Tradition

[Athanasius18]

I know that as a Catholic, Tradition and Scriptures are both divinely inspired and equal in weight. They are seen as seperate, however. Would it be incorrect to believe, as the Eastern Othodox do, that Scripture is a part of Tradition? After all, 2 Thess 2:15 (hold fast to…traditions that you were taught…by an oral statement or letter) seem to imply this, since Scripture and oral teachings are both “Traditions” we should hold fast to? Is this view un-Catholic, and should it not be used when speaking to Protestants? Thanks a bunch.

 

[jimmy]

Athanasius18:

I know that as a Catholic, Tradition and Scriptures are both divinely inspired and equal in weight. They are seen as seperate, however. Would it be incorrect to believe, as the Eastern Othodox do, that Scripture is a part of Tradition? After all, 2 Thess 2:15 (hold fast to…traditions that you were taught…by an oral statement or letter) seem to imply this, since Scripture and oral teachings are both “Traditions” we should hold fast to? Is this view un-Catholic, and should it not be used when speaking to Protestants? Thanks a bunch.

No, I don’t think it is incorrect. Actually I would say that scripture is a part of Tradition. The Church began on Pentecost, but the NT was not writtten until 15 - 20 years later. The people of the NT were writing down what the Church taught.

Also the canon of scripture has been decided by Tradition of the Church. It is councils of the Church that have decided that the NT consists of 27 books and that Pauls writing are included along with James.

The scriptures are part of Tradition in my understanding.

 

[Verbum]

HI Athan__,

Would it be incorrect to believe, as the Eastern Othodox do, that Scripture is a part of Tradition?

Far from being incorrect, this is the official teaching of the Church. Here from Dei Verbum, the document on divine revelation of the Second Vatican Council :

CHAPTER II

HANDING ON DIVINE REVELATION

1. In His gracious goodness, God has seen to it that what He had revealed for the salvation of all nations would abide perpetually in its full integrity and be handed on to all generations. Therefore Christ the Lord in whom the full revelation of the supreme God is brought to completion (see 2 Cor. 1:30; 3:15; 4:6), commissioned the Apostles to preach to all men that Gospel which is the source of all saving truth and moral teaching [1], and to impart to them heavenly gifts. This Gospel had been promised in former times through the prophets, and Christ Himself had fulfilled it and promulgated it with His lips. 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. The commission was fulfilled, too, by those Apostles and apostolic men who under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit committed the message of salvation to writing .

1. Sacred tradition and sacred Scripture form one sacred deposit of the Word of God, committed to the Church. Holding fast to this deposit the entire holy people united with their shepherds remain always steadfast in the teaching of the Apostles, in the common life, in the breaking of the bread and in prayers (see Acts 8:42, Greek text), so that holding to, practicing and professing the heritage of the faith, it becomes on the part of the bishops and faithful a single common effort .

Full text can be read at this site.

Verbum