On Defending the Unwritten Traditions

St. Basil the Great ca. 330-379

[T]he object of attack is faith. The one aim of the whole band of opponents and enemies of sound doctrine 1 Tim. 1:10 is to shake down the foundation of the faith of Christ by levelling apostolic tradition with the ground, and utterly destroying it. So like the debtors,— of course bona fide debtors— they clamor for written proof, and reject as worthless the unwritten tradition of the Fathers. But we will not slacken in our defence of the truth. We will not cowardly abandon the cause. (On the Holy Spirit, 25)