Councils
"Gone like wind in the Meadows"
J.R.R. Tolkien gave us the Ents: deliberate-acting, cautious-thinking wise Tree-Shepherds who command our respect.
The Ents, in turn, give us the Entmoot: an assembly of Ents (often the wise and older ones) who convene to discuss matters of import. By the end of the Third Age, however these meetings had become rare.
What is significant about an Entmoot?
Two things:
Firstly, because Entmoots correspond to our world's Councils. Many long years ago, Christendom was full of Councils, some of the more notable being the Council of Carthage, the Nicene Council, and so forth. These Councils and creeds were important; not because they superceded Scripture, but because they clarified the Orthodox position in light of Scripture. Had the Nicene Council been heeded in modern times, the Jehovah's Witnesses could not have gained the foothold they now claim. Entmoots were called to resolve issues that dealt (primarily, but sometimes indirectly) with the Ents and their trees. Treebeard told Merry & Pippin that the Ents rarely concerned themselves with the World, unless it pertained to Ents.
Secondly, the importance of Entmoots is that we are able to directly link the decline of that which is sacred, to the decline of the Entmoot.
For instance, the Entmoot held while Merry & Pippin were with Treebeard, lasted for three days. This was short compared to earlier Entmoots, but - as I point out - times were changing.
Merry and Pippin could hear the voices of the Ents rising and falling as they debated. Then suddenly, on the afternoon of March 2, there was silence followed by a great shout. The Ents had decided to go to war against Saruman. They marched out of Derndingle, singing as they went, and headed south to Isengard.
They were resolute. When they decided upon a thing, they acted upon it. Men were not that way...impulsive and head-strong, they were often foolish and corrupt. When the Age of Men was on the rise, the Age of Councils (Entmoots) and all things sacred was passing. The Age of Magic, Age of the Elves, Age of the Ancients, was dying.
We would do well to take heed. When Christendom closes their ears to the Councils of our Fathers, the decline of all things holy is sure to find us racing into battle with no wise deliberation.
Where, O Where, Treebeard, have the Councils gone? Why does the Age of Men find us with such unconcern for Scripture? If we truly care for It, let us affirm it with our lives, our words...our Councils.
King Theoden mourned when he asked:
"Where is the Horse and the Rider?
Where is the Horn that was blowing?
They have passed like Rain on the Mountains,
Like Wind in the Meadows.
The Days have gone down in the West,
Behind the Hills,
Into Shadow.
How did it come to this?"

Because The Brits Say It Better
Why We Have a Confession

Charles Spurgeon once remarked on the London Baptist Confession of Faith, saying: "This ancient document is the most excellent epitome of the things most surely believed among us. It is not issued as an authoritative rule or code of faith, whereby you may be fettered, but as a means of edification in righteousness. It is an excellent, though not inspired, expression of the teaching of those Holy Scriptures by which all confessions are to be measured. We hold to the humbling truths of God's sovereign grace in the salvation of lost sinners. Salvation is through Christ alone and by faith alone."

When one wonders why we should have a Confession, why we should espouse a "Faith," or "Tradition of Faith," as opposed to anything other than Scripture, we respond, not with the reply that Tradition is on equal footing with Scripture (see below article), but in the words of C.H. Spurgeon: "Be not ashamed of your faith; remember it is the ancient gospel of the martyrs, confessors, reformers, and saints. Above all, it is the truth of God, against which all the gates of Hell cannot prevail. Let your lives adorn your faith, let your example adorn your creed. Above all live in Christ Jesus, and walk in Him, giving credence to no teaching but that which is manifestly approved of Him, and owned by the Holy Spirit. Cleave fast to the Word of God which is here mapped out for you.’ This new edition of the Confession is sent out as a private venture by a small group of Baptists who are convinced that it has a message for this generation and believe its publication to be long overdue. They hope it will achieve a wide circulation among the churches, and receive the close study which they believe it will richly repay."

As my Elder likes to say: "It would be the height of arrogance to think we could learn nothing from our Fathers."

These Things We Hold...
Tradition & The Word of God

Which is most important? Scripture, or Traditions of men?
Each time we ask that question, a problem rises: Some claim that Ecclesiastic Traditions are instituted by the Holy Spirit, and thus on equal footing with Scripture. Read the words of the Catholic Confession, Second Ed.:

"And [Holy] Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits it to the successors of the apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound and spread it abroad by their preaching."
"As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, "does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence."

Then we ask the question in response; if both Tradition & Scripture must "be accepted & honoured with equal sentiments of devotion & reverence," ... what if the two contradict one another?

For instance, as Luther pointed out, that the Third Lateran Council contradicted the decree of Pope Innocent III, Fourth Lateran Council, 1215, concerning EXTRA ECCLESIUM NULLA SALUS (No Salvation Outside The Holy Roman Church), who - in turn - contradicted the the Papal Bull Unam Sanctam, by Pope Boniface VIII, 1302 (which said that all had salvation who directly fell under jurisdiction of a Roman Pontiff), while the Second Vatican Council declared that all believers constituted the Universal Church, even those outside of Rome...however, many of the Early Church Fathers, as well as St. Thomas Aquinas, the Council of Trent, The Catechism of Pope St. Pius X, Pius XII, & the Vatican II held the notion that whether or not one had implicit or explicit Faith (i.e., proper knowledge of the Roman Catholic Church), a sort of Salvific Grace covered the entire body of believers.

Ummm...so, what were we talking about? Oh yeah! The harmony of Traditions (of men) & the Scripture...yeah...well, maybe not HARMONY, but...
Ok, ok. It would take a far stretch of the Orthodox imagination to make believe that these traditions were inspired, since they contradict one another so often. It would almost tempt me to wonder whether or not one would have to be a heretic to believe in the inspiration of Tradition...
oops; did I just say that? :)