A Source Book for Ancient Church History - Mirrors

531section as illustrating the principle of traditionalism which, ina fanatical form, brought about the Origenistic controversies.Of the beliefs and public teachings preserved in the Church,some we have from written tradition, others we have received asdelivered to us “in a mystery” by the tradition of the Apostles;and both of these have in relation to true piety the same bindingforce. And these no one will gainsay, at least no one who isversed even moderately in the institutions of the Church. Forwere we to reject such customs as are unwritten as having nogreat force, we should unintentionally injure the gospels in theirvery vitals; or, rather, reduce our public definition to a merename and nothing more. For example, to take the first and mostgeneral instance, who is there who has taught us in writing tosign with the cross those who have trusted in the name of ourLord Jesus Christ? What writing has taught us to turn to theEast in our prayers? Which of the saints has left us in writingthe words at the invocation and at the displaying of the bread inthe eucharist and the cup of blessing? For we are not, as is wellknown, content with what the Apostle or the Gospel has recorded;but, both before and after, we say other words as having greatimportance for the mystery, and these we derive from unwrittenteaching. Moreover, we bless the water of baptism and the oilof chrism, and, besides this, him who is baptized. From whatwritings? Is it not from the silent and mystical tradition? Whatwritten word teaches the anointing of oil itself? And whence isit that a man is baptized three times? And as to other customs [485]of baptism, from what Scripture comes the renunciation of Satanand his angels? Does not this come from the unpublished andsecret teaching which our fathers guarded in silence, averse fromcurious meddling and inquisitive investigation, having learnedthe lesson that the reverence of the mysteries is best preservedin silence? How was it proper to parade in public the teachingof those things which it was not permitted the uninitiated to look