Editing Sacred Tradition

{{Infobox theology|name=Sacred Tradition|image=|caption="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 Thessalonians 2:15|type=Catholic doctrine|main_classification=Source of Divine Revelation|scripture_ref=2 Thessalonians 2:15; 1 Corinthians 11:2; 2 Timothy 2:2|authoritative_body=The Magisterium of the Catholic Church|related_doctrines=[[Sacred Scripture]], [[Magisterium]], [[Deposit of Faith]]}}

'''Sacred Tradition''' (Latin: ''traditio'') in the [[Catholic Church]] refers to the living transmission of the apostolic faith through preaching, liturgy, prayer, and doctrinal teaching. It is not a static collection of customs, but the living memory of the [[Word of God]] as it is handed on in the Church by the power of the [[Holy Spirit]]. Together with [[Sacred Scripture]], it forms one sacred deposit of revelation, interpreted authentically by the [[Magisterium]].

== Scriptural Foundations ==
The term ''tradition'' (Greek: ''παράδοσις'', ''paradosis'') appears frequently in the [[New Testament]]:

* '''2 Thessalonians 2:15''' – “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter.”
* '''1 Corinthians 11:2''' – “I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you.”
* '''2 Timothy 2:2''' – “What you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”

These passages indicate that **oral and written** modes of transmission coexisted from the beginning. The [[Council of Trent]] (Session IV, *Decretum de Canonicis Scripturis*, 1546) solemnly declared: > "Following the examples of the orthodox Fathers, this Synod receives and venerates with equal affection of piety and reverence all the books both of the Old and of the New Testament, since one God is the author of both, and also the traditions, whether they relate to faith or to morals, as having been orally dictated by Christ or by the Holy Spirit, and preserved in the Catholic Church by a continuous succession."

== Nature and Definition ==
[[Second Vatican Council|Vatican II]] defines Sacred Tradition in *[[Dei Verbum]]* §9: > “Hence 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…”

Similarly, *Dei Verbum* §10 emphasizes that the task of authentic interpretation is entrusted to the Church’s living Magisterium: > “The task of authentically interpreting the word of God, whether written or handed on, has been entrusted exclusively to the living teaching office of the Church, whose authority is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ.”

== Early Church Fathers ==
The [[Church Fathers]] consistently recognized apostolic Tradition as a distinct and authoritative source of Christian truth:

* '''St. Irenaeus of Lyons''' (''Against Heresies'', III.3.1-4):

> “It is within the power of all, therefore, in every Church, who may wish to see the truth, to contemplate clearly the tradition of the Apostles manifested throughout the whole world; and we are in a position to reckon up those who were by the Apostles instituted bishops in the Churches, and to demonstrate the succession of these men to our own times… For if the Apostles had not left writings to us, would it not be necessary to follow the course of the tradition which they handed down to those to whom they committed the Churches?”

* '''Tertullian''' (''De Praescriptione Haereticorum'', 21):

> “If the Lord Jesus Christ sent the Apostles to preach, no others ought to be received as preachers than those whom Christ appointed. For 'no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son has revealed Him' [Matthew 11:27]. Hence we must inquire whether there be any apostolic Church; for where the Apostolic Churches are found, there also the true faith exists.”

* '''St. Basil the Great''' (''On the Holy Spirit'', 27):

> “Of the dogmas and messages preserved in the Church, some we possess from written teaching and others we receive from the tradition of the Apostles, handed on to us in mystery; both of these have the same force in true religion.”

== Councils and Magisterial Affirmations ==
The continuity of Scripture and Tradition is a constant theme in the Church’s Councils:

* **[[Council of Ephesus]] (AD 431)** – defended the apostolic faith against Nestorian innovations by appealing to the unbroken teaching of the Fathers.
* **[[Council of Chalcedon]] (AD 451)** – defined Christ’s two natures “following the holy Fathers.”
* **[[Council of Trent]] (1545–1563)** – reaffirmed the equal authority of apostolic Tradition and Scripture against Protestant claims of ''sola Scriptura''.
* **[[Vatican I]] (1870), *Dei Filius*, ch. 2** –

> “This supernatural revelation, according to the universal belief of the Church, is contained in written books and unwritten traditions, which, received by the Apostles from the mouth of Christ Himself or by the Apostles from the dictation of the Holy Spirit, have come down even unto us.”

* **[[Second Vatican Council]] (1962–1965)** – *[[Dei Verbum]]* reaffirmed that both Scripture and Tradition “must be accepted and honored with equal feelings of devotion and reverence” (§9).

== The Deposit of Faith ==
The unity of Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium is summarized in *[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]* §§ 80–82: > “Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing and move toward the same goal... It is clear, therefore, that, in the supremely wise arrangement of God, Sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture, and the Magisterium of the Church are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the others.”

== Relation to Scripture and the Magisterium ==
The [[Magisterium]] serves as the “authentic interpreter” of both Scripture and Tradition (*Dei Verbum* §10). The Church does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from Scripture alone, but from Scripture read in the heart of the Church:

* **[[Pope Pius XII]]**, ''Humani Generis'' (1950):

> “For the sacred deposit of faith was not entrusted to the private judgment of individuals, but to the Magisterium of the Church alone, that it might be preserved and expounded with infallible authority.”

== Rejection of ''Sola Scriptura'' ==
The Catholic Church rejects the notion that Scripture alone is the exclusive rule of faith, as it cannot define its own canon or provide an authoritative interpretation. [[Council of Trent|Trent]] therefore declared both Scripture and unwritten traditions as “equally to be received.” [[St. Vincent of Lérins]] summarized the principle in his ''Commonitorium'' (§2): > “We hold that faith which has been believed everywhere, always, and by all; for that is truly and properly Catholic.”

== Summary ==
Sacred Tradition ensures that divine revelation remains alive and uncorrupted in the Church. As [[John Henry Newman]] wrote in ''An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine'' (1845): > “Tradition is not a mere transmission of words, but of meaning and spirit. It grows and expands without changing its essence; it is the same life which develops, not another.”

== See also ==

* [[Dei Verbum]]
* [[Council of Trent]]
* [[Apostolic Tradition]]
* [[Magisterium]]
* [[Deposit of Faith]]
* [[The Impossibility of Sola Scriptura]]
* [[The Canon of Scripture]]

== References ==

* *[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]*, §§ 74–100.
* *[[Dei Verbum]]* (Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation), 1965.
* *[[Dei Filius]]*, Vatican I, 1870.
* *Humani Generis*, Pope Pius XII, 1950.
* St. Irenaeus, *Against Heresies*, Book III.
* St. Basil, *On the Holy Spirit*, ch. 27.
* St. Vincent of Lérins, *Commonitorium*, §2.