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ApostolicClementines
Guest
How do we define capital-“T” Tradition? Is it just the sum of all the Church’s magisterial teachings? Or is it something else?
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Francis
Guest
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p1s1c2a2.htm
ARTICLE 2
THE TRANSMISSION OF DIVINE REVELATION
74 God "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth":29 that is, of Christ Jesus.30 Christ must be proclaimed to all nations and individuals, so that this revelation may reach to the ends of the earth:
God graciously arranged that the things he had once revealed for the salvation of all peoples should remain in their entirety, throughout the ages, and be transmitted to all generations.31
I. THE APOSTOLIC TRADITION
75 "Christ the Lord, in whom the entire Revelation of the most high God is summed up, commanded the apostles to preach the Gospel, which had been promised beforehand by the prophets, and which he fulfilled in his own person and promulgated with his own lips. In preaching the Gospel, they were to communicate the gifts of God to all men. This Gospel was to be the source of all saving truth and moral discipline."32
In the apostolic preaching. . .
76 In keeping with the Lord’s command, the Gospel was handed on in two ways:
77 "In order that the full and living Gospel might always be preserved in the Church the apostles left bishops as their successors. They gave them their own position of teaching authority."35 Indeed, "the apostolic preaching, which is expressed in a special way in the inspired books, was to be preserved in a continuous line of succession until the end of time."36
ARTICLE 2
THE TRANSMISSION OF DIVINE REVELATION
74 God "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth":29 that is, of Christ Jesus.30 Christ must be proclaimed to all nations and individuals, so that this revelation may reach to the ends of the earth:
God graciously arranged that the things he had once revealed for the salvation of all peoples should remain in their entirety, throughout the ages, and be transmitted to all generations.31
I. THE APOSTOLIC TRADITION
75 "Christ the Lord, in whom the entire Revelation of the most high God is summed up, commanded the apostles to preach the Gospel, which had been promised beforehand by the prophets, and which he fulfilled in his own person and promulgated with his own lips. In preaching the Gospel, they were to communicate the gifts of God to all men. This Gospel was to be the source of all saving truth and moral discipline."32
In the apostolic preaching. . .
76 In keeping with the Lord’s command, the Gospel was handed on in two ways:
- orally "by the apostles who handed on, by the spoken word of their preaching, by the example they gave, by the institutions they established, what they themselves had received - whether from the lips of Christ, from his way of life and his works, or whether they had learned it at the prompting of the Holy Spirit";33
- in writing "by those apostles and other men associated with the apostles who, under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, committed the message of salvation to writing".34
77 "In order that the full and living Gospel might always be preserved in the Church the apostles left bishops as their successors. They gave them their own position of teaching authority."35 Indeed, "the apostolic preaching, which is expressed in a special way in the inspired books, was to be preserved in a continuous line of succession until the end of time."36
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ApostolicClementines
Guest
So precisely what writings and oral traditions does the Tradition refer to?
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HeDa
Guest
Everything the Apostles to your present bishop has taught. You know that is an almost 2000 years of teachings. 
There are some ways to start:
3 On the The Holy See you can click on the recent popes and see their writings. Earlier popes you have to look up.
4 There are several Church fathers and Doctors of the Church celebrated in the Liturgy. Oh, when you have another year or so then start with St Thomas of Aquinas. His Summa Theologiae/Summa Theological/Summa is some 6300 pages long. He is a Doctor of the Church and lived in the 13th century. He had time to write some more in his almost 50 year long life on earth. He is called both Doctor Angelicus and Doctor Communis in the Catholic Church.
This will keep you busy for the next decade or so. Happy reading.
There are some ways to start:
- Your current bishop´s homilies, books and other documents. Also documents from earlier bishops in your diocese. And the rest of the bishops in the world… … …
3 On the The Holy See you can click on the recent popes and see their writings. Earlier popes you have to look up.
4 There are several Church fathers and Doctors of the Church celebrated in the Liturgy. Oh, when you have another year or so then start with St Thomas of Aquinas. His Summa Theologiae/Summa Theological/Summa is some 6300 pages long. He is a Doctor of the Church and lived in the 13th century. He had time to write some more in his almost 50 year long life on earth. He is called both Doctor Angelicus and Doctor Communis in the Catholic Church.
This will keep you busy for the next decade or so. Happy reading.
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Richca
Guest
The writings or the written word of God are the canonical scriptures, the catholic Bible. The oral traditions or unwritten word of God are what has been handed down to the Church from the Apostles by word of mouth or orally. The CCC#83 states “The Tradition here in question comes from the apostles and hands on what they received from Jesus’ teaching and example and what they learned from the Holy Spirit. The first generation of Christians did not yet have a written New Testament, and the New Testament itself demonstrates the process of a living Tradition”. Essentially, the Sacred deposit of the faith which is the entire revealed word of God given by Jesus to the Apostles and through them to the whole Church is contained in two sources, namely, (1) a written source which is Sacred Scripture or the Bible and (2) an unwritten source by word of mouth or orally from Jesus to the Apostles called Sacred Tradition.
Sacred Tradition, however, sort of contains Sacred Scripture within itself for Jesus preached the gospel or good news of the Kingdom of God by word of mouth without writing anything down. The apostles first transmitted the gospel and teaching of Jesus by word of mouth too to the first christians as well as wrote it down eventually in writings which forms the New Testament. For the CCC#81 states “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”. The living Tradition of the Church is the transmission of the sacred deposit of the faith bequeathed by Christ to the Apostles, the entirety of the word of God contained in Sacred Scripture and Tradition, down through the ages.
Sacred Tradition, however, sort of contains Sacred Scripture within itself for Jesus preached the gospel or good news of the Kingdom of God by word of mouth without writing anything down. The apostles first transmitted the gospel and teaching of Jesus by word of mouth too to the first christians as well as wrote it down eventually in writings which forms the New Testament. For the CCC#81 states “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”. The living Tradition of the Church is the transmission of the sacred deposit of the faith bequeathed by Christ to the Apostles, the entirety of the word of God contained in Sacred Scripture and Tradition, down through the ages.
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Dovekin
Guest
Tradition is more than just teaching, and can never be just what is taught. It is what we live.
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ApostolicClementines
Guest
Okay, so how does Tradition differ from the Magisterium? As I understand it the three pillars of authority are Scripture, Magisterium, and Tradition - but I don’t know how to distinguish the latter two. I don’t think my bishop’s homilies are part of big-T Tradition because his homilies are not infallible…
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