Introduction

Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture form one sacred deposit of the Word of God, committed to the Church. This study will demonstrate the relationship of Tradition and Scripture showing how both necessitate the definition of our living Catholic faith. It will show the cause and effect that the elimination of Tradition as in sola scriptura and in the canonical abbreviation that occurred during the protestant reformation would have in cloaking the fullness of the Catholic faith. Reverend Clark emphasizes the dynamic nature of Tradition,

"Regarding tradition, the key is flexibility. By that I mean we must not treat tradition as an unchangeable and unchanging deposit handed down from one generation to the next. While the past can be instructive it should not be imprisoning."1

Tradition is the living half of divine revelation. The continuation of divine revelation is driven as the Church progresses through history, the other half of revelation being recorded in the living Word set in stone and canonized centuries ago. That Word would become lifeless without the continuing life giving nourishing blood of Tradition. This Tradition sooths and comforts the challenges that Catholics are facing in this new millennium. It will most assuredly supply the needed discipline to effectively cope with and maintain a healthy spiritual life feeding the virtues of faith, hope and charity. The Tradition will add a necessary shield of protection against evil as we approach the unknown challenges still ahead.



Old Testament Prophets oral and written traditions

Observe one of the many relationships formed in the Old Testament between Tradition and Scripture.

"An oral explanation had to accompany the Written Torah. Otherwise, much of it would be incomprehensible. For example: Deuteronomy 6:9 "And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house, and upon your gates." This refers to mezuzoth, parchments inscribed with Biblical verses, which are placed in small containers and affixed to the door posts of Jewish homes. If no oral explanation had been taught to the nation from the outset, the uniform observance of the Torah's commandments would have been impossible!"2

The complete understanding of the Scripture could only be completed if the faithful were aware of certain items and customs that would be associated with what they normally practiced. God used these teaching relationships to bring his message to the Jewish tribes.

Christianity was born in the New Covenant as an obvious extension of its precursor, Old Testament Judaism. Modeling the Old Covenants the New Covenant was molded using the same messaging techniques. It would stand to reason that God would use this similar approach, but as Catholics know, in the New Testament it is in a much more powerful, personal and compelling way. The message would be offered freely to all persons, not just to the Jewish tribes. This example of the way that Scripture and Tradition are linked in the Old Testament is in effect an element of a Tradition in itself. The obvious liaison of Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition in the Old Testament can be appreciated in Mark Shea's observation.

"How, after all, does the author of Genesis know about the Adamic, Noahic and Abrahamic Covenants if not from Sacred Tradition? All these events occur centuries before the birth of Moses and none of them are written down till the book of Genesis is composed."3


Tradition gives birth to Scripture!



The New Testament traditions orally exemplified by Jesus in his teachings to the Apostles

Clearly in the New Testament the Traditional aspects came first as witnessed by the very scriptural accounts of the Gospels. The Apostles witnessed these traditions before they were actually written down. Without divine Tradition the accounts of the Scripture would have no revelation. Inspired Tradition is also exemplified in succession as we can clearly see in the documented threads of the Apostolic Succession. Teachings were handed on from person to person much as a family tradition is handed on from generation to generation.

An example of this could be Grandmama's recipe for Ramain bread passed on to Nanny orally as they both worked together in the kitchen preparing a Christmas feast. The children would see them make it, then enjoy the bread and its taste, and begin to relate that moment to a yearly Christmas tradition that would be sorely missed if discontinued. Some years later after their grandmothers have passed away the children search for the recipe, but with little luck. They can only rely on the cooking succession of Grandma, Nanny's daughter to come up with a few scrappy notes in French to reinstall a tradition that was feared lost. Grandma has to rely mostly on her memory to translate and produce the traditional Christmas bread. Eventually, before the recipe is lost as she ages, the subsequent generations write down the recipe in detail and know it is the correct one because the bread tastes and smells the same as it did when they were children. They can rely on the integrity of their teacher, Nanny's daughter Grandma, who is without a doubt the direct successor.

This tradition was clearly started orally and eventually transgressed to a written form. The inspired generational recipe was handed down successively from family member to family member. Oral tradition gave birth to written documentation. It must be noted that the bread is never made at any other time of year. This is not written down, but is accepted as tradition.

"Thus it becomes apparent that 'apostolic tradition' and 'apostolic succession' define each other. The succession is the form of tradition, and the tradition is the content of the succession."4

Cardinal Legate Cervini explains in his speech of February 28th, 1546 the three principles and foundations to our faith. The second principle reads:

"2. The Gospel which our Lord did not write down but taught orally and planted in hearts; some of this was later written down by the evangelists, whereas a great deal simply remained entrusted to the hearts of the faithful ."4

This is a very powerful point articulating the birth of the New Testament Tradition from the mouth of Jesus Christ himself touching the hearts of all the men he taught. It shows us the natural flow of Tradition to Scripture as the true fullness of revelation is defined. In illustrating the progression of Liturgical Tradition we are reminded in the following excerpt from a Vatican study how the letters were passed from church to church leaving a step by step documented path of this element of Tradition:

"The Letters of Paul and the other apostles or leaders were first read in the church for which they were written, were passed on to other churches, preserved to be read on other occasions and eventually accepted as Scripture and attached to the Gospels. In this way, the canon of the New Testament was gradually formed within the apostolic Tradition."5

It can be said that an intently observed example is a louder more powerful teacher in its silence than the verbal instructions shouted by a hypocrite. We seem to be exposed to these hypocrisies more and more in recent times. The Apostles learned from Christ first hand and proceeded to emulate his example the best that they could as they learned his ways and trusted in him. Once he completed his Passion he set them on their mission to bring the "Good News" to all corners of the earth during his message at the Pentecost. They were ready to teach by emulating his sound example. They were without doubt.

"This commission was faithfully fulfilled by the Apostles who, by their oral preaching, by example, and by observances handed on what they had received from the lips of Christ, from living with Him, and from what He did, or what they had learned through the prompting of the Holy Spirit." 6

The Tradition of God is a direct example from Jesus himself compelling us to without doubt accept his Tradition, but cautioning us by contrast to not always accept the tradition of men. It is very evident what the tradition of men has accomplished in the Protestant heresies. First there is the division by the phenomenal number of denominations. Next are the disagreements within those denominations followed by the miss-guided interpretations of Scripture. This leads to the last and possibly worst offense of stripping the Sacraments. At least, they agree to accept some as mere ordinances. All this chaos has resulted from the lack of God's Tradition and Magisterial authority.

"But most striking of all ... is our Lord himself. For like the apostles, he too, turns out to be perfectly willing to accept Tradition as a vehicle of revelation. For he tells his disciples: The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. (Matthew 23:2-3)"3

The reference to Moses' seat can only be found in Tradition. This shows that Tradition is readily accepted by Christ. Although Tradition was never recorded in the Old Testament it eventually makes its way to being recorded in the New Testament. Also observe that the Tradition of God is accepted without question, but the tradition of man is easily corrupted and should be approached with skepticism.



New Testament written traditions

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the written Word is defined as active. There are many Traditions that we practice that are part of the written Word. There are also so many other examples in the Word that are evident without a shred of Tradition needed to confirm them, but when Tradition is taken into consideration it only reinforces this written example. One of the most important, most literal and most powerful Traditions found in Scripture that Catholics practice is the Eucharist which is explained in detail in John's chapter 6. How can anyone read this chapter and deny Christ's intention of the real presence of his body, soul, and divinity? It reads,

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is bread which comes down from heaven that a man may eat of it and not die.... For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed." (John 6:47-55).7

Although unwilling to acknowledge as an oral revelation and ironically being practiced first by Traditional example, some Traditions that sola scriptura advocates approve of are the participation in prayer, gathering for fellowship, singing, preaching, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper. Although Baptism and the Lord's Supper for them are non sacramental, stripped of their graces and reduced to symbolic ordinances for lack of acknowledging the revelation of Traditional example, they are still forms of tradition taken directly from the Word.



In opposition to Sola Scriptura, could Catholicism exist by tradition only?

So let us presume that there is no written Word. We must as Christians rely strictly on Tradition to be sure that our faith is growing and filling our hearts. That traditional Raimain bread mentioned earlier would not stand a chance. The scrappy notes in French without a successor to the oral tradition would most likely leave the bread dead. Also consider the common communication example used in grade school; an attempt to send an oral message, one student at a time from one end of the classroom to another, and still maintain the integrity of that message. It seemingly always fails. This example would imply that without the divinely inspired documentation of Scripture, the Traditional foundations would become weak over time from miscommunication and likely crumble.

Let us conclude that some sort of guidelines, as in documented Scripture, would seem to be necessary to protect the core Christian beliefs helping to shore up Tradition. This leaves Tradition to support and prove out the Scriptural implications. When Tradition is not considered along with Divine Scripture as in sola scriptura, it is left to run rampant and fragments endlessly. Both of these revelations seem to compliment the integrity of the other making them both necessary in understanding the completeness of God's plan. To not consider both revelations eliminates the check and balance that is so typical in any successful system put in place to protect it from corruption. An example of this can be comparing the government of the United States and how it incorporates the executive judicial and legislative branches to aid in how their interpretations of the written constitution and bill of rights, etc. should be accomplished. God, knowing our weaknesses has set up such a system to rule and guide his Church in the divine revelation of Scripture, Tradition, and successive apostolic authority.

Part of the Magisterium's responsibility is to make decisions on challenges from heresies to the doctrines that have been practiced and handed down through Tradition. These final declarations are known as dogmas and have raised objections from the different heresies. Dogmas are meant as a final decision to assure the faithful that the doctrine being challenged is in fact correct. These dogmatic decisions are part of Tradition and the living revelation of our faith. Revelation can be equated with the combination of the Gospel, of Tradition and the present day influence of the Holy Spirit, of the conciliar activity in the Church, and of Liturgical Tradition. Once again sola scriptura strikes, eliminating the beautiful Mass and the Savior's Sacrifice. Sola scriptura accomplishes this by disregarding Tradition and totally misinterpreting the book of Revelation and simply choosing to eliminate entire books. Pope Benedict XVI enforces the duality of revelation in the following statement supporting the present living Word.

"Dogma from which the ground of Scripture has been pulled away, no longer stands. The Bible that has freed itself from dogma has become a document about the past."4

The elimination of certain books from the Old Testament is another obstacle used by heresies to cloak the fullness of Catholic faith. This has been done mostly to rationalize a fractured Protestant view. Observe the stunning referrals to these so called uninspired books [the Deuterocanon], by the inspired writings in the New Testament Scripture. James, Luke; and Paul in Romans, are all books accepted as inspired Scripture by all Christians. They relate heavily to these so called uninspired books. To pinpoint some of many specific examples; James 3:15 to Sirach 28:12 [ironically related to the firestorm Luther began with his protests]; Luke 6:31 to Tobit 4:15; Romans 9:21 to Wisdom 15:7, one can only presume that they were intentionally removed after 1500 years to support a Protestant heresy. This was the beginning of a fractured rational form of Christianity and also a protest to the authority of the successor to Peter. As Gary Michuta has researched in the following example of many; we lose an element in Catholic Christianity if we were toss these books from the traditionally accepted Canon of over 2000 years [over 1200 in Luther's day]:

"In 1518 Luther freely quoted Sirach and Tobit against his Catholic detractors; but by the following year, Luther's view of the Deuterocanon had taken a decidedly negative turn."8

In referring to purgatory in 2 Maccabes 12:43-46, a collection of silver was taken up among the soldiers to be sent to Jerusalem for a purgative sacrifice. In respectful anticipation of resurrection this act was actually atonement for the dead so that they might be freed of sin. This precautionary concern for the cleansing of these souls is so compelling and without doubt but at the same time so threatening to Luther's theology that he must flip-flop his practice of using them for reference. It seems as though Luther has begun to shape his theology by rationalizing the elimination of certain books that may be contrary to his beliefs.

"On July 8, 1519, Luther refused to allow Maccabes into the argument...for the book of Maccabes not being in the Canon, is of weight with the faithful, but avails nothing with the obstinate." 8

"Therefore the canon and canonicity had to be radically re-conceptualized by Luther to support his gospel. From that moment on, Protestantism began to deny the inspiration of the Deuterocanon."8

Just like that, a major source of revelation was snuffed out by the influence of one man's misinterpretations. The Protestant splintering had begun. This explosion has led to a recognized 33,000 different denominations today. Roman Catholicism remains universally united after 2000 plus years. It is clearly evident today that the fullness and revelation of Catholic faith comes not only from Scripture but from the acceptance of Tradition. Both Tradition and Scripture are to be accepted equally.

"Tradition enabled the Church to recognize the full canon of the Sacred Books. Here, the extent to which Scripture and Tradition are inseparable can be seen."5



Conclusion

It becomes quite evident as Catholics devoutly practice their faith that God has provided the uncanny checks and balances in Divine Tradition, Divine Scripture, and Divine Authority. These elements of revelation are so entwined and inseparable as they rule and guide each other from their own unique perspectives. The integrity of Divine Revelation is kept in balance as it continues to neatly unfold while being directed by the power of the Holy Spirit and the grace of God. Catholics must keep their minds open, hold fast to their Tradition, live by the Word, follow the Authority that keeps them united and use these roots to defend their faith. In so doing the graces of our Lord and Savior will save their souls; help them to save others in evangelization efforts and free them eternally. All these gifts are given by merely accepting his loving terms and the dedicated practice of his example.



Bibliography

1."Authority in the Church"; Rev. William P. Clark; Homiletic and Pastoral Review June 2008
2.http://www.fisheaters.com/solascriptura.html
3."What is the Relationship between Scripture and Tradition?" Mark P. Shea; Not By Scripture Alone: A Catholic Critique of the Protestant Doctrine of Sola Scriptura (Robert Sungenis, ed., [Queenship: Santa Barbara] 1997).
4."God's Word" Joseph Ratzinger German 2005, Ignatius Press English 2008
5."The Jewish people and their sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible" The Pontifical Biblical commission Copyright 2002 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
6."Dogmatic constitution on divine revelation Dei Verbum" solemnly promulgated
by his holiness Pope Paul VI on November 18, 1965
7."Gospel of Saint John" New American Bible
8."Why Catholic Bibles are Bigger"; Gary C. Michuta; Grotto Press 2007