Scripture with the
words: “Since the tradition [traditione] which is from the apostles does
not exist in the church and is permanent among us, let us return to the proof from
the Scriptures of those apostles who wrote the gospel” (3.5.1).
Irenaeus thus
consistently identifies tradition with what was delivered by the apostles and
maintains that it was preserved in the churches. He does so because of the
Gnostic controversy over what was authentically apostolic. He does so because
of the Gnostic controversy over what was authentically apostolic. The apostles
stand for the divine teaching. This tradition is identified by him with the
words “rule of faith,” “faith,” “teaching,” and “preaching.” For Irenaeus what
is in the Scripture and what is in tradition are the same, the truth about God
and Christ; both contain the apostolic preaching. (Everett Ferguson, “Paradosis
and Traditio: A Word Study,” in Ronnie J. Rombs and Alexander Y. Hwang,
eds., Tradition and the Rule of Faith in the Early Church [Washington, D.C.:
The Catholic University of America Press, 2010], 3-29, here, pp. 11-13)