SCRIPTURE & TRADITION

INTRODUCTION v God is the author of Sacred Scripture

v God slowly revealed Himself to man

v Revelation – Initially by Oral Traditions handed down from generation to generation in songs, narratives, and poetry

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INTRODUCTION v Revelation documented in Sacred

Scripture

v Revelation also handed down in the Apostolic Tradition of the Early Church

v No new revelation before the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ – CCC 66

v Sacred Scripture and Tradition are bound together

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INTRODUCTION v Sacred Scripture and Tradition – “Deposit

of Faith” or “Heritage of Faith”

v Deposit of Faith - The doctrines and teachings of the Catholic Church

v Guarding the Deposit of Faith is the mission which the Lord entrusted to His Church

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INTRODUCTION v An authoritative body interprets the

deposit of faith

v Magisterium of the Church – The Pope, Bishops, theologians - Guided by the Holy Spirit

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SACRED SCRIPTURE v The Bible

v A collection of Divinely Inspired writings called “Books”

Ø Different writings

Ø Different authors

Ø Different styles

Ø Different literary forms

Ø Different historical periods

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SACRED SCRIPTURE v Two sections

v The Old Testament – 46 Books

Ø In 3 divisions - - the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings

v The New Testament – 27 Books

Ø May be divided into Historical books (Four Gospels and Acts of the Apostles), Didactic books (the Epistles) and the Prophetic book (Apocalypse/Revelation)

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Old Testament v Roman Catholics recognize 46 books of the

OT as inspired

v 7 Books considered the Apocrypha (hidden) and “Inspired”

v Jews and Protestants recognize only 39 books in the OT as inspired

v Points forward to the coming of the Messiah

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OLD TESTAMENT v The Pentateuch - the Torah or Law

Ø The first five books of the Bible

Ø Considered written by Moses

Ø Reminds the Israelites that God had called them to be the chosen people

Ø  God had entrusted them with the Promise of a Messiah

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OLD TESTAMENT v The Prophets

Ø The Former Prophets of the Historical Books

Ø The Latter Prophets

Ø The prophets were intermediaries between God and His people

Ø The function of a prophet is to instruct and reprove the people in God’s name

v The Writings Ø Consists of all the remaining books of the OT –

e.g. Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Canticles, Lamentation

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OLD TESTAMENT v Current form written by Jewish scholars around

3rd Century B.C.

v Translated from Hebrew to Greek for the benefit of the Jews of the Diaspora

v The countries (outside of Palestine) throughout which the Jews were dispersed

v Also the Jews living in those countries

v The exile place in two periods Ø 721 B.C – The Northern kingdom

Ø 587 B.C the Babylonian Captivity – Southern Kingdom

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NEW TESTAMENT v Announces the fulfillment of the promise of

the Messiah

v His coming and his act of redemption of mankind to the restoration of friendship with God

v Comprised of 27 different books attributed to 8 different authors

v Written over a period of 50 years in different countries to different Christian communities

v Accepted as divine revelation at the Catholic Council of Carthage in 397 A.D. 

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TRADITION v Divinely inspired Tradition is spelled with

a capital “T”

v It signifies beliefs, lessons, instructions of a religious nature passed down from earlier periods through divine inspiration

v Different from tradition with a small “t” - the passing down of customs or practices of a culture from generation to generation

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TRADITION v Revealed truths can be found in the Bible –

written truths

v Revealed truths can also be found in Tradition – Oral truths

v Doctrine depends both on Scripture and the oral teaching of Christ and the Apostles

v Both are divinely inspired

v John 21:25

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CONTROVERSY v Protestants believe that the Bible and nothing

more is the sole theological source

v There are no revealed truths except those truths found in the Bible

v Catholics accept the Tradition of the early Church and those written lessons of the disciples of the Apostles handed down orally some 200 years before the Gospels were written

v John 14:25

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MAGISTERIUM v The Magisterium is the teaching authority of

the Catholic Church

v It gives an authentic interpretation of the Word of God – both written and oral

v Comprised of the Bishops, in union with the Pope with input from learned Theologians

v The Church interprets Scripture and Tradition, and defines dogma, obliging the faithful to strict adherence to it

v Luke 10:1-16; Matt. 28:18-20

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CATECHISM v The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a

statement of the Church’s faith and of catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition, and the Church’s Magisterium (CCC foreword - 3)

v  It is a norm for teaching the faith and an instrument of ecclesial communion

v It is to guard and present better the deposit of Christian doctrine in order to make it more accessible to the Christian faithful and to all people of good will

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