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SACRED TRADITION
“Stand firm then, my brothers, to the TRADITIONS that we taught you,
whether by WORD OF MOUTH or by LETTER.” - 2 Thessalonians 2:15

Etymology : From Latin “tradere” - to hand on; to pass

Tradition refers either to:

a) The CONTENT: that which is being handed on
b) The PROCESS: the manner by which the content is passed
TRADITION IS THE WHOLE PROCESS BY WHICH THE CHURCH PRESERVES AND
HANDS ON THE FAITH THROUGH GENERATIONS

ways by which Tradition is transmitted:

1. THROUGH PREACHING
2. THROUGH TEACHING
3. THROUGH RELIGIOUS SERVICES AND CUSTOMS
4. THROUGH PERSONAL AND COMMUNAL PRAYERS AND DEVOTIONS
5. THROUGH SPECIAL DAYS OF FEAST AND REMEMBRANCE
6. THROUGH RELIGIOUS LAWS AND OBLIGATIONS
7. THROUGH SAYINGS AND CATCH PHRASES
8. THROUGH STORY TELLING

“SACRED TRADITION AND SACRED SCRIPTURES CONSTITUTE THE DEPOSIT OF

DIVINE REVELATION”.

“There are so many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described
individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be
written.” John 21:25

Relation = between Tradition and Scriptures

• Sacred Scriptures originated from Oral Tradition.
• Not all of Tradition had been written down, hence the Bible,
authoritative as it is, does not contain the entirety of revelation.
• Tradition does not stop when it is written down. Rather, traditions
continue in the life of the church.

 Difference between: Tradition and tradition

Tradition = is the living and lived faith of the church; traditions are customary ways
of doing or expressing matters related to faith. If tradition cannot be rejected or lost
without essential distortion of the gospel, it is part of Tradition itself. If tradition is not
essential, then it is subject to change or even to elimination.”

tradition = are practices of the Church which are NON-DOCTRINAL. These may
have resulted from the needs of the church which arose at a particular time in
history. Some of these traditions may have been a product of the entry of the Church
into other cultures.

=Example of tradition
1) The MANNER of celebrating the Eucharist = Before the Second Vatican
Council, the priest faced the altar and used Latin, today, the priest
faces the people and uses the vernacular
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TRADITION: → SCRIPTURAL
→ APOSTOLIC
→ TEACHINGS OF THE MAGISTERIUM

 SCRIPTURAL TRADITION
- These are traditions that take their roots in the HOLY BIBLE. These practices and
beliefs can be justified by quoting Sacred Scriptures.

Example: Baptism - “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” Mt. 28:19

 APOSTOLIC TRADITION

 These are the teachings which the Apostles left us, not through written
scripture, but through the unbroken chain of succession of Popes,
bishops, priests and deacons. This unbroken chain is an assurance that
the teachings of the Apostles are preserved intact.
 Church teachings that are based on Apostolic Traditions are contained
in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
 And for us Filipinos, we also have the Catechism for Filipino
Catholics.

Example: Doctrine of the Communion of Saints

 TEACHINGS OF THE MAGISTERIUM

- Lt. “Magister” - teacher
- MAGISTERIUM = the teaching authority of the Church. This is exercised by the
Pope in making solemn definitions, or by Bishops in an Ecumenical Council like
Vatican 2

The teachings of faith are never stagnant. As time goes by, the Church’s
understanding of her own teachings deepen, leading to the definition and
promulgation of new teachings.

These teachings are “new” not because they were just invented. On the contrary,
they have always been part of the ancient teachings of the church, only that they
were not immediately defined.

Examples:
THE MARIAN DOGMAS WERE DEFINED BY VIRTUE OF THE CHURCH’S MAGISTERIUM
- DIVINE MOTHERHOOD = Council of Ephesus, 431
- IMMACULATE CONCEPTION = Pope Pius IX. 1854

A SUMMARY OF THE SACRED TRADITION = NICENE CREED (Council of

Nicaea, 325)

SACRED SCRIPTURES

 “The seed is the Word of God…..”

 “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.” – St Jerome

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How was the bible formed ?

A. ACTUAL EVENTS
⇒ Refers to the actual experience of God’s people which they
interpreted as God’s intervention in history
⇒ Life and teachings of Jesus – what Jesus really taught and did for
our eternal salvation, while he lived among us, until his ascension.

B. ORAL TRADITION
⇒ That the people may forever remember these important events,
which were deemed manifestations of God’s concern and
intervention, they were handed on to succeeding generations.
⇒ After Jesus’ ascension, the apostles handed on to their hearers
what Jesus said and done.

C. WRITTEN SCRIPTURES
⇒ The facts, stories and information were sorted, edited and
eventually put into writing to serve as norms against which, or on
the basis of which, other stories and tradition will be verified and
as well to more effectively preserve the priced Tradition.
⇒ The sacred authors, in writing the Gospels, selected certain
elements that had been handed on orally or those already in
written form, others they synthesized or explained in view of the
situation of their churches, while preserving the form of
proclamation. But always in such away that they have told us the
honest truth about Jesus.

THE BIBLE

 From Greek word: “Ta Biblion/Ta Biblia” – the Book/the Books

 referring to the whole sacred volume

 From Latin: “Biblia” – book – designates the eminence of the Bible

 BIBLE : collection of sacred writings which the church solemnly recognized as:
 “Word of God, written by men, through the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit”

 Word of God
 The Divinely revealed realities which are contained and
presented in the text of the Sacred Scriptures have been
written down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, God is the author of the Sacred Scripture
because He inspired its human authors, acting in and by
means of them, He thus gives an assurance that their
writings teach without error His saving truth.

 To say that the Bible is the Word of God is to

acknowledge its Divine Authorship.

 Written by men through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit

 God inspired some men to put His words into writing,
persons who lived in a particular context, using the means
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available to them as they went through the natural

process of gathering, selection and finally writing
down.
 Being written by men, God is able to speak to us in human
language – something we do understand and we can relate
to.

All scripture,” inspired " of God, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to

correct to instruct in justice" 2 Timothy 3:16

 Dei Verbum 11
 To compose the Sacred Books, God chose certain men, whom
He employed in this task, made full use of their own faculties and
powers, so that, though He acted in them and by them, it was as true as
authors that they consigned to writing whatever He wanted to be written,
and nothing more.

 INSPIRATION
 From Latin verb – “inspirare” – to breath into

 “By supernatural power God so moved and impelled the human

authors to write - he so assisted them when writing - that the things he
ordered and those only they first rightly understood, then willed faithfully to
write down, and finally expressed in apt words and with infallible truth.”

 According to Providentissimus Deus by Pope Leo XIII:

“Inspiration” is a special influence of the Holy Spirit on
the Human authors, such that they were able to write down
what God wanted them to write.”

 It is a charism referring to Special Divine Activity,

communicated to individual authors, editors and compilers belonging to
the community, for the sake of the community.

 When the Holy Spirit works, He touches more than the

Human Authors, in some fashion, He also touches both the Proclaimers
and the Hearers of the Word.

 Inspiration is not:
1. Dictation
 God did not dictate the words to the
human authors, because the human authors had to go through all the
processes involved in coming up with a written work.
2. Possession
 Human authors were neither coerced by
God to write nor do they lost their freewill when they put God’s Word into
writing, rather: they cooperate with inspiration

 INERRANCY OF THE BIBLE

 freedom from error
 a consequence of Inspiration – since God is the
principal author, it cannot but contain the Truth
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 But the Bible contains errors:

i. Error in Science
 the Bible is not written as a science textbook
 the Human author used materials (orientations and
concepts) which were available in his time including his primitive
knowledge in science.
 e.g. the sun moves around the earth: Joshua 10:14

ii. Error in History

 the Bible is a product of Oral tradition, and this Tradition
preserves the essential content, not the trivial details.
 as such, it is possible to find:
i. chronological errors;
ii. contradictory details; and
iii. inaccurate quotations
 e.g. The animals in Noah’s Ark: Genesis 6:19 and Genesis
7:2

iii. Error in Moral Understanding

 the people of the Old Testament did not learn God’s will
instantly
 it took time for them to understand Its precepts, hence,
there were instances when they leveled something good as bad and vice
versa.
 e.g. total extermination of enemies is God’s will: Joshua
11:13 14

 The Bible contains Errors, but teaches no error because the errors
do not in anyway affect the essential message of the Scriptures

 CANONICITY OF THE BIBLE:

 from Greek word: “kanon” – a stick or measuring rod
- implies norm or standards
 Canonicity
 the Church’s official declaration that a book is
inspired, and is therefore, a worthy basis of faith and morals
 this declaration neither make a book inspired nor add
to inspiration;
 it is simply an acknowledgement and recognition
of the Inspiration which the book has always possessed.

“For a book to be declared Canonical, it has to pass

certain standards. As it passes the standards, it becomes a
standard itself”--

 CANON OF THE SCRIPTURES

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 refers to the canonical books or the list and compilation of

inspired books.
 Criteria for Canonicity – for OLD and NEW TESTAMENT
 OLD TESTAMENT
 it must not contradict the “Torah” (Pentateuch–5
books of Moses)
 it must constantly be used in liturgy (public worship)
 it must be written in Hebrew Language – in some
cases, language becomes a factor for the Jews reject non-Hebrew writings
 it must be stored in the Temple Chest – being placed in
the Temple Chest, it is tantamount to canonization or recognition of the
writings as canonical

 NEW TESTAMENT
A. Apostolic Origin
 either the books were written by the Apostles
(or their immediate disciples) themselves or they were used as sources
B. Coherence with the Essential Gospel
 the content must be consistent with the
message of Christ
C. Constantly used in the liturgy
 they were used by the early Christian
communities in their celebration of the “breaking of the bread” and in
other liturgical functions.

 APOCRYPHAL
 when a book fails to meet the standards, it is labeled as such: i.e., of
doubtful authority.

 CANON OF SCRIPTURES
 when a book has passed the standards, it
becomes part of this
 refers to the official list of inspired books.

ROMAN CATHOLIC BIBLE

73 (72) BOOKS
46 Books in the Old Testament
(45 if Jeremiah and Lamentations are
counted as one)
27 Books in the New Testament

PROTESTANT BIBLE
66 BOOKS
39 Books in the Old Testament
27 Books in the New Testament

Reason for the difference:

 DEUTEROCANONICAL
 literally means: “second canon”
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 refers to the second set of canonical

books

 During the Council of Trent, before the Catholic Church finally closed the
CANON (which means: from then on, no other books will be added to the Bible), the
Church declared as canonical some Old Testament books which were recognized
ever since as inspired, but were not formally declared as part of the canon of
scriptures.

Unfortunately, the Protestants have already deviated from the ways of the
Catholic Church when this happened, so they do not have the Deuterocanonicals in
their Bible. If ever they include it, they simply label the books Apocryphals. One
thing is for sure, the Protestant Canon was still a product of the prudent judgment of
the Catholic Church before the split took place.

 CHAPTERS & VERSES OF THE BIBLE

 Most Rev. Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury

 divided the Bible into chapters, during the thirteenth
century

 Robert Estienne, French printer

 divided the Bible into verses, in the sixteenth century

2 Main Divisions of the Bible

OLD TESTAMENT NEW TESTAMENT

refers to the covenant between refers to the covenant between
God and Israel mediated by God and Humanity mediated by
Moses Jesus Christ
central event – Exodus central event - The
Resurrection
language– predominantly language- predominantly Greek
Hebrew
finds light and fulfillment in the finds its foundation in the Old
New Testament Testament
prefigurations fulfilled in the prefigured in the Old testament
NewTestament

The Old Covenant

- The Old Covenant was written on stone tablets.
- Its service brought death and condemnation.
- The covenant made with Moses had come to an end.

The New Covenant

- The New Covenant is engraved in our hearts.
- Its service leads to life and frees one from being condemned.
- The Covenant in Jesus is to last forever.
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