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Whenever anyone came my way, who had been a follower of my seniors, I would ask for the accounts of our seniors: What did Andrew or Peter say? Or Phillip or Thomas or James or John or Matthew, or any of the Lord's disciples? I also asked: What did Aristion and John the Presbyter, disciples of the Lord say. For, as I see it, it is not so much from books as from the living and permanent voice that I must draw profit.

The Sayings of the Lord [between A.D. 115 and 140] as recorded by Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 3:39 [A.D. 325]

"So also Polycarp (A.D. 69-169), who not only had been instructed by Apostles, and had conversed with many who had seen the Lord, but was also appointed, by Apostles, bishop of Smyrna, in Asia, Him we saw in our early youth. . . . The things which he had learned from the Apostles, those he uniformly taught, which also he delivered to that Church, which also alone are true. To these all the churches throughout Asia, and they who to this day have succeeded to Polycarp, bear testimony, being a witness of truth much more credible and more faithful than Valentinus and Marcion, and the rest of the perverse thinkers. And this Polycarp having come to Home, under Anicetus, converted many from amongst the aforesaid heretics, unto the Church of God; proclaiming that he had received from the Apostles that one and only truth, which he delivered to the Church. And there are those who heard him say, that John, he who was the Lord's disciple, having gone forth to bathe in Ephesus, and seeing Cerinthus within, hurried forth from the bath without bathing, and exclaiming, "Let us fly, for fear lest the bath fall, as Cerintlms, the enemy of the truth, is within." And this very Polycarp, when Marcion once met him, and said, "Dost thou know us?", I replied, "I know thee as the first-born of Satan". . . . And there is a very powerful epistle of Polycarp's, written to the Philippians, out of which they who choose, and have heed of their salvation, can learn both the character of his faith, and the preaching of the truth. . . . But the church also in Ephesus, founded indeed by Paul, but with which John remained until the days of Trajan, is a veracious witness of the tradition of Apostles.

Against Heresies l iii. c. 3. n.4 page 175
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 249-250

For even creation reveals Him who formed it, and the very work made suggests Him who made it, and the world manifests Him who ordered it. The Universal [Catholic] Church, moreover, through the whole world, has received this tradition from the Apostles.

Against Heresies 2:9 [A.D. 189]

True knowledge is the doctrine of the Apostles, and the ancient constitution of the Church throughout all the world, and the distinctive manifestation of the body of Christ according to the successions of the bishops, by which they have handed down that Church which exists in every place, and has come even unto us, being guarded and preserved, without any forging of Scriptures, by a very complete system of doctrine, and neither addition nor curtailment [in truths which she believes]; and [it consists in] reading [the Word of God] without falsification, and a lawful and diligent exposition in harmony with the Scriptures, both without danger and without blasphemy.

Against Heresies 4:33 [A.D. 189]

"If then we call Christ wisdom, and His the active power displayed through the prophets, by means of which it is in our power to learn the Gnostic tradition, as He in person taught the holy Apostles ; wisdom would be the firm and sure knowledge, being the knowledge and comprehension of things present, future and past, as delivered and revealed by the Son of God. . . . Whilst knowledge itself is that which has come down, transmitted without writing to a few by successions from the Apostles."

Strom. 1. vi. p. 771.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 394-395

For wherever both the true Christian rule and faith shall be shown to be, there will be the true Scriptures, and the true expositions, of all the true Christian traditions.

The Prescription Against Heretics 19 [A.D. 200]

"For these and such like rules if thou requirest a law in the Scriptures, thou shalt find none. Tradition will be pleaded to thee as originating, custom as confirming, and faith as observing them. That reason will support tradition, and custom, and faith, thou wilt either thyself perceive, or learn from some one who has perceived it.

By these examples, therefore, it will be declared, that an unwritten tradition may be maintained in its observance, being confirmed by custom, a sufficient witness of a tradition at the time approved by the continuance of the observance. But even in civil matters, custom is taken for law, where there is no law; nor is there any difference whether it be founded on any writing or on reason, since it is reason which commends even written authority."

De Corona, pp. 101-2.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 397-398

"With these designs, I am of opinion, it is, that thou, Marcion, hast dared to do away with so many original documents of Christ. I ask thee, by what authority? If thou art a prophet, foretell something; if an apostle, preach publicly; if
an apostolic man, agree in sentiment with the Apostles; if thou art a Christian only, believe what has been handed down; a if thou art none of these, I should be justified in saying, die: for thou art even dead, who art not a Christian, from not believing that, which being believed, makes Christians.

De Carne Christi, n. 2, page 308
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 397-398

"When the blessed presbyters heard these things (the errors of Noetus), they summoned him before the Church and questioned him. He, at first, denied that such were his opinions; but later, he concealed some of his opinions, and gathered unto him his partners in error, and then wished to establish the purity of his doctrine. The blessed presbyters again summoned and reproved him. But he opposed them, saying,"What evil do I do in glorifying Christ?" And the presbyters answered him, And we, too, know that there is truly one God; we know Christ; we know that the Son suffered, as He suffered: died, as He died; and was raised again on the third day, and is at the right hand of the Father, and will come to judge the living and the dead. And those things do we say which we have learned. [It should be noted that the blessed presbyters could not have learned this from the Scriptures because the canon of Scripture had not been canonized yet.] Then, having convicted him, they cast him out of the Church. And he reached to such a height of pride as to set up a school for his doctrine."

Contr. Noetum Galland. t. ii. p. 454. (Fabr. tom. n. 1, p.6.)
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 401

"These testimonies are sufficient for believers who study truth; as to unbelievers, they believe no one. . . . Let us, therefore, blessed brethren, believe according to the tradition of the Apostles, that God the Word descended from Heaven into the Virgin Mary, in order that, having taken flesh from her, having taken a human soul, — I mean a rational soul, — having become whatever man is, except sin, He might save the fallen, and confer immortality upon those who believe in His name."

Contr. Hæres. Noet. n. 17. (Galland. t. ii. p. 463.)
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 401-402

Seeing there are many who think they hold the opinions of Christ, and yet some of these think differently from their predecessors, yet as the teaching of the Church, transmitted in orderly succession from the Apostles, and remaining in the churches to the present day, is still preserved, that alone is to be accepted as truth which differs in no respect from ecclesiastical and apostolic tradition.

On First Principles Book 1 Preface 2 [circa A.D. 225]

"We are not to credit these men, nor to go out from the first and the ecclesiastical tradition; nor to believe otherwise than as the churches of God have by succession, transmitted to us."

T. iii. Comm. in Matthew n. 46, p. 864.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 400

"For this, too, has the Church received a tradition from the Apostles, to give baptism, even to children."

T. iv. in Ep. ad Rom. l.v.n.9, p.565
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 400

"Although I am sensible that most of the bishops, who have been, by the divine favor, set over the Lord's churches throughout the world, hold to the method of evangelical truth and of the Lord's tradition, and depart not, by any human and novel institution, from that which Christ our Master both taught and did; yet, as some, through ignorance or simplicity, in consecrating the chalice of the Lord, and in ministering it to the people, do not that which Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, the author and teacher of this sacrifice, did and taught,

I have thought it an act of duty, as well as of necessity, to write this letter to you, in order that if any one be yet held in this error, he may, when he has seen the light of truth, return to the root and origin of the Lord s tradition. . . . Know, then, that we have been admonished that, in offering the chalice, the Lord's tradition be observed, and that nothing be done by us but what the Lord first did for us, that the chalice, that is, which is offered in commemoration of Him, be offered mixed with wine."

Ep. lxiii. ad Caecilium,p. 225.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 402

"As to what Stephen has asserted, as though the Apostles had forbidden those who came over from heresy to be baptized, and had handed this down to be observed by posterity, you (Cyprian) have answered most fully, that no one is so foolish as to believe that the Apostles have handed this down, seeing even that it is certain that these execrable and detestable heresies took their rise after their time. . . . Further, that they, who are at Rome, do not, in all things, observe what has been handed down from the beginning, and in vain put forward the authority of the Apostles, any one may know even from this, that as regards the celebration of the Easter-day, and many other sacraments of divine concernment, there are amongst them sundry diversities, and that their observance does not exactly correspond with that at Jerusalem; in which respect there are also, in many other provinces, many differences, according to the diversity of place and names; and yet not on that account has there ever been a departure from the peace and unity of the Catholic Church. This breach Stephen has now dared to make, breaking with you that peace which his predecessors ever maintained with you in mutual love and honor; and besides this, defaming the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, as if they had handed this down; they who, in their epistles, have execrated heretics, and warned us to avoid them. Whence it is apparent that this is a human tradition which upholds heretics, and insists that they have baptism, which appertains to the Church
alone."

Inter op. S. Cypriani, Ep. lxxv. p. 303.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 403-404

"The messengers that have been sent to you, and to others, will inform you of the contumely and injustice which they have endured (from the Arians). Be ye also, therefore, moved, I beseech you, not as if we were alone, but as if you also had been unjustly treated, and let each lend his aid, as though he personally suffered; lest the canons of the Church, and the faith of the Church, be shortly damaged. For both are endangered, unless God speedily through you rectify these disorders, and the Church find defenders. For it is not now that the canons and statutes have been given to the churches, but from our fathers have they been well and steadfastly transmitted. Neither is it now that the faith began, but from the Lord, through the disciples, has it come down to us. In order, therefore, that those things, which from the ancients have been preserved in the churches even unto us, may not in these our days utterly perish, and that the things entrusted to us may not be required at our hands, be ye zealous, brethren, as being the dispensers of the mysteries of God, and as witnessing these things rudely seized by others."

Ep. Encyc. ad Ep. n. i. t. i. p. 88.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 406-407

"For this has been their device and cunning (of the Arians), and they had ever this deadly purpose, to seek to drive from their chairs, and to hunt down those who in any place are of the orthodox faith, and who hold to that teaching of the Catholic Church which has been handed down to them from their fathers."

Apol. con. Arian (Ex Ep. Syn. Sard.) n. 37, t. i. pp. 122-3.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 407

"But as these men, maddened by their impiety, and smitten with blind dizziness as regards the truth, make it their sole business to bring accusations against the synod (of Nicaea), let them tell us out of what sort of Scriptures they have learnt, or from which of the holy men they have heard, the terms which are heaped together by them?"

Ibid. n. 18, pp. 175-6.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 408

"Who ever heard such things as these? or whence, or from whom, have the favorers and hirelings of this heresy learnt them? Who, when they were catechised, ever uttered such things to them? . . . But if even they themselves (the Arians) confess that these things are now heard for the first time, they will not deny that this heresy is alien, and is not from the fathers. But that which is not from the fathers, but has just now been discovered, what else can it be but that of which the blessed Apostle Paul prophesied, "In the last times some shall depart from the sound faith. (1 Timothy 4:1)?"

Or. i. Con. Arian, n. 8, t. i. p. 325.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 408-409

"Though dwelling in the desert, I have written to you these few things, on account of the audacity of those who have turned aside from the truth. ... I have delivered to you the apostolic faith, as it has been transmitted to us by the fathers, not inventing anything adventitious, but what I have learned, that have I written harmoniously with the holy Scriptures."

Ep. i. ad Serap. n. 33, t. i. part. 2, p. 545.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 409

"It is enough to give this only for answer to such things (from the Arians), and to say these things are not of the Catholic Church; neither did the fathers think thus."

Ep. ad Epictet. n. 3, t. I, par. ii. p. 722.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 412

"This is that madness and audacity of these men (Arians), as I have already stated. But our faith is right and is derived from the apostolic doctrine and the tradition of the fathers, confirmed from both the Old and New Testament."

Ep. ad Adelph.n. 6, ib. p. 730.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 412

Imitating the introduction to St. Luke's Gospel, he says:

"For as much as certain persons have taken in hand to set forth in order the books, called Apocrypha, and to mix them with the divinely inspired writings, concerning which we have full assurance, according as they, who from the beginning were eye-witnesses and ministers of the word, have delivered to the fathers, it has seemed good to me also, at the exhortation of certain brethren, and having attained to this knowledge from the beginning, to set forth in order the books than are canonized, and are handed down, and believed to be divine."

[Then Athanasius lists the well-known canon.]

Ep. Fest. t. 1, par. ii. p. 767.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 413

Eusebius of Cæsarea says of St. Ignatius, and of his epistles:

"He warns them to be especially on their guard against the heresies just then first springing up, and increasing. He exhorts them to hold firmly the tradition of the Apostles, which, for security, he thought it necessary, as a witness, to confirm in writing."

Hist. Eccles. l. iii. c. 36
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 388

[Having given a list of the Deuterocanonical books of the New Testament, he says:]

"All the above writings are controverted. And yet I have of necessity given a catalogue of them, distinguishing, according to the tradition of the Church, those writings which are true, genuine, and acknowledged, from the other writings in addition to these, which are not put into the body of the New Testament, and are even controverted, but which still are acknowledged by the greater number of ecclesiastical writers; that thus we may be able to know, both what writings are of this character, and also those which are circulated by heretics under the name of Apostles, as containing the gospels of Peter, and of Thomas, and of Matthias, and even of others besides these, and the acts of John and of the other Apostles."

Hist. Eccles. l. iii. c. 25, p. 119.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 404.

"Moses, on inanimate tables, but Christ, on living souls, wrote the perfect precepts of the New Testament; and His disciples also, according to the wish of their Master, making their teaching suitable to the ears of the many, what things so ever were taught by their perfect Master, for such as had overcome mere habit, those they delivered to such as were competent to receive them; but whatsoever things they had received to adapt to those who were still under the passions, and who stood in need of remedies, such, letting themselves down to the weakness of the majority, they transmitted, some to be observed on account of written, and others on account of unwritten laws: so that even now in the Church of Christ there are two modes of living having force of law, the one, above nature and superior to the common and human scheme of life, not admitting of marriage, or the generation of children, nor of possessions, nor of superfluity, and devoted entirely to the service of God according to their overflowing heavenly love."

Dem. Evang. c. viii. p. 29.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 404-405

While [Ignatius of Antioch] was making the journey through Asia under the strictest military guard, he strengthened the diocese in each city where he stayed by spoken sermons and exhortations, and he especially exhorted them above all to be on their guard against the heresies which then for the first time were prevalent and he urged them to hold fast to the tradition of the Apostles to which he thought it necessary, for securities sake, to give form by written testimony.

Ecclesiastical History, 3:36 [A.D. 325]

Without prefixing Consulate, month, and day, [the Fathers] wrote concerning Easter:

"It seemed good as follows," for it did then seem good that there should be a general compliance; but about the faith they wrote not, "It seemed good" but, "Thus believes the Catholic Church"; and thereupon they confessed how they believed, in order to show that their own sentiments were not novel, but Apostolic; and what they wrote down was no discovery of theirs, but is the same as was taught by the Apostles.

Letter on the Councils of Ariminum and Seleucia [A.D. 359]

"Be firmly persuaded of this, not as an opinion, but as a truth, that whatsoever has been transmitted, whether in writing only or by word of mouth, and by consequence the divine names and appellations, is directed to this end, that we may have life, and may have it more abundantly."

T. iii. Syr. Serm. lix. adv. Scrutat.p. 113.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 413

"We think that we may meet with the approval of all Catholics thus: that it behooves us not to recede from the received creed (Nicea) which, after being examined by all of us, we have in all its parts approved: and that we shall not recede from the faith, which we have received through the prophets, the Holy Spirit teaching from God the Father through Christ our Lord, and in the gospels, and in all the Apostles, as once laid it continues even to this day, through the tradition of the fathers, according to a succession from the Apostles, even to the discussion had at Nicea against the heresy which had, at that period, sprung up."

Ex. op. Hist. Fragm. vii. (Defin. Cathol. in Condi. Arim.) n.3,t.ii.p. 684
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 268-269

"May we, to the last breath of life, confess with great confidence that excellent deposit of the holy fathers who were nearest to Christ, and the primitive faith; that confession which we imbibed from our infancy; which we first uttered; and with which may we depart this life."

T. i. Orat. 6, p. 141.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 414-415

"My sheep hear my voice, that voice which I received from the sacred oracles, which I learned from the holy fathers, and in which I have taught at all times without varying, not assuming various shapes according to the times; and I will never cease thus to teach; with that voice was I born, and with it will I quit this world."

T. i. Or. 25, pp. 440-41.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 415

"Hold fast the words imbibed from thy infancy; leave discussion to wiser men. Let it suffice thee to hold to the foundation; let the architect build thereon. It is enough to strengthen thy heart with bread; leave garnishings to the rich."

T. i. Or. 26, p. 456.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 415

Of the beliefs and practices whether generally accepted or publicly enjoined which are preserved in the Church some we possess derived from written teaching; others we have received delivered to us "in mystery" by the tradition of the Apostles; and both of these in relation to true religion have the same force. And these no one will contradict; - no one, at all events, who is even moderately versed in the institutions of the Church. For were we to attempt to reject such customs as have no written authority, on the ground that the importance they possess is small, we should unintentionally injure the Gospel in these matters.

On the Holy Spirit 27 [A.D. 375]

"I will declare of the Holy Ghost that He is fully God and Lord, thus taught by ecclesiastical men who have preceded me; who, themselves also, having been previously instructed in the testimonies of the divine Scriptures by apostolic men, have delivered them to their successors."

De Trin. c. vii. n. 3, Galland. t. vii. p. 459.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 424

"As to the parentage of the three children, Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, we do not meet with anything, either in the Apocrypha, or in tradition. What then are we to say? Shall they, I mean Sidrach, and the rest, lead us astray into unbeseeming assertions, and into exceeding and unmeasured wonder at every thing that falls under our notice? Far be this from us. For boundaries have been fixed for us, and foundations laid, and we have the dwelling-place of faith, and traditions of Apostles, and sacred Scriptures, and successions of doctrine, and on every side has God's truth been secured; and let none of us be led astray by empty fables."

T. 1, adv. Hæres. (55), pp. 470-71.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 425

"But all the divine words require not to be treated as allegories, but must be taken as they stand. But there needs consideration and understanding to see the force of each statement. It is also necessary to use tradition: for all things cannot be derived from the divine Scriptures; because the holy Apostles transmitted some things indeed in writings, and some in tradition, as the blessed Apostle declares, "As I have delivered unto you ..." (1 Corinthians 11:2); and elsewhere, "So do I teach, and so have I delivered in the churches:" Also, "If ye remember, unless you have believed in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:2)

Adv. Hæres. (61), pp. 510-11.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 425-426

"Now of these which is the wiser? This deceived man (Aerius) who has just now obtained notoriety, and who is still living; or they who were witnesses before us, who held before us the tradition in (or for) the Church, and who themselves had received it from their fathers, whose fathers again had learnt it from their forefathers, even as the Church, having received the true faith from its fathers, retains it, together with the traditions, even unto this day."

Adv. Hæres. 75, p. 910.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 426

"Shall any one be able to annul a mother's command, or a father's law? Even as was said by Solomon, "My son hear the words of thy father, and forsake not the laws of thy mother." (Proverbs 1:8.), pointing out that the Father, (that is, the only begotten God) and the Holy Spirit have taught both in writing and without writing; and that our holy mother, the Church, has laws abiding in her indissoluble, incapable, that is, of being dissolved. Laws which are excellent, and all to be admired, having been established in the Church, this deceiver (Aerius) is again convicted. And passing this man by as a beetle, or an insect, let us pass on, overthrowing him by the solid ground work of the Church, and by the power of God."

Adv. Hares. (75), p. 912
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 426

"For, this have we by messengers required, to this have we exhorted, and we still continue exhorting, to remove all contention, and to adhere to the divine law of the Apostles, and evangelists, and fathers, and to the confession of the plain, and firm and immovable, and in all points most correct, faith."

Adv. Hares. (77), p. 1008.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 427

"How is it then that the name of the council of Nicaea is put forward, and novelties are brought in, wich were never thought of by our predecessors?"

T de Incarn. c.vi.n. 52 p. 715.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 427

"Neither have we innovated anything; but guarding what was settled by Athanasius of holy memory, who was, as it were, a pillar of the faith, and what was defined in the councils held by our fathers of the old holiness, we tear not up the land-marks which our fathers have set, nor violate the rights of an hereditary communion."

T de Incarn. Ep. xiv. Theodos. n. 7, pp. 818-19.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 427-428

Don't you know that the laying on of hands after baptism and then the invocation of the Holy Spirit is a custom of the Churches? Do you demand Scripture proof? You may find it in the Acts of the Apostles. And even if it did not rest on the authority of Scripture the consensus of the whole world in this respect would have the force of a command. For many other observances of the Churches, which are do to tradition, have acquired the authority of the written law.

The Dialogue Against the Luciferians 8 [A.D. 382]

"For your admonition concerning the canons of the Church, we return you thanks; but meanwhile, know that we have had no earlier custom (or, nothing is dearer to us) than to guard the rights of Christ, and not to move the land-marks of the fathers, and ever to bear in mind the Roman faith, commended by the mouth of an Apostle, and of which faith the church of Alexandria boasts that it is a partaker."

T. 1, Ep. Ixiii. ad Theoph. n. 2, col. 351.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 428

Being asked whether Saturday is to be kept as a fast, and the Eucharist to be received daily, as in the Roman and Spanish churches, he says,

"I would give you this brief admonition, that ecclesiastical traditions (such especially as are of no injury to faith) are to be observed as they have been transmitted by those who have gone before; and that a custom which prevails in certain places is not overthrown by a contrary custom which may prevail elsewhere. . . . Let each province abound in its own sense, and account the precepts of the fathers apostolic laws."

T. 1, Ep. lxxi. ad Lucin. n. 6, col. 432-33.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 428-429

"Art thou ignorant that it is the custom of the churches for hands to be imposed upon the baptized after their baptism, and that thus the Holy Ghost is invoked? Dost thou ask where this is written? In the Acts of the Apostles. Even though the authority of the Scripture were not at hand, the agreement of the whole world in this matter would prevail as a command. For many other things also, that, by tradition, are observed in the churches, have gained for themselves the authority of a written law, as the dipping the head three times in the laver."

T. ii. Adv. Luciferi. n. 8, col. 180.
The above remark is by the Luciferian, but is acknowledged by Jerome.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 429

"Let Eunomius tell us whence he derives this assurance? From what inspired declaration? Which of the evangelists, which of the Apostles has uttered any such declaration? What prophet, or lawgiver, or patriarch, or which amongst the others whom the Holy Ghost has inspired, whose declarations are unwritten, introduced any such term. Whether have we learned in the tradition of the faith from the truth that we ought to believe Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost, or that He is a creature? How happened it that the Truth, whilst transmitting to us the mystery, gave as a law faith on the Son, and not on the creature?"

T. ii. l.ii. Adv. Eunom. p. 461.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 414

"Let him then (Eunomius) first demonstrate that the Church has vainly believed Him to be truly the only-begotten Son. . . . And let no one put in this place that what is publicly confessed by us is also established by proof; for it suffices for a demonstration of our words that we have a tradition that comes down to us from the fathers, like unto an inheritance transmitted by succession from the Apostles through the holy men that have come after them."

T. ii. l.ii. Adv. Eunom. p. 554.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 414

"So then brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word, or by epistle of ours" (2 Thessalonians 2:15). Hence it is manifest, that they did not deliver all things by epistle, but many things also unwritten, and in like manner both the one and the other are worthy of credit. Therefore let us think the tradition of the Church also worthy of credit. It is a tradition, seek no farther.

Homilies on Second Thessalonians [circa A.D. 400]

Commenting on 1 Corinthians 11:2:

"That in all things you are mindful of me, and keep my ordinances, as I have delivered them to you."

Whence it follows that he delivered them many things also without writing, as he shows elsewhere in many places: but at that time he only delivered (them), but now he also lays down the cause. . . . "But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, nor the churches of God." It is therefore contentiousness to oppose these things, and not an exercise of reason. . . . "For we", sayeth he, "have no such custom," so as to contend, and to strive, and to oppose ourselves. And not even here did he stop, but also subjoined, "nor the churches of God", showing that to all the world they are opposed and in resistance, by not yielding. But even though the Corinthians at that time were contentious, now all the world has both received and kept this very law. So great is the power of the crucified."

T. x. Horn. xxvi. in Ep. i. ad Cor. n. 4, 5, pp. 267, 275.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 429

Commenting on 2 Thessalonians 2:14:

"Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which you have learned, wither by word, or by our epistle."

Hence it is plain that they did not deliver all things by epistle, but many things also without writing, and in like manner both those and these things are worthy of credit. Wherefore let us reckon the tradition of the Church worthy of credit, it is a tradition, seek nothing further."

T. xi. Hom. iv. in Ep. ii. ad Thess. n. 2, p. 615.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 429-430

On 2 Timothy 1:13, he says:

"Not by letters only did he instruct his disciple in his duties, but before by words also; which he has shown often and in many other places, saying, "Whether by word, or by epistle, as from us." Let us not therefore fancy that things regarding doctrine were spoken defectively; for many things did he also deliver to him without writing, of which therefore he now reminds him, when he said, "Hold the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me."

T. xi. Hom. iii. in Ep. ii. ad Tim. n. 1, p. 724.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 430

On 2 Timothy 2:2:

"And the things which thou hast heard of me by many witnesses, the same commend to faithful men:" to faithful men, not to questioners (or, seekers), not to reasoners. To faithful men. To whom? to those who betray not the gospel which they should preach. "The things which thou hast heard", not which thou hast searched out. For "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." But what is "by many witnesses?" as if he had said: Thou hast not heard in secret, nor in a hidden manner, but in the presence of many, with boldness of speech. He said not, tell, but commit, as in the case of a treasure, that which is committed is deposited in safety."

T. xi. Hom. iv. in Ep. ii. ad Tim. n. 1, p. 732.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 430

"But those things which we observe, not because written, but transmitted, things which are indeed observed throughout the whole world, it is to be understood, that they are retained as commanded and decreed, either by the Apostles themselves, or by general (plenary) councils, the authority of which is most wholesome in the Church; as that the passion, and the resurrection, and the ascension of the Lord into Heaven, and the coming of the Holy Spirit from Heaven, be celebrated with an anniversary solemnity; and if there be anything else of the like nature which is observed by the universal Church throughout its whole extent."

T. ii. Epis. liv. n. 1, Januario, col. 185.
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"The custom of our mother the Church in baptizing infants is by no means to be despised, nor to be deemed in any way superfluous, nor to be believed at all were it not an apostolical tradition."

T. iii. De Genes, ad Litt. l. x. n. 39 (al. 23), col. 436.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 431

"We do not," you say, "find that any one who had been baptized amongst heretics was, by the Apostles, admitted with out baptism, and received into communion." "But neither do we find this, that any one, on coming from the heretics amongst whom he had been baptized, was baptized again by the Apostles. But that custom is rightly believed to have been transmitted by the Apostles, which even then men on looking upwards did not see had been instituted by those who came after (the Apostles). And many such things there are which it would be long to enumerate. Wherefore, if what they said was something, they to whom Cyprian, wishing to persuade his opinions, says,

Let no one say, what we received from the Apostles, this we follow, with how much greater force do we now say: What the custom of the Church always held, what this dispute could not dissuade from, and what a general (plenary) council has confirmed, this we follow. Add to this, that the arguments on both sides of the dispute, as also the Scripture testimonies having been carefully examined, it may also be said: What truth declared, this we follow."

T. ix. i.ii. De Bapt. Cont. Don. n. 9, col. 224.
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"The universal Church holds that this has been handed down, seeing that little infants are baptized, who certainly cannot as yet with the heart believe unto justice, and with the mouth confess unto salvation. And yet no Christian will say that they are baptized in vain. And if any seek for the divine authority in this matter though that which the universal Church holds, not instituted by councils, but always retained, is most justly believed to have been no otherwise transmitted than by apostolic authority — still are we able to conjecture with truth of what avail is the sacrament of baptism in infants, from the circumcision of the flesh, which the former people received."

T. ix. i.ii. De Bapt. Cont. Don. n. 30-1 (o 23), col. 243.
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"But now my mind is to urge against you the sentiments of the bishops who have gone before us, men who treated these divine words faithfully and memorably.

[He then cites various fathers against the Pelagians, and observes:]

what they found in the Church, they held; what they had learned, they taught; what they had received from the fathers, this they delivered to the children."

T. x. l.ii. contr. Jul. Pelag. n. 19, 34, col.973, 989.
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Having quoted several of the fathers in opposition to the errors of Nestorius, he concludes thus:

"Art thou then the reformer of the early prelates? does thou condemn the ancient priests? art thou more excellent than Gregory? more to be followed than Nectarius; to be preferred before John, and all the priests of the eastern churches — priests who, though they have not the same reputation as those whom I have named, are of the same faith?

L. vii. De Incarn. p. 102 ; t. vii. Bibl. Maxim. SS. PP.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 442

"Now if the multitude of those offended be so great, ought we not to bring into use all our skill to this duty of removing the scandals, and set forth the sound word (or, sense) of the faith before those who seek for the truth; and this will be done very rightly, if, having met with the writings of the holy fathers, we are careful to make much of them; and judging of ourselves whether we are in the faith, according to what is written (by them), we very exactly conform our sentiments to their correct and irreprehensible sentiments."

[He then quotes the Nicene Creed.]

T. v. P. 2, Ep. iv. Nestorio, p. 22.
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"As soon as he (Nestorius) had been ordained ... he set himself eagerly to promulgate certain novel and unreasonable things, and which are far removed from that apostolic and evangelic faith, which our fathers ever preserved and handed down to us as a pearl of great price."

Ib. Ep. ix. ad Caelestin. pp. 36-7.
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"Upon reading these your sacred declarations, and finding that we agree with you in sentiments, for there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, we gave glory to God the universal Saviour, congratulating with each other, that both our churches and yours have a faith that corresponds with the divine Scriptures, and with the tradition of our holy fathers."

Ibid. p. 106.
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"Our sentiments, therefore, concerning our Lord's incarnation, are those which were entertained by the holy fathers before us: for when reading their works we so regulate our mind that it follow in their traces, and bring nothing new to the orthodox doctrines."

Ib. ad Successum Ep. Diaeces. Isaur. p 135
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"I will declare of the Holy Ghost that He is fully God and Lord, thus taught by ecclesiastical men who have preceded me; who, themselves also, having been previously instructed in the testimonies of the divine Scriptures by apostolic men, have delivered them to their successors."

De Trin. c. vii. n. 3, Galland. t. vii. p. 459.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 424

"Eusebius, upon arriving at Alexandria, speedily with Athanasius, summoned a synod. . . . For they did not introduce into the Church some novel religious belief of their own invention, but what, from the first, both the ecclesiastical tradition had taught, and by the learned amongst Christians had been demonstratively unfolded."

H.E. l.iii. c. vii. p. 178.
The Faith of Catholics, Volume 1, page 448

"You ask me by your letter, whether we ought to believe that the Holy Ghost is consubstantial with the Father and the Son. So we hold, and believe, having been taught by the divine fathers."

L. ii. Epist. ccx. p. 229.
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"Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which you have learned, etc." (2 Thessalonians 2:15).

Have as the rule of doctrine the words which we have delivered unto you, which both when present, we have preached, and when absent, we have written to you."

T. iii. Interpr. in Ep. ii. cap. ii. Thess. p. 537.
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"And the crowning point of unity is the harmony of faith; that no spurious doctrine has been received by you, but that you preserve that old and apostolic teaching, which a venerable and gray-headed antiquity has brought down to you, which the labors (the sweat) of virtue have nourished."

T. iv. Epiat. Ixxv. Clericis Beroens.
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Having quoted several of the fathers on a point of doctrine, he says:

"But the day would fail me while enumerating (those who maintain the same doctrine), Polycarp, and Irenæus, and Methodius, and Hippolytus, and the other teachers of the Church: we therefore in a word say, that we follow the divine oracles, and all those holy men. For by the grace of the Spirit they penetrated into the depths of the inspired writing, and themselves understood its meaning, and made that meaning plain to those that wish to learn."

Quod post Humanit. Christus sit unions Fillus et Dom.
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"We have had handed down to us, and have been taught, and we hold this Catholic and apostolic tradition and faith and confession, that one is the hypostasis — this the heretics themselves denominate substance — of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."

Hist. Eccles. I. ii. c. viii. p. 81; Vales. Cantab. 1720.
(Ex. Ep. Synod. Condi. Sardic.}
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"Whom (the fathers) we are to believe in this binding manner, that whatsoever either all, or the greater part, with (or, in) one and the same mind (or sense), plainly, frequently, unswervingly, as in a kind of council of teachers agreeing together, have confirmed by receiving, holding, and delivering it, let that be held as a thing undoubted, certain, and settled. But whatsoever sentiment, any, although he be holy and learned, although a bishop, although a confessor and martyr, may have entertained beside all, or even contrary to all, let that be separated from the authority of the common, public, and general sentiment, and placed amongst his own proper, and secret, and private slight opinions; lest, with the utmost peril of eternal salvation, we do, according to the sacrilegious custom of heretics and schismatics, having forsaken the ancient truth of universal doctrine, follow the novelty of some one man.

The holy and Catholic consent of which blessed fathers, lest any one think that he may rashly contemn, the Apostle says, in his first epistle to the Corinthians, "And God indeed hath set some in the Church, first Apostles, of which himself was one; secondly, prophets, as Agabus, of whom we read in the Acts; thirdly, doctors", who are now called expounders (tractatores), whom this same Apostle sometimes also nameth prophets, for that by them the mysteries of the prophets are laid open to the people. These men, therefore, disposed of God, throughout times and places, in the Church of God, whosoever despiseth them when they concur in any one sentiment touching the understanding of Catholic doctrine, despises not man, but God; from the truth teaching unity of which men that none dissent, the same Apostle very earnestly entreats, saying, "But I beseech you, brethren, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no schisms among you; but be you perfect, in the same mind, and in the same judgment (1 Corinthians 1) "

Adv. Haecres. n. xxviii.
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"Remove not the ancient land-marks which thy fathers set. (Proverbs 23) By the ancient land-marks he means the land-marks of truth and of faith which the Catholic doctors have set from the beginning. This, therefore, does he enjoin, that no one understand the truth of sacred faith and of evangelic doctrine otherwise than as it has been transmitted by the holy fathers."

Explan. Myst. in Prov. p. 406, t. viii. Bill. Maxim.
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"This is the apostolic and unspotted faith of the Church, which (faith) delivered from Heaven by the Lord Himself through the Apostles, the Church reverences (as) transmitted from father to son, and retains it now and for evermore, the Lord saying to His disciples, "Going teach all nations." ... It has seemed good to us all together that the word consubstantial ought to be defined in the Catholic faith, in the same way as our holy fathers, who have lived since the Apostles, have delivered this faith.

Hist. Concil.. Nicaen. l. ii. c. xxiii. xxiv. col. 224, t. ii. Labb.
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Not only then, agreeably to these various opinions, so fully expressed, has the authentic body of our Scriptures been preserved by tradition; but, by the same rule, has the expounding of those Scriptures been invariably directed; otherwise, how is it that the washing of feet, so expressly enjoined by our Saviour, has not been received and observed as a sacramental institution? Why do we not abstain from blood and from things strangled, as the Apostles themselves ordained? In the first case (John 13), having washed the feet of His disciples, Christ says to them: "If then I, being your Lord and Master, have washed your feet: you ought also to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so you do also." The injunction is positive. — In the second case (Acts 15), when difficulties were raised by the Jews against the Gentile converts, in favor of the law of Moses, the Apostles met in council at Jerusalem; and after due deliberation, came to the following decision: "It hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay no further burden upon you than these necessary things; That you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled." Here also is the ordinance positive. But by tradition we know that, in the first case, no obligation of compliance was ever imposed on the faithful; and by tradition again we know that, in the second, the ordinance was understood to be temporary. Every difficulty is thus removed, and the authority of apostolical tradition clearly ascertained. From the same tradition we learn the lawfulness of infant baptism; the validity of baptism given by heretics; the observation of the Sunday and many other even fundamental doctrines and important matters of practice.

Hist. Concil.. Nicaen. l. ii. c. xxiii. xxiv. col. 224, t. ii. Labb.
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"Now I think it superfluous to treat at length of the credibility and authority of this book (the Apocalypse). For it is well known that those blessed men and fathers of ours, Gregory the Theologian, Cyril of Alexandria, and others more ancient than they, as Papias, Irenseus, Methodius, and Hippolytus, have, on more than one occasion, declared it to be divine and deserving of credit, and we have, on account of what is contained in their works, come to the same conclusion."

Comm. in Apoc. Proaem. p. 590, col. 2, Bib. Max. PP. t. v.
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