CHRISTIAN LIFE

FORMATION 7
“Understanding the Passing
On of Revelation: Scripture
and Tradition
(Chapter 1-Week 3)

“OPENING”

 God’s self-revelation in Christ is passed on to generations of Catholic Christians through

two ways: sacred scripture and sacred tradition. Though distinct from each other,
scripture and tradition are “bound closely together” as resources of God’s revelation.
 “flowing from the same divine wellspring,” these two are oriented towards the same
goal– the salvation of humankind. Together, scripture and tradition “make up a single
sacred deposit of the Word of God, which is entrusted to the Church” (cf 9, 10).

 In this chapter, we seek to understand the transmission of God’s revelation by(1)

following the development of the church’s *Apostolic Tradition, rooted in Christ’s
command to proclaim the Good News to all nation; (2) seeing how scripture and tradition
relate with each other in the transmission of our Christian faith; and finally,(3) learning
more about the scripture—the living Word of God, which speaks to us today.

 We Filipinos, find great joy in sharing our most treasured life experiences with other
people. For instance, during family reunions or gatherings, it is quite common to hear
lolos and lolas(grandparents) fondly recall and talk about their unforgettable life
experience which stories that have become part family tradition. Similarly, when young
people gather with friends, they also reminisce and share about their most memorable
experience. At present, with the help modern technology and the internet, documenting
and sharing these become much easier.

 Why is there a need to share these so called unforgettable experiences in the first place?
Why cannot we just keep these moments ourselves? Perhaps, many of us would say that
we cannot contain the joy that these experience; the delight of such good news to our lord
ones and friends. We want others to see how we have grown and found meaning through
these experiences, hoping that they, too may learn something from our good news.

 This is especially true when it comes to the Good news of our salvation. The good news
also began with an unforgettable experience. It began with most treasured faith
experiences of the apostles that involve their encounters with our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. These faith experiences of the apostles and disciple of Christ did not only bring
them overflowing joy and a clear purpose in life; it left a permanent mark in their lives.
Their encounter with Christ, this Good News of salvation, that is being passed on to
Christians of today.

 CHRIST’S COMMAND: Proclaim the Good News to All

 THE COMMISSIONING OF THE DISCIPLES

 “Then Jesus approached and said to them (the eleven disciples), “All power 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 the holy Spirit, teaching
them to observe all that I have commanded you. A behold, I am with you always, until
the end of the age.” ( Mt 28:18-
21)
 Before the risen Christ ascended to heaven, he had left a very important message to his
disciples. He commanded him to proclaim the Good news of salvation to all nations and
baptize people in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit. The Good
News or Gospel was to become the source of all saving truth and moral for all believers
and followers of the Christ. In proclaiming the Gospel, the disciples were to convey
God’s definitive revelation in Jesus Christ and communicate his divine gifts to all human
beings—in world and in deed.

 2. To be a follower of Christ is “to be sent” to fulfill an important mission: to proclaim

the Gospel to others by word and deed. As a young Christian, what can you do the share
Christ and his message of salvation to others? List down at least three concrete ways.

 THE BEGINNING of APOSTOLIC TRADITION: St. Peter and St. Paul

 The word tradition comes from the Latin word trader, which means “to deliver” or “to
hand down.” In the church, apostolic or sacred tradition can either refer to the process of
handing down God’s revelation in Christ to succeeding generations of Catholic
Christians, or the actual content of revelation being handed down to the church today (cf
CFC 83).

 To further understand the role of tradition in the passing on of revelation, let us go

back to the beginning of apostolic tradition and see how it is related to the church’s living
tradition today. Among the apostles who were commissioned to proclaim the Gospel, two
clearly stood out—St. Peter and St. Paul. These two saints are also known as the two
great pillars of the church.

 1. St. Peter, originally known as Simon, was a fisherman from Galilee

 who became one of the most eager and passionate followers of

 Jesus. He was the first apostle to give a clear expression of his faith

 in Jesus as the “ Messiah, the son of the Living God”. Later on, Jesus

 changed his name to Peter, which means the “rock” upon which Christ

 would build his Church. It was to Peter that Christ entrusted the “keys”

 to the heavenly kingdom (cf Mt 16:16 ff).

 Peter’s role s the leader of the church was clearly demonstrated in the

 acts of the Apostles. Empowered by the holy spirit at Pentecost, he

 courageously proclaimed the Gospel by delivering sermons, baptizing

 people, and working various miracles in the name of Christ. During

 Peter’s first sermon in Jerusalem, around 3000 people were converted

 to the faith.

 Through Peter and the other apostles, the Gospel spread in many places and a great
umber of Jews were converted to the Christian Faith. Despite the great persecution of
Christians at that time, Peter continued to courageously proclaim the Gospel because of
his burning love for Christ and the Church.

 He was finally martyred and executed in Rome under the emperor Neo in 64 CE.
Having been granted his own request, Peter was crucified upside down, for he felt
unworthy to die in the same way as his Lord. Today, Peters tomb lies under the great St.
Peters Basilica in Rome. St. Peter is recognized as the “Prince of the Apostles” and the
First Pope of the Catholic Church.

 2. St. Paul, formerly called Saul from Tarsus, was not among the

 original twelve apostles of Christ. On the contrary, Saul was a jewish

 Pharisse who believed in the strict observance of Gods law and

 strongly persecuted the early Christians in Jerusalem. However,

 Saul’s life was turned upside down when on his way to Damascus

 to persecute more Christians, he encountered the Lord.

 This encounter with Christ led to Saul’s conversion and change

 f heart. He had taken on the name Paul and began preaching the

 Gospel everywhere with utmost zeal and passion to both jews and

 non—jews or Gentiles. He wrote many letters to the Gentile communities,

 which are not part of the new testament. In his letter to the Galatians,

 Paul explains that all who are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ,

 whether Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, are children of

 God and therefore heirs to eternal life.

 Like Peter, Paul was martyred and beheaded under emperor Nero in 67 CE. His tomb
is found in Basilica of St. Paul outside the walls of Rome. Whereas Peter ministered to
 the Jewish- Christian communities, Paul reached out to the Gentiles. This gave St. Paul
the title, “Apostle to the Gentiles.”

 St. Peter and St. Paul, though very much different from each other in human terms,
were one on their faith and love for Christ. In the words of Pope Emeritus Benedict XV1,
“together, they represent the whole Gospel of Christ.” As Christians of today, may we
also learn from the lives of these two great saints and become true witnesses of the
Gospel. The joint feast day of Saints Peter and Paul is celebrated every 29th of June.

“THE CHURCH’S LIVING TRADITION TODAY”

To preserve and full the living of the Gospel from Christ, the apostles appointed bishops as
successor to continue their mission. These bishops were given their position of “teaching
authority” called the magisterium so that they transmit the apostolic preaching within the church
until the end of time(cf DV 7). All the bishops of the catholic church led by bishops of Rome,
also known as the pope.

In the second letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians,

he urges them to be faithful to the church’s tradition

or teachings of the apostles concerning the gospel:

“Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to

the tradition that you were taught, either by an oral

statement or by a letter of ours” (2 Th 2:15)

This call also apply to Christians of today since what was handed on by the apostles contains
what is needed to make the members of the Church “live their lives in holiness and increase
their faith” (DV). The teachings of the holy Fathers which continue to guide the faithful in their
daily life of faith attest to the life—giving presence of sacred tradition in the church today.
However, Sacred tradition will not be perpetuated and sustained in the catholic church through
human efforts alone. The church’s living tradition continues to flourish in the belief, life and
prayer of its leaders and members today and will continue to do so in the future through the
power of the holy spirit, who dwells in the church.

RELATIONSHIP between TRADITION and SCRIPTURE

God’s self-revelation in Christ through the Holy Spirit remains alive in the church not just
through Tradition, but through another important source– the scripture.

The word scripture comes from the Latin Word scriptura which means “writings.” Sacred
scripture refers to the divinely-inspired written record of God’s revelation to his people
throughout history and their response to his revelation. It is “the speech of God as it is put down
in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit (DV 9). As such, Tradition depends on Scripture as
its norm or main basis of Christian origins, identity, and mission.

On the other hand, Scripture, as a source of revelation, grew from Tradition and is
interpreted by tradition. These “ sacred writings” are a concrete expression of the people’s faith –
experience of God and their need to communicate and pass on these experiences within their
community. Today, given the challenges of the modern world, scripture needs the living tradition
of the church to bring forth its message and relevance to the lives of Catholic Christians.

This means that scripture and tradition, though distinct from each other, are not to be taken as
two separate or unrelated sources of God’s revelation. The second Vatican council teaches us the
sacred scripture and the sacred tradition “are bound closely together and communicate one with
the other.’ They flow from “the same divine wellspring” and move toward the goal to proclaim
the Good News of salvation throughout the world(cf DV 9). Together, they make up a single
sacred deposit of the word of God, which is entrusted to the Church” (DV 10).

GOD’S LIVING WORD IN SCRIPTURE

The sacred Scripture is more commonly known to Christian as the Bible. The word bible
comes from the Hebrew Ta’Biblia, which means “many book” or “a library of books” since the
bible itself is a compilation of many books. However, the bible is not like any ordinary book or
record. It is the living word of God that speaks to all people of all time.

Unlike others book that become absolute with the passing of time, the bible will never become
outdated, for God who speaks to us through the bible is a living God. His living Word is the
source of all life and meaning. Hence, the bible is a relevant fro us today as it was for the
Israelites and Christians of past generations.

The letter to the Hebrews aptly describes this nature of the bible as God’s living word:
“Indeed, the word of God is Living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating
even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflection's and thoughts of
the heart” (Heb 4:12).

Through the bible, God speaks to us today as our loving and ever-present Father who knows
from our very core and calls us to live in accordance to his holy will. By reading the bible, we
grow in the knowledge of ourselves, others, and more importantly, God, through his Son, Jesus
Christ who is the eternal and definitive word of the Father who became man for our salvation (cf
Jn 1:1,14). This is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in
his name” (Jn 20:31).

2. Oral Tradition. The passing on of the peoples experience with God by word of mouth is the
next stage in the formation of the bible. In fact, much of the content of the bible came from oral
accounts that were handed down from generation to generation. These include stories, songs,
prayers, and poems. All of which were proclaimed, memorized, and preserved by the faithful.

3.Written records and formation od the books. Along with oral tradition, written materials where
included such as speeches and writings of the prophets and the apostles. Priests and other trained
scribes gathered, edited, organized, and compiled the oral and written materials into books. After
individual books were completed, they were added to the collection of books that had already
been formed.

4. Formation of the Canon. Many years after the Hebrew Canon of Scriptures (or the old
testament used by Christians) was completed in 100 CE, the early church had to choose which
books should be part of the final collection of books known as the Catholic Canon of Scriptures.

The catholic scriptures refers to the complete list of books in the old and new testament,
which are recognized by the catholic church as divinely inspired. Guided by the holy spirit, the
church determined the inspired and normative testament books using the three criteria:
(a)apostolic origin, (b) coherence with the Gospel message, (c) constant use in the Church’s
liturgy (cf CFC 88).

The Catholic Canon accepted 46 books of the Old testament and 24 books of the new
testament as inspired, sacred, and canonical.

 Structure of the Bible

The catholic Christian bible has two major: the old and new testament. The word testament
means “agreement” or “covenant”. Both parts of the bible details God’s covenant with the
Israelites, his chosen people, and with Christians, the disciples and followers of our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ.

The old testament –the old testament contains the religious history of Israel before the coming
of Jesus. It centers on the covenant God made with the Israelites and the effects of this covenant
on their lives not only as an individual but most especially as a nation. For the Israelites or the
Jews, the old testament or the Hebrew Scriptures is divided into three categories: the law, the
prophets, and the writings.

The Law or the Torah contains the Pentateuch or the so called “five books of Moses,” namely,
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The Torah is the most sacred text for
the Jews because it contains God’s covenant with the Israelites, which is the foundation of their
nationhood and laws.

The Prophets contains the historical accounts of ancient Israel and the Prophets’ call to return
to the covenant when the Israelites were unfaithful to it. Examples of books in this category are
Joshua, First and second Samuel, First and second Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.
 The Writings contains the remaining books of the old testament, which are reflections on the
meaning of the covenant in various literary forms.

 NEW TESTAMENT

the second part of the Christian Bible, written originally in Greek and recording the life and
teachings of Jesus and his earliest followers. It includes the four Gospels, the Acts of the
Apostles, twenty-one epistles by St. Paul and others, and the book of Revelation.

The new testament consist of 27 books;

*4 Canonical Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John)

*The Acts of the Apostles.

*14 Epistles of Paul.

*7 General Epistles, and.

*The Book of Revelation.

MEANINGFUL USE of the BIBLE

Using the bible meaningfully enables us to fulfill our mission to spread God’s revelation to
others by word and deed. We do this when we read and study the Bible with faith pray with the
bible, and more importantly, live out the message of the bible.

As Catholic Christian, we are given the blessed opportunity to read, study, and pray the bible
every Sunday Mass. However, the challenge of applying the message of God in our life remains.
Let us, therefore, ask for the grace of the holy spirit to help us not only to hear, read, and reflect
upon God’s Word, but also to constantly live it out in our daily life.