Gavril Andreicut - Who Leads and Guides the Church? Scripture, Tradition, and Leadership

In his letter to Cyprian on the rebaptism of heretics, Firmilian, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, states that “there are many differences [traditions] according to the diversity of places and persons.” (Letter 75.6) This paper is about the tension between the three recognized pillars of authority in the early Church: the Bible, the apostolic tradition(s), and the authority of bishops, who emerged as the authoritative teachers and interpreters of Christian identity. Particularly, this paper shows that the authority of bishops has been decisive in shaping Christianity as a whole and as a body of different traditions, whereas the Bible and the apostolic tradition(s) were instruments used by them depending on the particular context of their churches and the interests they pursued. In addition to the aforementioned passage, we will refer to other several texts that support our thesis. While the paper deals primarily with the Roman and the North African Christian traditions, we will also refer to other Christian traditions that sustain our case. This paper shows the relative importance of the Bible and the apostolic tradition(s) in comparison with the growing authority of the Christian bishops.