Tradition precedes scripture in chronology. That doesn’t necessarily mean it precedes in importance. If it were true that nothing that comes after can have authority then John the Baptist would have authority over Jesus Christ, and I think that vast majority of us agree that this is not the case.
It’s a very practical matter. While the Apostles were still alive they were the ultimate source of authority. At the very beginning, they were all we had–and all we needed. Once they passed, however, all we had to guide us was their teaching. Much of their teaching was in the form of the documents they left behind. Much was in the form of the common practices (i.e. traditions) of the churches of that day.
The sola scriptura folks do not accept the claim of an unbroken line of apostolic succession. Without apostolic succession, the church does not have ultimate authority over the inspired documents the Apostles left for us. Instead, they believe, the inspired word of God has authority over the church–and all other aspects of faith and practice.
If we read the Reformers carefully, we see that they supported tradition as important and valuable. In fact, Zwingli and Calvin, to name two, faced significant opposition from groups who believed that the reformers hadn’t gone far enough in rejecting the teaching and practices of the Roman church. The reformers understood and taught that we stand on the shoulders of the Christians who have gone before. We aren’t to think we’re the first (or even best) to struggle with theological issues.
