The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2518 page)

Tractarians
.

The early leaders of the
Oxford Movement
, so-named from the series of
Tracts for the Times
(1833–41) in which their ideals were expounded. The name is therefore also used for those of a
high church
tendency.

 
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Tradition
.

The formal transmission of information (both verbal and non-verbal) in religions. In non-text religions, the process of tradition is all the more vital since there is no independent repository of information in written form, whether designated as
scripture
or not—hence the foundational importance of
myth
and
ritual
in all religions. In Judaism, tradition became the authoritative interpretation and application of
Torah
, handed down, initially in oral form, from teacher (
rabbi
) to pupil. This tradition became of such importance that it was designated ‘second Torah’,
Torah she be‘al peh
(‘Torah transmitted by word of mouth’; see
HALAKHAH
). More widely, tradition in Judaism is referred to as
masoret
, which in the
Talmud
includes custom, law, history, and folklore. Tradition (see
AD
TH
) is equally formal in Islam, since
Mu
ammad
and his companions were the first living commentators on
Qur’
n
. In Christianity, the status of tradition is more complex (and controversial), since one part of the Church (the
Roman Catholic
) has given to tradition (as the unfolding of scripture) a defining role in some matters of salvation: that which is at best dimly alluded to in scripture, or only to be inferred (e.g.
purgatory
, the
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
) can be defined by the pope
ex cathedra
: such definitions are
infallible
and irreformable—i.e. tradition has become equivalent to scripture. The formality of transmission in other religions can be seen in the importance of the sa
prad
yas among Hindus (see also
VEDA
), and the succession lists and transmission procedures and rituals among some Buddhists.

 
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see
CREATIONISM (2)
.

 
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