Paradosis or
tradition falls into two categories.
The difference can be seen in
Acts 15. Besides the issue
of following the Mosaic Law
for gentile converts, which
meant primarily circumcision,
the Council of Jerusalem
also decreed that converts
had "to avoid pollution from idols,
unlawful marriage, the meat of
strangled animals, and blood"
(Acts 15:20).
There are clearly
distinguished paradosis or traditions which
are considered irrevocable,
unchangeable, even to our day,
e.g. circumcision is not a
requirement for new Christians. On
the other hand, today we
would not be concerned with "pollution
from idols," how an
animal is killed for meat, or whether blood
is in our food. These appear
to be different traditions from the
former--changeable and not
binding in the same way as
non-circumcision.