THE

APOSTOLIC
TRADITION
FCL 2 – TOPIC 3
SR. IRIS AIREEN J. HUERTA, LIHM
Scriptural Foundation
“Blessed be the God and Father of Our
Lord Jesus Christ, who bestowed on us in
Christ every spiritual blessing in the
heavens! God has given us the wisdom to
understand fully the mystery, the plan He
was pleased to decree in Christ, to be
carried out in the fullness of time: namely,
to bring all things in the heavens and on
earth into one under Christ’s headship. In
Him you too, were chosen.”
- Ephesians 1:3, 9-10,13
 OBJECTIVES
• Know the role of Apostolic Tradition
in God’s revelation.
• Understand the functions of Apostolic
Tradition in God’s revelation and
• Familiarize the ways and relevance of
Apostolic Tradition in our life as
Filipino Christians.
APOSTOLIC TRADITION

• Is also known as Divine Revelation in the

WRITING OF THE FATHERS OF THE
CHURCH.
• FATHERS OF THE CHURCH – a technical
term applied to certain Ecclesiastical
writers of Christian antiquity (before the
Middle Ages) who are distinguished for
orthodoxy of doctrine and holiness of life
and have been approved by the Church as
APOSTOLIC
• Pertains to the
apostles and
their times, or
the beliefs
according to the
“doctrine or
practice of the
apostles”
 tradition
- The transmission of customs or
beliefs from generation to
generation, or the fact of being
passed on in this way.
APOSTOLIC TRADITION

•This is the tradition handed by

the Apostles of Christ to their
successors from the first
generation and until at present.
• Can be traced back in 2 ways
 APOSTOLIC TRADITION

Oral Written
Tradition Tradition
 ORAL TRADITION
• It is the tradition handed down by the apostles orally. It is
through the “apostles who handed on, by the spoken word
of their preaching, by the example they gave, by the
institutions they established, what they themselves had
received – whether from the lips of Christ, from His way of
life and His works, or whether they had learned it at the
prompting of the Holy Spirit.” This is still preserved in the
Christian churches until now.
 WRITTEN TRADITION
• This is the tradition handed down by apostles through
written documents. It is stated that “in writing ‘by
those apostles and other men associated with the
apostles who, under the inspiration of the same Holy
Spirit, committed the message of salvation to
writing.’”
Apostolic Fathers of the Church
Apostolic Fathers of the
Church
• This is a group of early
Christian writers, including
Clement of Rome, Ignatius
of Antioch, Polycarp, and
others who were younger
contemporaries of the
apostles.
WATCH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onHIpArMENU
St. Augustine
According to him, there are
two dimensions of Divine
Revelation:
1. The HUMAN WORD as
the exterior action of
Christ and
2. GRACE as the interior
action of who speaks, or
a grace in or through the
Holy Spirit.
St. Augustine
By GRACE the person
will experience the
following:
a. Attraction
b. Internal audition
c. Illumination
d. Testimony
St. Augustine
The TRINITY is the
Subject of Divine
Revelation. The Trinity
is made known and
must be believed as
indivisible.
In the economy of
salvation, the time
before Christ (OT) is
known as the age of
prophesy and signs
While the time of
Christ (NT) is known as
age of reality and
fullness of revelation.
St. Thomas Aquinas

• For him, Revelation is a saving

action of God.
• Man lacks the intellectual
power and has the laziness of
the mind, therefore it is
necessary for God to reveal
Himself.
St. Thomas Aquinas

• Revelation is a historical
event where there is a
hierarchical action
characterized by succession
progress and multiplicity of
forms.
St. Thomas Aquinas

• The Prophetic Revelation is an

intellectual gift. This is a degree of
the knowledge of God. It is not an
end of itself but it exists for the sake
of the vision of God.
• The end of the human person is to
enter someday into the
contemplation of God.