Sacred Scripture depends on Sacred Tradition Catholic Controversies pp Stephen N. Filippo

How along ago was the Bible written?  The earliest conventional estimate for the age of the Torah (1 st five books of the Bible) is 1450 BC.  Given that it relates events that occurred much earlier than that, there must have been a method of transmission earlier than the written word.  Regardless of what you believe about the Bible, it is only logical to assume it was handed down orally long before it was committed to the written word.

Does the Catholic Church differentiate between tradition and Sacred Tradition?  Sure does.  "tradition" can be the handing down of any oral material not initially committed to writing, while Sacred Tradition are those things handed down from one generation to the next by divine revelation.  Celebrating Christmas on December 25 th is tradition.  Accepting the validity of the liturgy, pronouncements from ecumenical councils, or the Trinity are Divine Tradition.

What is Sola Scriptura?  “Only the scripture”  A faith based solely on what is found in the Bible, without reference to Sacred Tradition.  Popular among protestants because it precludes needing to accept Catholic Church teachings if you don’t want to.  If you want to that’s fine. Most protestants are OK with the Trinity, for example.  Sola Scriptura has problems…  The New Testament did not start getting written until around 50AD. Most of the books were not written collaboratively or as part of a greater work like a Bible.  The books eventually selected for the New Testament were selected by the Church herself.

According to the Catholic Church, How does Divine Revelation get to us today?  Divine Revelation is transmitted from generation to generation, even today, by both Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture.  Jesus Christ passed his teachings onto the Apostles, who passed them on to their successors, even to today.  Some of what was passed on got written down, some did not get written in the 1 st century.

What’s the relationship then of Sacred Tradition and Scripture?  They form one sacred deposit of the word of God committed to the Church.  Safeguarded and defended by the Sacred Magisterium (teaching authority of the Roman Catholic Church).  Scripture is a subset of all that is contained in Sacred Tradition.