As from the first, God speaks to his Church through the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible and through sacred Tradition. To make sure we understand Him, He guides the Church's teaching authority - the Magisterium - so it always interprets the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible and sacred Tradition [oral and written] accurately. This is the gift of infallibility.

Like the three legs on a stool, the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium are all necessary for the stability of the Church to guarantee sound doctrine. The Bible - Sacred scripture (CCC 101-141) Scripture, by which we mean the Old Testament and the New Testament, was inspired by God. - 2Tim. 3:16 -

The Holy Spirit guided the biblical authors to write what He wanted them to write. Since God is the principal author of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, and since God is truth itself - John 14:6 - and cannot teach anything untrue, it is free from all error in everything it asserts to be true.

Some Christians claim, "The Holy Bible is all I need," but this notion is not taught in the Holy Bible itself. In fact, the Holy Bible teaches the contrary idea. - 2Pet. 1:20-21, 3:15-16 - The "Holy Bible alone" theory was not believed by Christians in the early Church.

It is new, having arisen only in the 1500s during the Protestant Reformation. The theory is a "tradition of men" that nullifies the Word of God, distorts the true role of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, and undermines the authority of the Universal Church Jesus established. - Mark 7:1-8 -

Although popular with many "Bible Christian" churches, the "Bible alone" theory simply does not work in practice. Historical experience disproves it. Each year we see additional splintering among "Bible-believing" religions. Today there are tens of thousands of competing denominations, each insisting its interpretation of the Bible is the correct one. The resulting divisions have caused untold confusion among millions of sincere but misled Christians.

We know for sure: The Holy Spirit cannot be the author of this confusion. - 1Cor. 14:33 - God cannot lead people to contradictory beliefs because His truth is one. The conclusion? The "Bible alone" theory must be false.

Sacred Tradition (CCC 75-83)
Sacred Tradition should not be confused with mere traditions of men, which are more commonly called customs or disciplines. Jesus sometimes condemned customs of disciplines, but only if they were contrary to God's commands. - Mark 7:8 - He never condemned sacred Tradition, and he didn't even condemned all human tradition.

Sacred Tradition and the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible are not different or competing revelations. They are two ways that the Church hands on the gospel. Apostolic teachings such as the Trinity, infant baptism, the inerrancy of the Sacred Scripture, purgatory, and Mary's perpetual virginity have been most clearly taught through Tradition, although they are also implicitly present in ( and not contrary to) the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible. The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible itself tells us to hold fast to Tradition, whether it comes to us in written or oral form. - 2Thess. 2:15, 1Cor. 11:2 -

Sacred Tradition should not be confused with customs and disciplines, such as the rosary, priestly celibacy, and not eating meat on Fridays in Lent. These are good and helpful things, but they are not doctrines. Sacred Tradition preserves doctrines first taught by Jesus to the apostles and later passed down to us through the apostles' successors, the bishops.

The Magisterium (CCC 85-87, 888-892)
Together the pope and the bishops form the teaching authority of the Church, which is called the Magisterium (from the Latin for "teacher"). The Magisterium, guided and protected from error by the Holy Spirit, gives us certainty in matters of doctrines. The Church is the custodian of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible and faithfully and accurately proclaims its message, a task which God has empowered it to do.

Keep in mind that the Universal Church came before the New Testament, not the New Testament before the Universal Church. Divinely-inspired members of the Church wrote the books of the New Testament, just as divinely-inspired writers had written the Old Testament, and the Church is guided by the Holy Spirit to guard and interpret the entire Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, both Old and New Testaments

Such an official interpreter is absolutely necessary if we are to understand the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible properly. (We all know what the Constitution says, but we still need a Supreme Court to interpret what it means.) The Magisterium is infallible when it teaches officially because Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to guide the apostles and the successors "into all truth". - John 16:12-13 -

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -