Lesson 5

Tradition and Magisterium

Photograph of the colonnade at Saint Peter's

(Cropped photo from pxfuel)

Synopsis

To discover the truths contained in the Scriptures, it is important to know how to read and interpret them properly. The Bible is fundamental to our faith as Catholics, but we must avoid becoming fundamentalists. In response to fundamentalism, the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that: “The Christian faith is not a ‘religion of the book’. Christianity is the religion of the ‘Word’ of God” (CCC 108). This Word is Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God. He is the fullness of Revelation. In addition to the Sacred Scriptures, God has given us two other gifts to ensure that Jesus’ Revelation reaches all generations: Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium or teaching authority of the Church. In this lesson we will study the relationship between Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium.

Learning Objectives

You will have successfully completed this lesson when you understand and can:

Explain how the apostles fulfilled Jesus’ commandment to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation” (Mk 16:15)

Explain how Jesus’ Revelation is transmitted to us through both the Sacred Scriptures and Holy Tradition.

Introduction

In the previous lesson, we looked at the concept of Divine Revelation. We saw that we can come to know God through his creation, just as we can come to know an artist through their paintings. However, because of our fallen nature, it is easy for us to forget, overlook, or even explicitly reject our intimate bond with God. To help us find him, God decided to reveal himself to us. He did so in stages, culminating with the incarnation of his Son. Jesus Christ is the fullness of this Revelation. In this lesson, we will study how God’s Revelation in Jesus Christ, given around 2000 years ago, has been transmitted to us, so that we too can receive it. We will do so by presenting and explaining numbers 74 to 100 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You should study these numbers together with this lesson.

As we study this theme, it is important to remember that the source of divine Revelation is not a book but a person—Jesus Christ.

Christ, the Son of God made man, is the Father’s one, perfect, and unsurpassable Word. In him he has said everything. (CCC 65)

That is why the Catechism also teaches that:

The Christian faith is not a “religion of the book”. Christianity is the religion of the “Word” of God. (CCC 108)

This Word is Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God. He is the foundation of our faith.

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. (Jn 1:1,14)

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)

This is important to avoid falling into the trap of fundamentalism. The Bible is fundamental for our faith as Catholics, but we are not fundamentalists. Remember what we saw in lesson 3. Biblical Fundamentalism refers to a type of Christianity which interprets the Bible literalistically and only accepts as relevant to the faith those truths explicitly taught in the Bible.

The Transmission of Divine Revelation (CCC 74 – 79)

We read in the Bible how Jesus commanded the apostles to preach the Gospel, the source of all saving truth.

And he said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” (Mk 16:15–16)

And this is what they did. In keeping the Lord’s command, the Gospel was handed on in two ways:

—orally “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 at the prompting of the Holy Spirit”;

—in writing “by those apostles and other men associated with the apostles who, under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, committed the message of salvation to writing.” (CCC 76)

In order that future generations could also be taught to observe all that Jesus had commanded, the apostles appointed bishops as their successors and gave them their own position of teaching authority (see CCC 77). This living transmission, accomplished in the Holy Spirit, is called Tradition. Through this Tradition, “the Church, in her doctrine, life, and worship perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes” (CCC 78). In this way, through the action of the Holy Spirit, God’s Revelation remains present and active in the Church. We find in the letters of St. Paul several references to this oral tradition. For example:

I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I have delivered them to you. (1 Cor 11:2)

Tradition and Sacred Scripture (CCC 80 – 83)

God’s full Revelation, therefore, has one common source—Jesus Christ—but is transmitted to us in two distinct modes:

Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit.

And [Holy] Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits it to the successors of the apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound and spread it abroad by their preaching. (CCC 81)

Why these two sources? The Bible itself tells us that not everything Jesus said and did was written down.

But there are also many other things which Jesus did; were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. (Jn 21:25)

Therefore, we need to study both Scripture and Tradition and not just Scripture alone to discover what Jesus revealed to us.

The Magisterium (CCC 84 – 90)

The apostles later entrusted the Revelation they received—both orally and in written form—to the whole of the Church. But how can we be sure that future generations will understand and interpret Revelation correctly? To avoid the possibility of tarnishing this sacred deposit of faith, God has given us a third gift, the Magisterium of the Church.

Regarding the Magisterium, we see in the Bible how Jesus entrusted his teaching ministry and shared his authority with St. Peter and the other apostles.

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” (Mt 28:19–20)

He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me. (Lk 10:16)

Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Mt 18:18)

We also read how they, in turn, did the same with their successors. For example, the first thing Peter did, after Jesus ascended into heaven, was to find a successor to Judas.

In those days Peter stood up among the brethren (the company of persons was in all about a hundred and twenty), and said, “Brethren, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David, concerning Judas who was guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was numbered among us, and was allotted his share in this ministry. … So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, “Lord, who knowest the hearts of all men, show which one of these two thou hast chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside, to go to his own place.” And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was enrolled with the eleven apostles. (Acts 1:15–17, 21–26)

This authority to interpret the Word of God and teach the faithful, therefore, has been passed down from generation to generation by the sacrament of ordination and the laying on of hands. It is now held by the current Pope, as the successor of Peter, and the bishops in communion with him.

“The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone. Its authority in this matter is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ.” This means that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome. (CCC 85)

The Relationship between Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium

God has given us three gifts that together guarantee that we can know with confidence what God has revealed to us. All three are necessary for this. The Church’s Tradition transmits the entirety of the Word of God. Through this Tradition, the Church perpetuates and transmits all that she believes. Scripture is the Word of God put down in writing. Although the Scriptures don’t contain the entirety of God’s Revelation, the fact that it is written down gives it a certain objectivity and concreteness lacking in Tradition alone. The Magisterium ensures that we understand and interpret Scripture and Tradition correctly. All three are, therefore, equally important and indispensable.

A simple image can help us understand the relationship between Scripture, Tradition, and Magisterium. Together, they form a three-legged stool that is stable and reliable, upon which, the Church can rest, just like a person con rest on a stool supported by three sturdy legs, capable of supporting their weight.

However, if we were to remove any of the legs, the stool would collapse and the person would fall. Likewise, our faith would collapse if we removed any of the three legs that support it.

Assignments

Study numbers 74 to 100 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Read Dei Verbum chapter 2.

Explain in your own words how Jesus’s Revelation is transmitted to us through both the Sacred Scriptures and Holy Tradition.

Describe in your own words the relationship between Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium.

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