Revelation, Tradition, & Scripture

R.C.I.A.
Revelation
 The Term Revelation
● The word revelation comes
from the Latin word
“Revelare” which means to
take off the veil
● “Re” - to reverse
● “Velare” - to cover or veil
● Divine Revelation - God’s
communication of himself
and his plan
● God through words and deed
removes the veil and opens
himself and his plan to us
● God reveals himself to the
human race not all at once
but gradually and by stages
which culminate in Christ
 The content of Revelation
1.Himself
● Above all God reveals
himself and who he is, e.g. eternal,
creator, Loving Father, Savior, All
Holy
2. His Plan
● He shows us his plan of
salvation and mercy, e.g.
forgiveness of sin and restoration
of life and happiness
●Ultimately His plan is to
make us his adopted children
●God wants us to
cooperate with his plan and shows
us how
 Stages of Revelation
● Revelation grew in extension and depth
● Extension
● Continual growth in the amount of peoples who
acknowledge and accept what God reveled
● Depth
● Continual growth in the content of revelation up to the
time of Christ and the apostles
● Continual growth in understanding the content of
revelation
● Q. How do we know about God and the things of
God?
● A. He revealed them to us
 Stages of Revelation

1.Couple
2.Family
3.Tribe
4.Nation
5.Kingdom
6.Universal
Church
7.Final Coming
 Fullness of Revelation - Jesus
● God has revealed all he wants to
reveal in the Word made flesh who
was crucified for our salvation
● The book of Hebrews says, “In many
and various ways God spoke of old
to our fathers by the prophets; but in
these last days he has spoken to us
by a Son” 1:1-2
● “In giving us his Son, his only and
definitive Word, God spoke
everything to us at once in this sole
Word, and he has no more to say” –
St. John of the Cross
● In Christ is the fullness of revelation
and there will be no further revelation
● Revelation closed at the death of the
last apostle
● Authentic private revelations will only
highlight and/or further explain what
has already been revealed
Gradual Understanding the Content
of Revelation
● Although God has revealed
everything he wants to
show us it takes time to
gradually understand it
● For example to took several
centuries to more fully
understand the Trinity and
the sacraments
● The Holy Spirit is the one
who leads the Church in
deepening her
understanding
● “When the Spirit of truth
comes, he will guide you into
all the truth” (John 16:13)
 Tradition:
The Transmission of Divine Revelation
 The Term Tradition
● Tradition – comes from the Latin word traditio which
means “handing on”
● Apostolic Tradition - the traditions of faith and life that come
from the Apostles
● Apostolic Tradition is the handing on of all of God’s revelation
from the beginning of human history to the time of the Apostles,
into our own day
 Sources of Apostolic Tradition
● The Apostles received divine
revelation from:
● (1) The Old Testament – i.e. the
patrimony and history of the Law and
the Prophets
● (2) What Jesus said and did – e.g.
the meaning of Redemption through
suffering, the Eucharist, beatitudes,
morality of the eyes etc…
● (3) All that the Holy Spirit taught
the Apostles – e.g. that the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit are all truly God,
that they were supposed to institute
successors, a deeper meaning of the
resurrection of the body, etc…
 Forms of Apostolic Tradition
● The apostles passed on revelation in
two ways
● (4) Sacred Tradition – their oral preaching,
the example of their lives, their institutions
and practices, the way they worshiped God
•“What you have heard from me before
many witnesses entrust to faithful men who
will be able to teach others also.” (2 Tim 2:2)
● (5) Sacred Scripture – written word
inspired by the Holy Spirit
● Apostolic Tradition includes Scripture
and Tradition which form one deposit
of faith
•“Stand firm and hold to the traditions which
you were taught by us, either by word of mouth
or by letter.” (2 Thes 2:15)
 Giving the Apostolic Tradition
● The Apostles entrusted the Bishops

one deposit of faith

(scripture and tradition) to:
● (6) Their successors the
bishops who authoritatively
guide the understanding of
the faith
Whole Church
● (7) The whole Church who
receives, believes, and lives
the apostolic tradition
 Order of Apostolic Tradition
● Order of Events of apostolic tradition
● (1) History of the Old Testament
● (2) The Revelation of Jesus Christ
● (3) The Holy Spirit who taught the apostles
● (4) Apostolic Preaching
● (5) Writing of the New Testament Scriptures
● (6) Passing on both tradition and scripture to the
successors of the apostles
● (7) Received by the whole Church to our own day
 Oral Tradition:
Big “T” and little “t”
● Big “T” Tradition – this refers to the oral
tradition that began with the apostles and which
has been handed down through the ages
● All in the big “T” tradition is essential to our faith and
is guarded by the Holy Spirit
● Little “t” traditions - These traditions come
from the Church and can be kept, changed, or
abandoned under the guidance of the
Magisterium
● e.g. fasts, liturgy, devotions, vestments, theological
expressions, etc…
 Magisterium
● Magisterium – the teaching
office of the Church
● the pope who is the successor
of Peter and
● the bishops who are the
successors of the apostles
● God has entrusted the
Magisterium with the task of
authentically interpreting and
guarding the deposit of faith,
i.e. Scripture and Tradition
● “Hence I remind you to rekindle
the gift of God that is within you
through the laying on of my
hands…guard the truth that has
been entrusted to you by the
Holy Spirit” (1 Tim 1:6,14)
 Tradition, Scripture, Magisterium
● Sacred Scripture, Sacred
Tradition, and the Magisterium
are connected in such a way
that one cannot stand without
the others
● By the power of the Holy Spirit
all three individually and
together led to salvation
● Without tradition the scriptures
could not be properly
interpreted
Magisterium
● Without the Magisterium
tradition could not be
preserved
● Without the scriptures the Tradition
Magisterium would not have Scripture
the inspired record of events
Sacred Scripture
 The Terms Scripture and Bible
● Scriptures – comes from the Latin word
scriptura which means “writings”
● the term scriptures emphasizes the great diversity of
authors, literary genera, and times in history
● Bible – comes from the Greek word biblion
which simply means “book”
● The term bible highlights the unity of the Sacred
scriptures and emphasizes that God is the ultimate
author
● Author of Sacred Scripture
● Primary author: God
● Secondary authors: The human writers
● A good illustration to understand this
relationship is an instrument, e.g. a pen or
saxophone
 Inspiration
● “All scripture is inspired by God” (2Tim 3:16).
● The word Paul uses is “theo-pneustos” which literally
means God-breathed
● Biblical Inspiration – the act whereby God
used or “inspired” the thoughts, ideas, language,
style, will, energy, work, emotions, etc… of the
human authors to write what he wanted them to
and nothing more
● The Holy Spirit inspired the authors to record without
error the truths necessary for salvation
● Inspiration is neither divine possession nor
simply a seal of approval
● Inerrancy – The scriptures are without
error since they have God, who can
neither deceive nor be deceived, as their
primary author
 Canon of Scripture
● Canon is the Greek work for “rule”
● The books in the “canon” were chosen because they
matched the “rule” of faith
● The canon of scripture consists of 73 books:
46 in the OT and 27 in the NT
● After some debate this was settled by the council of
Carthage in 397 and approved by pope St. Siricius
● This canon of scripture differs from our
protestant brothers and sisters who hold that
there are 39 books of the OT
● Deuterocanonical - Tobit, Judith, Parts of Esther,
Wisdom, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Parts of Daniel, and
Maccabees 1 & 2
● These texts were written in Greek instead of Hebrew
● Protestant reformers removed them in the 1500s
 Old and New Testament
● Scripture is one insofar as
the Word of God is one
● Old Testament prepares for The New
the New Testament
● E.g. the sacrifice of Isaac fulfills the
the son Abraham Old
● The New Testament fulfills Testament
the Old
● E.g. The sacrifice of Jesus
the son of the Father The Old
● They both shed light on one Testament
another prepares for
● In scripture the Eternal the New
Word of God comes to us Testament
in the words of God
 Jesus – The Word of God
● The mystery of the Word of
God is greater than the
words contained in the
scriptures
● “Now Jesus did many The Eternal Word of God
other signs in the
presence of the disciples,
which are not written in
this book”
● The scriptures are not a
dead word from the past
but are an encounter with The written words of
the a living and Eternal Scriptures
Word of God
● Catholicism then is not “a
religion of the book” but of
the living and incarnate
Word of God, Jesus Christ
● “Ignorance of Scripture is
ignorance of Christ” –St.
Jerome
How do we read the Scriptures?
● With the help of the Holy Spirit who inspired
them and under the guidance of the Church’s
Magisterium
● 3 criteria
● Read the scriptures with attention to the content and
unity of the whole of Scripture
● Read a passage within its context and its relationship to with
other places in the bible
● Read within the living Tradition of the Church
● There are certain ways that the Church has always or never
read a certain passages
● Read with attention to the “analogy of faith”
● This means the inner harmony which exists among all the
truths and doctrines of faith
 Example
● “Is not this the carpenter, the son
of Mary and brother of James
and Joses and Judas and
Simon, and are not his sisters
here with us?" (Mark 6:5)
● How do we understand ‘brothers and sisters’
● Content and unity – Lot is Abraham’s nephew (Gen
12:5) and yet the author also refers to him as his
brother (Gen 13:8)
● Living Tradition – held that they are Jesus’ cousins.
St Jerome in the 4th century said that the idea that
they are blood brothers and sisters was “novel”
● Analogy of Faith – this interpretation is in harmony
with the teaching of Mary’s perpetual virginity
 Senses of Scripture
● Literal Sense
● The literal meaning and intention of the author, original
language, historical context, literary form/genera
● All other senses are based upon the literal sense
● Spiritual senses
● Allegorical – understanding how the events in salvation
history foreshadow Christ and the Church
● Moral – teach us on how to act justly
● Anagogical (heavenly)– leads us toward the glory of
heaven
● Summary
● “The Letter speaks of deeds; Allegory to faith; The
Moral how to act; Anagogy our destiny”
 Example
● Parting of the Red Sea
● Exodus14:21-28
● Allegorical – Allegory of the sacrament
of Baptism
● Desert wonderings
● Exodus 17:1-7
● Moral – God provisions in the
wilderness is a lesson of trust
● Fruit of the promised land
● Numbers 13:21-27
● Heavenly – points to the abundance of
joy in the promised land of heaven
 Scripture and Tradition
● Scripture and Tradition form one deposit of faith
● Yet there were many different things written and
said of Jesus even in the 1st century
● Gospel of Thomas
● Gospel of Peter
● Ebionites – Jesus was born of Mary and Joseph
● Docitists – Jesus only appeared to be man
● Q. How could people know which were the
genuine scriptures and the authentic traditions?
● A. Through the successors of the Apostles