Bible and Tradition – Rev. R. J. Griffin

For Catholics who already know their doctrine well, the Bible is of great use. In spite of the difficulties I have spoken of, very much of the Bible is easy to understand, and it can help us very much to lead good lives. We can read how wonderfully God dealt with His people in olden times; we can read about the life and sayings of Our Lord; we can learn how kind and good God is to us, and so get to love Him more. The Bible has been called “a collection of letters from our Heavenly Father to His loved children”. Just as children love to keep the letters of their earthly parents, so we should respect and love the letters of our Heavenly Father, and follow the advice given in them. Because a Catholic has the Church to keep him from making mistakes, he has not got to trouble himself to search out what to believe in the Bible. The Church has already done that for him. He knows that if a certain part is difficult to understand, or seems to go against his own ideas, he need not trouble, because there can be no real difference between the Bible and the teachings of the Church, as they both come from God.

 What do Catholics Mean by “Tradition”?

By Tradition, we mean those teachings of Christ and the Apostles which were not written in the Bible. As you know, only a part of Our Lord’s teaching was written in the Gospel. From John 21:25 that is clear. Your own sense would tell you that Our Lord, who went about for three years, teaching all the time, must have said a lot more than we find in the Gospels, which are really quite short of books. The chief teaching of Tradition has been written down in various Creeds(for example, the Apostles’ Creed). It is supported by the government of those great teachers of the Church who lived in the first centuries after Christ – they are called the Fathers of the Church. Catholic Tradition is very different from the stories and legends handed down among men, such as the stories of old kings and heroes of tribes. This tradition has been kept from mistakes by the Holy Ghost.

Is Tradition spoken about in the Bible?

The Bible tells us to believe in Tradition. St. Paul writes to Timothy: “And what you have heard from me before many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Tim. 2:2) . To the Thessalonians he wrote; “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter.” (2 Thesis. 2:15). He commanded the Thessalonians to avoid those living in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that they have received from them.(see 2 Thess. 3:6)