Scripture and Tradition
God has chosen to reveal
Himself to man in
concrete Words and
Deeds.
This Revelation is interpreted
and passed on to us through
Scripture and Tradition.
Scripture
•Scripture is the inspired record
of God’s Revelation in History.
Dual Authorship: God employed
human authors to write exactly what
He wanted said…no more, no less.
God is the primary author of Scripture!
This is a mystery
•Scripture is the speech of God as it
is put down in writing under the
breath of the Holy Spirit.
•Apostolic Tradition has discerned
a complete list of 46 books in the
Old Testament and 27 books in the
New Testament.
Tradition
•In order that the full and living Gospel might always be preserved in the
Church, the apostles left bishops as their successors.
•Apostolic Succession ensures that the Sacred Deposit of Faith is transmitted to
every generation.
The line of Bishops in union with the Popes
from Peter to Benedict 16 – Magisterium
Those Truths revealed to us by Christ that are
necessary for our salvation
Tradition means “what is
handed on.”
Sacred Tradition came to include the
writings of the early Church Fathers. These
men lived and wrote in the generations after the
apostles. They were the recipients of what we
call Apostolic Tradition.
God’s Word was
“handed on”
through:
the oral preaching
of the Apostles
the communal
and worship life of
the first Christians
anything that
contributed to the
sanctification of
the people
Tradition helps us truly understand
what God is saying in Scripture.
Many Protestant denominations proclaim “Sola Scriptura” (by Scripture
alone). This is not the Catholic belief because Christ specifically set up the
authority of the Church when he commissioned the apostles.
“You are Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church…”
Mt 16:19
Besides that, we would not have the Bible if it had not
been for tradition! It was under the authority of the
Church that the books of the Bible were collected and
deemed “inspired and inerrant”.
Written by God through the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit
We would not know about God’s plan for
our salvation if He did not reveal it to us!!!
Without error in matters concerning
our salvation – God wants to reveal
TRUTH!!!
How did the Bible come to be?
1. Oral Tradition
God’s actions in history are passed on and interpreted by word of
mouth from generation to generation.
“God blessed Noah and his sons and
said to them…” Gen 9:1
“God said to Noah and to his sons with
him…” Gen 9:7
Often when we look carefully at
Scripture, we can see little
memory devices that helped the
designated historian remember
the stories.
It has only been in
the last 500 years
of history that the
majority of people
could read
anything…
Johann Gutenberg
The Printing Press
1450
Practically speaking, it would be
very expensive and time
consuming to write something
down…and that copy might not
last very long given the rough
conditions of the time.
Papyrus – made from reeds in Egypt
What was written down was
placed on animal skin
(normally from sheep skin –
vellum), thin sheets of
copper or papyrus.
2. The development of written books…
In some cases God’s actions became written
down and interpreted. This writing down of the
“traditioning” process is what we call Scripture.
The “traditioning” process is seen clearly
in 1 Cor 11.
Paul is handing on something that he
received from someone else.
1) Process – how it is passed on
2) Content – what is passed on
How did they know what was inspired?
Most of the Old Testament was compiled (either
orally or in writing) long before Jesus walked the
face of the earth.
As for the New Testament, we go back to the idea of
Tradition. Jesus gave the apostles the skills and the
authority to determine what was “inspired” and what
was not.
3. Setting the Canon of Scripture
The formation of the Bible as we know
it today had been going on for a long
time before the bishops met at the
Council of Trent (1500s) to develop a
list of approved books. This list of
approved books became known as the
Canon of Scripture.
The same Spirit that helped write the
text now helps us to interpret it!
The Bible is the
Church’s book!
It came out of the
Church’s Tradition!!!