Editing Sola scriptura (section)

==Scripture and sacred tradition==
The [[Roman Catholic Church]], against whom the Protestants directed these arguments, did not see Scripture and the [[Sacred Tradition]] of the faith as different sources of authority, but that Scripture was handed down as part of Sacred Tradition (see [[2 Thessalonians]] 2:15, [[2 Timothy]] 2:2).

The Catholic Church holds that the Gospel was transmitted by the apostles by their oral preaching, by example, and by observances handed on what they had received from the lips of Christ, from living with Him, and from what He did, or what they had learned through the prompting of the Holy Spirit; as well as by those apostles and apostolic men who under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit committed the message of salvation to writing.{{sfn|''Dei Verbum''|loc=§7}} "This living transmission, accomplished in the Holy Spirit, is called Tradition, since it is distinct from Sacred Scripture, though closely connected to it."{{Sfn|CCC|loc=§78}} "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture make up a single sacred deposit of the Word of God."{{sfn|''Dei Verbum''|loc=§10}}

The Tradition here in question comes from the apostles and hands on what they received from Jesus' teaching and example and what they learned from the Holy Spirit.  (The Catholic Church distinguishes Sacred Tradition from lesser ecclesiastical traditions—local customs that may be retained, modified or even abandoned.) As explained by [[Athanasius of Alexandria]], "Let us look at the very tradition, teaching, and faith of the Catholic Church from the very beginning, which the Logos gave (edoken), the Apostles preached (ekeryxan), and the Fathers preserved (ephylaxan). Upon this the Church is founded (tethemeliotai)"(St. Athanasius, "First Letter to Serapion", 28)<ref name=goarch>{{Cite web|url=https://www.goarch.org/-/tradition-in-the-orthodox-church|title=Tradition in the Orthodox Church – Theology – Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America|website=www.goarch.org}}</ref>

The doctrines which constitute Sacred Tradition are also perceived by the Church as cohesive in nature. The proper interpretation of the Scriptures was seen as part of the faith of the Church and seen indeed as the manner in which biblical authority was upheld (see [[Book of Acts]] 15:28–29). The meaning of Scripture was seen as proven from the faith universally held in the churches (see Phil. 2:1, Acts 4:32), and the correctness of that universal faith was seen as proven from the Scriptures and apostolic Sacred Tradition (see 2 Thes. 2:15, 2 Thes. 3:6, [[1 Corinthians]] 11:2). The [[Biblical canon]] itself was thus viewed by the Church as part of the Church's tradition, as defined by its leadership and acknowledged by its laity. The first generation of Christians did not yet have a written New Testament, and the New Testament itself demonstrates the process of living Tradition.{{sfn|CCC|loc=§83}}

The Catholic ''[[Dei verbum]]'' and the [[papal encyclical]]s ''[[Providentissimus Deus]]'' by [[Pope Leo XIII]] and ''[[Divino afflante Spiritu]]'' by [[Pope Pius XII]] set out Catholic teaching on tradition versus individual interpretation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://quilocutus.blogspot.com/2010/01/sola-scriptura-self-refuting.html |title=Qui Locutus: Sola Scriptura Self Refuting |author=Scott Windsor Sr. |date=19 January 2010 |access-date=2025-01-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Sippo |first1=Art |editor-last1=Pacheco |editor-first1=John |title=Sola Scriptura's Self Refutation |url=https://www.catholic-legate.org/post/sola-scriptura-s-self-refutation |website=The Catholic Legate |language=en |date=January 2000}}</ref>

The Catholic Church teaches that Christ entrusted the preaching of the Gospel to the apostles, who handed it on [[Oral gospel traditions|orally]] and in writing, and according to the ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]'', "the apostolic preaching, which is expressed in a special way in the inspired books, was to be preserved in a continuous line of succession until the end of time. "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture make up a single sacred deposit of the Word of God in which, as in a mirror, the pilgrim Church contemplates God, the source of all her riches."{{sfn|CCC|loc=97}} For the [[Eastern Orthodox]] too, "the Holy Bible forms a part of Holy Tradition, but does not lie outside of it. One would be in error to suppose that Scripture and Tradition are two separate and distinct sources of Christian Faith, as some do, since there is, in reality, only one source; and the Holy Bible exists and found its formulation within Tradition".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.orthodoxoutreach.net/orthodoxy/TTtradition.pdf |title=Orthodox Outreach, "Holy Tradition" |access-date=20 November 2013 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304075130/http://www.orthodoxoutreach.net/orthodoxy/TTtradition.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Catholics apply to apostolic tradition many of the qualities that evangelicals and other Protestants apply to scripture alone. For example, the 1978 [[Evangelical]] declaration ''[[Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy]]'', states: "We affirm that inspiration was the work in which God by His Spirit, through human writers, gave us His Word. The origin of Scripture is divine. The mode of divine inspiration remains largely a mystery to us. We deny that inspiration can be reduced to human insight, or to heightened states of consciousness of any kind."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alliancenet.org/partner/Article_Display_Page/0,,PTID307086_CHID750054_CIID2094584,00.html |title=Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, Article VII |website=[[Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals]] |access-date=1 November 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150406074217/http://www.alliancenet.org/partner/Article_Display_Page/0,,PTID307086_CHID750054_CIID2094584,00.html |archive-date=2015-04-06 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Since the Catholic Church professes that apostolic tradition and scripture are both the word of God, Catholics can affirm that many of these propositions apply equally well to tradition: It is the work of the Holy Spirit, which cannot be reduced to human insight or heightened consciousness.

This ties in with the question of what constitutes apostolic tradition. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that this tradition is given "by the apostles who handed on, by the spoken word of their preaching, by the example they gave, by the institutions they established, what they themselves had received – whether from the lips of Christ, from his way of life and his works, or whether they had learned it at the prompting of the Holy Spirit".{{sfn|CCC|loc=76}}

There is a distinction between apostolic tradition, which in the Catholic view does not change (but needs [[Magisterium#Levels|elucidation]]), and [[theology]], such as [[moral theology]] and [[doctrine]], which [[Development_of_doctrine|develops]]. Catholic theologian [[James F. Keenan|James Keenan]] reviewed the history of moral theology, and in particular a change in the approach of moral theologians, specifically in the twentieth century. Keenan noted that academic theologian [[Mark D. Jordan]] said that medieval texts he had reviewed appeared to be inconsistent. However, this refers to medieval traditions and not to apostolic tradition or doctrine. Keenan says that Catholic academic and judge [[John T. Noonan Jr.]] demonstrated that, "despite claims to the contrary, [[Catholic_moral_theology#Birth_of_manualism|manualists]] were co-operators in the necessary historical development of the moral tradition". According to Noonan, "history cannot leave a principle or a teaching untouched; every application to a situation affects our understanding of the principle itself."{{sfn|Keenan|2010|p=45}}