By Andrew Winter
1. Tradition (with a capital “T”) refers to the doctrines of the Catholic Church passed on orally from the Apostles through the intellectual heritage of the Church Fathers. Tradition is the companion to Sacred Scripture, the other half of God’s revelation to man. It contains many of the same doctrines as Scripture and, of course, never contradicts it. But it provides interpretation of and expansions on the truths in Scripture.
2. Tradition (with a capital “T”) is infallible, unchanging, and under the protection of the Magisterium (or teaching authority of the Church). It is easily confused with tradition (lowercase “t”), which refers to less serious customs, practices, and disciplines of the Church, which are subject to change.
3. Examples of doctrines contained within Tradition are the Divine Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin, the infallibility of the pope, and the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Notably these doctrines also have bases in Sacred Scripture. Examples of traditions (lowercase “t”) are liturgical colors, holy water, priestly celibacy, and the omission of the Alleluia during Lent.
4. Dei Verbum, the Second Vatican Council’s dogmatic constitution on divine revelation, says: “Sacred Tradition hands on in its full purity God’s word.” Dei Verbum made very clear that Tradition holds an equal place with Scripture in the deposit of faith left by Christ to His Church. Tradition, says this document, is to be “venerated with the same sense of loyalty and reverence,” as Scripture.
5. Both Tradition and Scripture are guarded, interpreted, and proclaimed by the Magisterium: the teaching authority of the Church. All three are inseparable from each other.
6. Although the pope cannot change Tradition, just as he cannot change Scripture, he does interpret and declare it. In 1870, at the First Vatican Council, the Magisterium proclaimed the infallible authority of the pope, and his power to govern Tradition.
7. The Bible takes a favorable view of tradition, and speaks of the oral Tradition handed down from the Apostles. In 2 Timothy 3:14-15 Paul mentions that both Tradition and Scripture are useful for attaining heaven: “But you, remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it, and that from infancy you have known [the] sacred scriptures, which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.” And again in 2 Thessalonians 2:15: “Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.”
8. The Church Fathers of the second and third centuries firmly believed in Tradition, just as they unanimously believed in the doctrines of Tradition given them by the Apostles. St. John Chrysostom wrote: “[The Apostles] did not deliver all things by epistle, but many things also unwritten, and in like manner both the one and the other are worthy of credit. Therefore, let us think the tradition of the Church also worthy of credit. It is a tradition, seek no farther.”
9. Most Protestant denominations reject Tradition and subscribe to the false idea of sola Scriptura, or Scripture alone. But it is important to remember that the first generation of Christians had no Bible, and only had Tradition on which to base their faith. Without Tradition, the Church would not even know which books belong in the Bible, or how to interpret Scripture.
