The Deposit of Faith
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And we also thank God constantly for
this, that when you received the word
of God which you heard from us,you accepted it not as the word of men but
as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
1 Thessalonians 2, 13
And you also were included
in Christ when you heard the message of truth,
the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him
with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 1, 13
Follow the pattern of the sound words which you have heard from me,
in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus; guard the truth that has
been entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.
2 Timothy 1, 13-14
Sacred Tradition is the unwritten word of God and thus
is a source of divine revelation from which even sacred Scripture (the written
word of God) proceeds (Lk 1:1-4). By unwritten or verbally unspoken, we mean
all the divine mysteries that are revealed or declared by the Holy Spirit to
the Church in the passage of time (Jn 16:12-13). It’s because Tradition or
God’s unwritten word is infallible that Scripture, God’s written word, is
infallible since both sources of divine revelation originate from the Holy Spirit
under the Spirit’s guidance (Tradition) or by the Spirit’s inspiration
(Scripture). And since the written word proceeds from the initial unwritten
word, Scripture must be interpreted in light of Tradition. The former medium
serves as an objective norm or confirmation of the latter. Thus, these two
mediums of divine revelation comprise two sides of the same coin, and so they
mustn’t be divorced from each other or placed in opposition to each other. This
isn’t an either/or proposition.
Tradition literally means “handing on” referring to
the passing down of God’s revealed word from the beginning under the guidance
of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, Tradition means all divine revelation from the
dawn of human history to the end of the apostolic age from one generation of
believers to the next which is safeguarded by the Church (the Rule of Faith)
until Christ returns in glory (Mt 28:20). Jesus assures his apostles, “And I
will pray to the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide
with you forever” (Jn 14:16). The Greek noun for the English word “forever” is
αἰῶνα (aiōna). Jesus, then, is telling his disciples that the Holy
Spirit or Paraclete will come to them to “always” abide in his Church
throughout the entire Messianic age, viz., from the time of Christ’s ascension
into heaven and Pentecost to his glorious return at the end of this age.
Further, Tradition may also be said to contain all
that is materially presented in Scripture either explicitly or implicitly. It’s
because Scripture isn’t always explicit that, as a sole rule of faith, it is
formally insufficient. And so, Tradition often reveals or exposes what is
explicitly lacking in Scripture but is there nonetheless as a representation of
the verbally unspoken word: the declaration of the Holy Spirit to the Church.
The written word and the unwritten word of God mutually support each other in a
complementary way, having originated from the same divine Author and guarantor
of the truth.
Since the beginning, the one, visible, hierarchical
Church founded by Christ himself on Peter the rock and the Apostles in a
physical line of succession through the sacrament of Holy Orders has understood
that Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition are bound closely together and
correspond with one another towards the same goal in a mutual relationship and
that these two mediums of divine revelation flow from the same source, viz. the
Holy Spirit. The Church, therefore, has never drawn its certainty about the
revealed divine truths from only sacred Scripture. The apostles believed that
their preaching was guided by the Holy Spirit, who protects the Church from
error (Acts 15:27-28). And it was Paul who wrote that the Church – not
Scripture – is “the pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Tim 3:15).
So then, brothers and sisters, stand
firm and hold fast to the traditions
we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
2 Thessalonians 2, 15
Referring to how Christian tradition was handed on,
the Vatican ll states: “It was done by the apostles who handed on, by the
spoken word of their preaching, by the example they gave, by the institutions
they established, what they themselves had received – whether from the lips of
Christ, from His way of life and His works, or whether they had learned it from
the prompting of the Holy Spirit” (Constitution on Divine Revelation,
ll, 7). God was faithful in the transmission of the written word as was evident
by the Church’s infallible ruling of which Biblical books and Epistles belonged
to the canon of Scripture. Thus, God must also be faithful to His Church in the
transmission of His unwritten word declared by the Holy Spirit and preached
(spoken) by the apostles and their anointed successors, which manifests in
greater fullness what has been revealed by God and committed to writing for
communities acquainted with the oral tradition.
According to John Cardinal Henry Newman, Scripture and
Tradition aren’t two separate “sources” of divine revelation, but rather two
“modes” of transmitting the same deposit of faith. In his words: “Totum in
scriptura, totum in traditione.” (“All is in Scripture; all is in
Tradition.”). These two mediums point towards and embrace each other as
constituting together in a single expression the word of God. If Paul had
committed everything he preached to his letters, he would have written ‘by word
of mouth and by letter.’
Hence, the entire body of Christ – the bishops to the
laity – has an anointing that originates from the Holy Spirit (1 Jn 2:20, 27).
Being members of one mystical body with Christ as the head they cannot be
deceived as our Lord had promised his apostles. This feature of the Church is
shown in the supernatural appreciation of the faith (sensus fidei) by
all the faithful when they manifest a universal consent in matters of faith and
morals. And by this appreciation of the faith, aroused and sustained by the Spirit
of truth, the entire people of God’s household, guided by the Magisterium and
obeying it, receive not the mere word of men, but truly the word of God
declared by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 2:13); the faith delivered once for all (cf.
Lumen Gentium, 12).
“What the body of the Church together with its
pastors, agreed in holding as of faith, is part of revelation; since the Church
is filled and assisted by the Holy Spirit and cannot be wrong on a matter of
faith. This has always been the conviction of the Catholic Church both eastern
and western” (Yves Congar, Tradition and Traditions: New York:
Macmillan,1966). Isaiah’s prophecy points to the infallible and supernatural
Church that Christ has founded on Peter the rock and the Apostles: “And a path
and a way shall be there, and it shall be called the holy way: the unclean
shall not pass over it, and this shall be unto you a straight way so that fools
shall not err therein” (Isa 35:8; cf. Acts 9:2; 22:4; 24:14,22).
The word is near you, even in your
mouth, and in your heart:
that is, the word of faith, which we preach.
Romans 10, 8
On Pentecost, the Church was established as a single
and visible historical reality with the descent of the Holy Spirit. It was only
then that an unfolding revelation first received by the apostles could be
transmitted to future generations under the promised guidance of the Paraclete.
The divine truth in all its manifestations and growing fullness has carried
with it ever since the seal of the Holy Spirit whose sanctifying presence
guarantees the purity of faith in the Church – the “unblemished” body of Christ.
Thus, the seed which has been planted by the apostles must be abided by and
sustained through an increase of knowledge and understanding of the Divine
mysteries through the inspiration and assistance of the Holy Spirit (Acts
1:8-9). The truth in all its fullness does not exist outside the Catholic
Church, where there is neither Scripture nor Tradition on account of these two
mediums of divine revelation in the deposit of faith having been divorced from
each other.
In the words of the 5th-century monk, Vincent of
Lerins: “We must hold what has been believed everywhere, always, and by all.”
Tradition has been described as timeless although situated in temporal reality.
It is an ongoing memory of the whole Church (the one timeless mystical body of
Christ) whose principal aim isn’t to restore the past but to better understand it
in the present and recollect it in a greater light of faith beyond the limits
of time. This memory consists not only of words, written or spoken but also of
how they have been assimilated and expressed liturgically by all the faithful
through the centuries and passed on.
Tradition, therefore, is a continual living experience
or memory that is relived and renewed over time but adversely unaffected by it
without any adulteration of a divine truth presented as a gift of the Holy
Spirit. Doctrines have developed over time by having to weather controversial
storms through the passing on of Tradition with Scripture serving as the
objective norm of the faith. The written word of God has served to aid the
Church in acquiring a deeper and fuller understanding of that which is declared
by the Holy Spirit in the sanctifying light of faith concerning the mighty
deeds of God in salvation history and the dispensation of His manifold grace.
Dearly beloved, taking all care to write
unto you concerning your common
salvation, I was under a necessity to write unto you: to beseech you to contend
earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints.
Jude 1, 3
Thus, Tradition is the work of God through which He
continues to reveal in greater measure to His Church what has been revealed and
worded in the Scriptures. Hidden implications and ramifications in the inspired
sacred writings come to light through the handing down of Tradition. The
Church’s fundamental doctrines have developed over time with deep reflection
and pondering of the heart under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The word of
God isn’t altered or fabricated but rather better understood in time through
timeless Tradition with the guarantee of the promised Paraclete. The deposit of
faith was planted by the apostles in the form of a seed from which one and the
same flower has continued to grow and blossom from one mysterious aspect to
another. The definition of an article of faith resembles an entire work of
mosaic art pieced together one tile at a time.
The apostle called the Church a “mystery” which meant
that, as the kingdom of God in our midst, it could not be understood by reason
alone (Eph 5:32). The power to “bind and loose” or interpret divine revelation
and define dogma lies with the Universal Magisterium of the world’s bishops in
union with the Vicar of Christ. God’s infinite wisdom, which is revealed
through His unwritten and written word, is a hidden mystery for all ages that
can be made known more fully and with absolute certainty over the passage of
time only through the magisterial teaching authority of the one true Church
founded by Christ on Peter and the Apostles (Mat 16:15-18; Eph 3:9-10). The
Three Pillars of Faith are Scripture, Tradition, and Magisterium. Neither
pillar can support the one true faith on its own. Nor can the one true faith be
infallibly preserved and transmitted if one of the pillars is removed. The Holy
Spirit operates in all three pillars combined since the divine truth isn’t
relativistic. Nor is it interminably open for debate.
Early Sacred Tradition
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“Since, therefore, the tradition from the apostles
does thus exist in the Church, and is
permanent among us, let us revert to the
Scriptural proof furnished by those apostles who
did also write the Gospel, in
which they recorded the doctrine regarding God, pointing out
that our Lord
Jesus Christ is the truth, and that no lie is in Him.”
St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3,5,1
(inter A.D. 180-189)
“But
in learning the Faith and in professing it, acquire and keep that only,
which is now delivered to thee by the Church, and which has been built up
strongly out of all the Scriptures … Take heed then, brethren, and hold fast the
traditions ye now receive.”
St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 5:12
(A.D. 350)
“But
beyond these Scriptural sayings, let us look at the very tradition,
teaching, and faith of the Catholic Church from the beginning, which
the Lord gave, the apostles preached, and the Fathers kept.”
St. Athanasius, Four Letters to Serapion of Thumius 1:28
(A.D. 360)
“I have yet many things to say to you,
but you cannot bear them now.
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth;
for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will
speak,
and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”
John 16, 12-13
Pax vobiscum