Our faith is based upon what has been revealed to us by God. The Church recognizes that this revelation is transmitted by both Scripture and Tradition. The Second Vatican Council summed up this teaching:

There exists a close connection and communication between sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture. For both of them, flowing from the same divine wellspring, in a certain way merge into a unity and tend toward the same end. For Sacred Scripture is the word of God inasmuch as it is consigned to writing under the inspiration of the divine Spirit, while sacred Tradition takes the word of God entrusted by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, and hands it on to their successors in its full purity, so that led by the light of the Spirit of truth, they may in proclaiming it preserve this word of God faithfully, explain it, and make it more widely known. Consequently, it is not from Sacred Scripture alone that the Church draws her certainty about everything which has been revealed. Therefore, both sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture are to be accepted and venerated with the same sense of loyalty and reverence (Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei Verbum [November 18, 1965] no. 9.)

Scripture shows us that God desires to speak to us, His people. “In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son,” (Heb. 1:1-2). “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father,” (Jn. 1:1 & 14). “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life—the Life was made manifest, and we saw it, and testify to it, and proclaim to you the eternal Life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have fellowship with us; and our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ,” (1 Jn. 1:1-3).

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the eternal Word incarnate, is Himself the fullness of God’s self-revelation to men. To His Bride (Eph. 5:31-32) and Body (Eph. 1:22-23), His Church, He gives Himself and His revelation about the mysterious inner life of God (theologia) and His saving plan and works in the world (oikonomia). The complete gift of God’s self-revelation to His Church is most commonly known as “the deposit of faith,” or as Saint Jude the Apostle called it, “the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints,” (Jude 3). But whether we call the fullness of God’s self-revelation “the deposit of faith” or “the faith” or “the Gospel,” we must remember that Jesus Christ is Himself the Word of God.

Throughout the history of the Church, the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been communicated to all generations of Christians by Jesus’ Apostles and the successors they ordained, like Timothy, in two distinct but inseparable modes: sacred Scripture and sacred Tradition. These two modes of communication have the same divine origin and communicate the same truth: Jesus Christ the eternal Word of God. Because of this, the two are inseparable, interwoven, and interdependent—each corroborates and clarifies the testimony of the other.

Sacred Scripture is a privileged mode of communicating the Word of God, the revelation of Jesus Christ, inasmuch as it is inspired by the Holy Spirit. This means every passage of Scripture has at least two authors, one human and one divine. Acting in and through the human authors, who also made use of their own unique talents and abilities, the Holy Spirit consigned to writing everything and only those things He wanted. Everything the human authors of Scripture intended to affirm, the Holy Spirit also intended, and it follows that the books of sacred Scripture are without error in these matters. In sacred Scripture, God’s revelation assumes human language without error, much as Jesus Christ the eternal Word of God assumed a complete human nature without sin by His Incarnation. This is why Catholics receive and revere sacred Scripture in a manner like their reverence for the body of Christ. Sacred Scripture is exalted as “the soul of Catholic theology.” At the same time, we must acknowledge with the Apostle Saint John that sacred Scripture does not contain all of God’s revelation, because Jesus Christ cannot be reduced to writing (Jn. 21:24-25).

Sacred Scripture is inseparable from the sacred Tradition of the Apostles, which, for example, attests to the canon of Scripture (i.e., which books really belong to Scripture and which do not). Both sacred Scripture and sacred Tradition have their origin in Jesus Christ, who sent the Apostles and their successors to communicate His Gospel to the whole world, and both Scripture and Tradition testify to Him as two faithful witnesses to the same Truth. The Apostle Saint Paul strongly admonished Christians to adhere to both sacred Scripture and sacred Tradition (1 Cor. 11:2, 2 Thess. 2:15 & 3:6). Neither can be safely abandoned.

Because Jesus knew that disputes would arise about the true meaning of God’s revelation, communicated through both sacred Scripture and sacred Tradition, He also gave His Church authoritative teachers to oversee the communication of His Gospel. In this capacity He consecrated and sent His Apostles (Mt. 28:18, Jn. 20:21), and they, on His authority, consecrated and sent other overseers in turn (e.g., Matthias and Timothy). The Greek word for “overseers” is episkopoi (the office is mentioned in passages like 1 Tim. 3:1-7), from which we get the English words “episcopacy” and “bishop.” These bishops, from the first century to the present and into the future, are the authoritative teachers of the authentic Gospel. “This teaching office is not above the Word of God, but serves it, teaching only what has been handed on, listening to it devoutly, guarding it scrupulously and explaining it faithfully in accord with a divine commission and with the help of the Holy Spirit [2 Tim 1:14]...” (Dei Verbum, no. 10). The teaching authority given by Jesus Christ to His Church is most commonly known as the “Magisterium,” from the Latin word magister, meaning “teacher.” Jesus and His Apostles gave us good reason to never to abandon the Church’s teaching (Mt. 16:18 & 18:17, 1 Tim. 3:15).

The Holy Spirit, the divine Counselor sent by the Father and the Son, unites sacred Scripture, sacred Tradition, and the Church’s Magisterium by His ceaseless action in the Church: the Holy Spirit inspires Scripture, animates or gives life to Tradition, and guarantees the Magisterium, protecting the Church from error in matters of faith and morals. All three are gifts from God to His people to ensure them divine guidance in communication of Jesus the Word throughout the ages. Without this work of the Holy Spirit in sacred Scripture, sacred Tradition, and the Church’s Magisterium, the Christian faithful would be thrown into divisive chaos—thousands of separate groups arguing for radically different interpretations of Christ’s Gospel. “It is clear, therefore, that sacred Tradition, sacred Scripture, and the teaching authority of the Church, in accord with God’s most wise design, are so linked and joined together that one cannot stand without the others, and that all together and each in its own way under the action of the Holy Spirit contribute effectively to the salvation of souls,” (Dei Verbum, no. 10).

This is contrary to the position held by many Protestant denominations, which states that Scripture is the only source of Divine Revelation. For more information on this issue, please see our Faith Fact, Sola Scriptura.

I hope this answers your question. If you have further questions on this or would like more information about Catholics United for the Faith, please contact us at 1-800-MY-FAITH (693-2484). Please keep us in your prayers as we endeavor to “support, defend, and advance the efforts of the teaching Church.”

United in the Faith,

Amy Barragree
Information Specialist
Catholics United for the Faith
827 North Fourth Street
Steubenville, OH 43952
800-MY-FAITH (800-693-2484)