Being Catholic

THE DEPOSIT OF FAITH

So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions
we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
2 Thessalonians 2, 15

The verse from 2 Thessalonians comes from a letter written by the Apostle Paul to the community in Thessalonica around A.D. 50-51. This was a time when early Christians were facing various challenges, including persecution and confusion about the teachings of faith and the return of Christ. The Thessalonian community was one of the first Christian churches established by Paul. The early church faced uncertainty regarding the teachings of Christ and the expectations about His second coming. There were concerns about false teachings and a misunderstanding of whether the Day of the Lord had already come.

In this context, Paul emphasizes the importance of preserving and adhering to the traditions passed down from the apostles. These traditions were crucial for maintaining the unity and orthodoxy of the Christian faith during a formative period when many teachings were still being clarified. The reference to both “word of mouth” and “letter” highlights the dual means of transmission in the early church. Some teachings were shared orally, while others were documented in letters, which themselves would become part of the New Testament.

First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325)

In Catholic teaching from the earliest times, as documented by the early Church Fathers, the Deposit of Faith refers to the body of revealed truth in the Scriptures and Sacred Tradition. These comprise all that God has revealed to humanity through Jesus Christ, which the Church is called to guard, teach, and pass on to future generations. The Catholic Church holds that both Scripture and Tradition are essential to the faith. Tradition includes teachings that may not be explicitly written in Scripture but are vital to the faith and have been recognized and preserved by the Church over the centuries.

The Church’s Magisterium (the teaching authority) is responsible for interpreting both Scripture and Tradition. This authority ensures that the Church remains grounded in the authentic teachings of Christ and the apostles, consistent with Paul’s encouragement to hold fast to the teachings they received. The exhortation to “stand firm” is a reminder for Catholics to remain faithful to the foundational truths of their faith, especially in a world where secularism and various interpretations challenge the core teachings of Christianity.

Sacred Tradition refers to the unwritten word of God and serves as a significant source of divine revelation, integral to the understanding of the Christian faith. This concept indicates that Sacred Tradition is the foundation from which Sacred Scripture, the written word of God, originates, as highlighted in passages such as Luke 1:1-4. When we speak of Tradition as unwritten or verbally unspoken, we are referring to the divine mysteries that have been revealed or conveyed by the Holy Spirit to the Church throughout history, as noted in John 16:12-13. The infallibility of Tradition is crucial because it reinforces the infallibility of Scripture; both sources of divine revelation stem from the same divine source—the Holy Spirit.

While Tradition can be seen as the unwritten guidance, Scripture is viewed as the written inspiration. Since Scripture is derived from the initial unwritten Tradition, its interpretation should occur in light of this Sacred Tradition. These two forms of divine revelation—Scripture and Tradition—are intrinsically linked, and it is essential not to treat them as opposing or separate entities. Instead, they should be viewed as complementary aspects of a unified truth in the Christian faith. Therefore, understanding one enhances the comprehension of the other, reinforcing the belief that both are necessary for a complete and correct understanding of divine revelation.

Tradition, meaning “handing on,” in Greek paradosis [παράδοσις], refers to the transmission of God’s revealed word throughout history, guided by the Holy Spirit. It encompasses all divine revelation from the beginning of human history up until the end of the apostolic age, being passed down from one generation of believers to the next. The Church plays a crucial role in safeguarding this Tradition, often referred to as the Rule of Faith, until the return of Christ in glory, as noted in Matthew 28:20.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus reassures his apostles with the promise of the Holy Spirit, saying, “And I will pray to the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever” (John 14:16). The Greek term translated as “forever” is αἰῶνα (aiōna), indicating that the Holy Spirit, or Paraclete, will continuously reside with the Church throughout the entire Messianic age—from the event of Pentecost until His glorious return.

Thus, this verse from 2 Thessalonians encapsulates the essential role that both oral and written traditions played in the early Church, emphasizing the importance of fidelity to the teachings handed down through the Deposit of Faith in the Apostolic tradition. This safeguarding and transmission of faith serve as a cornerstone for maintaining Christian unity and integrity.

EARLY SACRED TRADITION

St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3,5,1
(inter A.D. 180-190)

‘Since, therefore, the tradition from the apostles does thus exist in the Church, and is permanent among us, let us revert to the Scriptural proof furnished by those apostles who did also write the Gospel, in which they recorded the doctrine regarding God, pointing out that our Lord Jesus Christ is the truth, and that no lie is in Him.’

St. Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 1,11
(c. A.D. 205)

‘But they, safeguarding the true tradition of the blessed teaching, which comes straight from the Apostles Peter, James, John and Paul and transmitted from father to son have come down to us with the help of God to deposit in us those ancestral and apostolic seeds.’

St. Athanasius, Orations 3,10
(c. A.D. 350)

“However here too they (the Arians) introduce their private fictions, and contend that the Son
and the Father are not in such wise ‘one,’ or ‘like,’ as the Church preaches, but as they themselves
would have it”

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”
John 16:12-13

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