have studied how sacred tradition in the Hebrew Bible was understood and used by New Testament writers to describe Jesus. Eastern Orthodox Church In Eastern Orthodox theology, sacred tradition is the inspired revelation of God and catholic teaching (Greek katholikos, "according to the whole") of the Church, not an independent source of dogmatic authority to be regarded as a supplement to biblical revelation. Tradition is rather understood as the fullness of divine truth proclaimed in the scriptures, preserved by the apostolic bishops and expressed in the life of the Church through such things as the Divine Liturgy and the Holy Mysteries (Eucharist, baptism, marriage, etc.), the Creed and other doctrinal definitions of the first seven ecumenical councils, canonical Christian iconography, and the sanctified lives of godly men and women. For the Orthodox Christian, there is one tradition, the tradition of the Church, incorporating the scriptures and the teaching of the Church Fathers. As explained by Athanasius of Alexandria, "Let us look at the very tradition, teaching, and faith of the catholic Church from the very beginning, which the Logos gave (edoken), the Apostles preached (ekeryxan), and the Fathers preserved (ephylaxan). Upon this the Church is founded (tethemeliotai)". (St. Athanasius, "First Letter to Serapion", 28). Sacred tradition for the Eastern Orthodox is the deposit of faith given by Jesus to the apostles and passed on in the Church from one generation to the next without addition, alteration, or subtraction. Vladimir Lossky described tradition as "the life of the Holy Spirit in the Church." It is dynamic in application yet unchanging in dogma. It is growing in expression yet is always the same in essence. Rather, Orthodox believe tradition is that faith once delivered as understood within the context of lived history. Tradition is a gift of the Holy Spirit, a living experience, which is relived and renewed through time. Georges Florovsky wrote: Catholic Church Those in the Catholic faith believe that the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles were preserved in the scriptures as well as by word of mouth. This perpetual handing on of the tradition is called the "Living Tradition"; it is believed to be the faithful and constant transmission of the teachings of the Apostles from one generation to the next. That "includes everything which contributes towards the sanctity of life and increase in faith of the People of God; and so the Church, in her teaching, life