OK so I still have a lot to learn

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Little_Mary

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…or maybe it’s because I’m a cradle Catholic - I have been asked to give some examples of oral tradition and wasn’t sure how to answer.

Can anyone help me?
Thanks :o
 
Preaching and teaching are examples of oral tradition. We see in several places in the NT where the Apostles taught orally, and our bishops still do. The pope also writes encyclicals, and councils and the Magisterium write documents refining and defining doctrine and dogma. All of these forms (and more others will cite) have their roots in Scripture which is the witness to the truths, both written and oral of the Church.
 
The Apostles taught the first Christians in Scripture and oral Tradition. Here are some examples from Sacred Scripture:

**2 Thess 2:15 ** So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter.

Jn 21:25 But there are also many other things which Jesus did; were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

**Rom 10:17 ** So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ.
 
The sign of the cross, many of the prayers, and the mass itself are traditions handed down from generation to generation. The Rosary was started around year 1000. It was borrowed from eastern religions (prayer beads), but became a standard when Mary herself encouraged the practice.
 
The Trinity.

The trinity could be concidered part of oral tradition. That isn’t to say that it isn’t found in scripture but it is not explicitly in scripture. People believed in the trinity (even if they didn’t use the word) long before anyone would have tried to “proove” or “discover” it using scripture. In fact it is simply because it was already part of the oral tradition that we are able to go back and see it reflected in scripture.
 
Another example would be scripture itself. Many of the narratives in scripture (especially OT) were originally passed from generation to generation orally. Only later were they by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit set to paper.

Also the cannon. We only have a usable cannon of scripture because there was an existing inspired tradition of what was and was not inspired text. So all you have to do is open your bible to the beginning and look at the table of contents and there before your eyes is Apostolic tradition.
 
I was going to add, just page through the CCC and check out the footnotes. You’ll see many things that are referenced not out of the Bible, or not exclusively out of the Bible, but out of previous Church teachings at Councils, etc. That’s all Oral Tradition.
 
Thanks guys! That helps a lot. It’s kinda what I thought - the Scripture passages that mention oral teachings, and the Mass, sign of the cross and the rosary.

I just wasn’t sure if it was one of the other, but I see now it’s both.

I was discussing the Mass with a co-worker, who agrees that every prayer in the Mass, from the opening prayer to the closing prayer can be round in the Bible. I went on to comment that the Bible came out of the (Catholic) Church, not the other way around.

He didn’t realize that :confused: and I told him that we are guided by three things: Scripture, the Pope, and Oral Tradition. In other words, not scripture alone.

It was then that I was asked to give some examples of Oral Tradition. So now we both know and can witness to others!!! 👍
 
I told him that we are guided by three things: Scripture, the Pope, and Oral Tradition. In other words, not scripture alone.
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Actually, we are guided by Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium (made up of all the bishops, of which the pope is a member, of course).

Tradition is composed of Scripture and Oral Tradition, you see. 😉
 
Little Mary:
I was discussing the Mass with a co-worker, who agrees that every prayer in the Mass, from the opening prayer to the closing prayer can be round in the Bible. I went on to comment that the Bible came out of the (Catholic) Church, not the other way around.
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You might want to try reading, “Lamb’s Supper” by Scott Hahn. He does a great job of explaining how closely related the Mass is to the book of Revelations. It’s an easy read and hard to put down.
 
You might try teaching what "T"radition is not.

Example: "T"radition is not "t"radition.👍
 
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Malachi4U:
You might try teaching what "T"radition is not.

Example: "T"radition is not "t"radition.👍
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Examples of "T"radition?

Examples of "t"radition?
 
Little Mary:
Examples of "T"radition?

Examples of "t"radition?
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“T” = The canon of Scripture

‘t’ = The rosary, belief that Mary had made a vow of virginity . . .

I don’t like the term “oral tradition.” The Church has busied itself writing everything down for 2000 years. Aside from Della’s excellent distinction about what Tradition is, at this point there is nothing we need to know that has not been written down.

Authentic tradition is the glue that makes sense out of the ambiguities of Scripture.
 
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