God’s Word is one. In fact it is a person, Christ Jesus. This unique word is not just transmitted or communicated through Sacred Scripture. In fact, if you think about it the Word was communicated to humanity long before any Scripture was written. Obviously, the Word can be communicated other than through the written Scriptures. And certainly after Jesus’ ascension to the Father there was no Scripture for quite a while. Even after some of the books were written there was no consensus on which books should be considered inspired. For an at least an entire generation the “gospel” was communicated through the preaching of the Apostles and their successors. We call this Sacred Tradition. As Catholics we believe that the Word has been and is communicated through these two vessels (Sripture and Tradition).
“Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing and move towards the same goal.” Dei Verbum #9
Scripture itself attests to this. In 1 Thessalonians 2:15 Paul says, “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.” Paul understands that the Gospel he preached is authoritative and an authentic passing on of the Gospel. At the end of John’s Gospel (21:25) he makes it very clear that what he wrote is not the entirety of the Gospel.
As we look at the history of the early Church we see many cases of people who misunderstood the written Word. Arius, a priest from Alexandria at the end of the 3rd century, argued from Scripture that Jesus was super-human, but not equal to God the Father. The early Church addressed this error by reflecting on the living message as handed on from the Apostles (and by looking at the whole of Scripture).
The teaching authority left by Jesus to his Apostles and their successors (bishops) interprets the Word of God found in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. (And, of course by Sacred Tradition we are not referring to traditions that we have developed as Catholics, but rather the living transmission of the Word of God within the Church)
 | About Pat Arensberg Patrick Arensberg is the Director of Religious Education for the Archdiocese of Mobile. Previously, he taught for 17 years at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School, where he served as Chairman of the Theology Department. He attended the Gregorian University in Rome and holds an M.A. in Theology from Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. He is married to Connie and they live in Mobile with their 5 children. |
No comments:
Post a Comment