Sacred Tradition

�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 Thess. 2:15). So wrote St. Paul in his second letter to the Thessalonians. Against the Protestant Reformers the Council of Trent maintained that tradition as well as Sacred Scripture, was a source of the Church's teaching magis�terium. Since earliest times sacred tradition has always been recognized as a true font of revelation. Indeed, Scripture alone cannot be the sole source of faith because the Canon of Scripture cannot be determined from the writings themselves, nor can their inspiration be so determined. But how is tradition safely transmitted? By means of the creeds, the writings of the fathers, the constant and unanimous consent of Catholic Schools on matters of faith, the ancient ecclesiastical monuments, the common belief of the faithful, bur most of all by the solemn judgment of the Church which is always an infallible proof of divine tradition. Whether we regard tradition as the teaching authority of the Church, or the body of teaching itself, or the Church's act of teaching the deposit of faith, all three are involved in the history of the authentic transmission of God's revelation of Himself to man in the person of the God - Man Jesus Christ.

� Evangelization Station, 2010

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