Not all things Jesus Did is in the Bible
In discussing Sola Scriptura with non-Catholics they of course believe that the Bible is the only thing you need and not traditions or Traditions. One of the Catholic responses has always being that St. John wrote that not all things that Jesus did or spoke were written down because there would not be enough room in the world to hold those things. A questions posed by a non-Catholic was to name one thing that has been taught by the Church that is held by all Christians that is not written down in the Bible. I’m not taking about the Trinity or other dogmas that are implicitly mentioned in the Bible, but one that is not in the Bible at all. Something that has been taught strictly by Tradition. Can you enlighten me on this please? Thanks for your reply and may God bless St. Michael’s Center for Apologetics.
QUESTION from Charles on March 7, 2004
ANSWER by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM on March 16, 2004
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Dear Charles: Well, the answer is that there are no teachings of the Catholic Church that are not explicitly, implicitly, or otherwise derived from Sacred Scripture. Every dogma, including the Marian doctrines can find their implications and foundational principles in the Bible. Sacred Tradition gives us the fullness of the understanding of many dogmas, such as the Marian dogmas, but Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture are intertwined, they work together. I might add, though, that Sacred Tradition confirms the Bible, not the other way around. The New Testament as we know it was not compiled until the 4th century. Before then there were many manuscripts being passed around and read in Christian assemblies. Because of that it became obvious that the Church had to decide which manuscripts were genuine inspired Scripture and which were not to protect the faith from error. One of the criteria that a manuscript had to meet was whether the teachings in the manuscript conformed to Sacred Tradition. If a manuscript did not confirm to the Sacred Tradition of the Church (which is the only authority there was in the first three centuries), then it was rejected. The Bible is NOT the foundation and pillar of Truth, the Church is (1 Tim 3:15)
God Bless, |