Lesson 3

Transmission/Channels of
Revelation: Sacred
{Scripture and Sacred
Tradition
 ‚Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture are
bound closely together, and communicate one with
the other. For both, flowing out from the same divine
wellspring, come together and move towards the
same goal.‛ Both must be accepted and honored with
equal devotion and reverence (DV9).
Though distinct, they ‚make up a single sacred
deposit of the Word of God, which is entrusted to the
Church. But the task of giving an authentic
interpretation of the Word of God has been entrusted
to the Magisterium alone‛ (DV10, 7-8; CCC 74-95;
CFC 81-84; ND 205-206,209-210).
3.1. What is Sacred Tradition?

 Latin tradere (traditio) – to hand over; Greek

paradidonai (paradosis) – to hand over
 The living apostolic transmission of faith; the

very life and teachings of the Church

 3.1.1. Types of Tradition

 Tradition(capital T) – the content that which is

handed on; the revelation of God and the gift
which he has made himself in Christ, his presence
in the life of the Church by the power of the Holy
Spirit
 tradition (small t) - the process of transmission

of Tradition; e.g. catechetical teaching, the word

and sacraments
3.1.1. Types of Tradition

 traditions (plural, with s ) – the expression

and manifestations under different
historical forms of the one truth which is
Christ; the word can designate either the
form of expression or the ‘confession which
hands it on. e.g., teachings, devotions,
popular religiosity…
 3.1.2. Subjects / Agents of
tradition

1. Holy Spirit as transcendent subject

2. Magisterium as normative subject
3. Church as historical subject
4. Liturgy as Instrument of Tradition
5. Saints as Paradigmatic Subjects of Tradition
 3.1.2. Subjects / Agents of
tradition

1. Holy Spirit as transcendent subject (Jn 14:16;

26).
 Revelatory function

 Transmission

 Reception
 3.1.2. Subjects / Agents of
tradition
1. Holy Spirit as transcendent subject (Jn 14:16;
26).
 Revelatory function:
 The Spirit continues the revelatory work of
Jesus. The Spirit preserves (backward) the
memory of Jesus; interiorizes, deepens
(inward) the understanding of the words and
deeds of Jesus; actualizes (forward) the
words and deeds of Christ guiding it toward
concrete realizations. (cf. John 14-25-26)
 3.1.2. Subjects / Agents of
tradition

1. Holy Spirit as transcendent subject (Jn 14:16;

26).
 Revelatory function:
 The Holy Spirit’s work, therefore, is not new

or different from Christ. The Spirit makes

sure that all peoples share in the truth of the
Gospel of Christ (universalizes).
 3.1.2. Subjects / Agents of
tradition

1. Holy Spirit as transcendent subject (Jn 14:16;

26).
 Transmission:

 The Holy Spirit provides wisdom of mind,

strength of will, love for the heart that the

apostles and the church may bear witness to
Jesus Christ and hand on what Jesus handed
on to them.
 3.1.2. Subjects / Agents of
tradition

1. Holy Spirit as transcendent subject (Jn 14:16;

26).
 Reception:

 Provides a capacity for acceptance.

 3.1.2. Subjects / Agents of
tradition

2. Magisterium as normative subject.

 They are given the task in giving an authentic
interpretation of the Word of God… (DV 10),
i.e., the task of keeping, judging, and defining
the deposit of faith with authority.
 3.1.2. Subjects / Agents of
tradition
3. Church as historical subject.
 *Yet Tradition can exist even beyond the visible
structure of the Church as long as the people
remain faithful to the Tradition.
 The task of transmission is for the whole
Church both the lay faithful and the hierarchy.
 Every Christian is concerned with the
transmission of Christianity; the Gospel, etc.
 3.1.2. Subjects / Agents of
tradition

4. Liturgy as Instrument of Tradition

 Because it expresses a conviction and conveys

the preaching
 Procures entry into the Christian truths by way

of prayer and actions, by familiar signs,

expressing faith and love
 Has powers of conservation; ritual preserves
 3.1.2. Subjects / Agents of
tradition

5. Saints as Paradigmatic Subjects of Tradition

 A saint is a person so grasped by a religious
vision that it becomes central to his or her life in
a way that radically changes the person and
leads others to glimpse the value of that vision.
 3.1.2. Subjects / Agents of
tradition

5. Saints as Paradigmatic Subjects of Tradition

 Functions of the saints in the life of the

Church:
 Intercessory – praying for us in heaven –

communion of the saints

 Thaumaturgical – miracle-working – cult of

saints
 Exemplary function – models on how to
witness our faith
 3.1.2. Subjects / Agents of
tradition
5. Saints as Paradigmatic Subjects of Tradition
 Paradigmatic: a model of living out the Faith,
hence of Tradition
 The conservative experience may be dramatic

or it may come by stages

 Their Importance: They transmit the faith

through the witness of their lives

 Powerful bearers of tradition

 Make faith real in a particular context.

 ‚Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture are
bound closely together, and communicate one with
the other. For both, flowing out from the same divine
wellspring, come together and move towards the
same goal.‛ Both must be accepted and honored with
equal devotion and reverence (DV9).
Though distinct, they ‚make up a single sacred
deposit of the Word of God, which is entrusted to the
Church. But the task of giving an authentic
interpretation of the Word of God has been entrusted
to the Magisterium alone‛ (DV10, 7-8; CCC 74-95;
CFC 81-84; ND 205-206,209-210).
3.2. Sacred Scripture

 The Sacred Scriptures are the inspired record

of the Word of God on how God dealt with
his people, and how they responded to,
remembered, and interpreted that
experience (CFC 81).
 3.3. Relationship between
Sacred Scriptures and Tradition
 3.3.1. Mutual Priority, Mutual
Inclusion and Mutual Dependence

 Mutual priority – (a) Tradition is prior since

Sacred Scripture composition and
canonization is the fruit of Tradition. (b)
Sacred Scripture is also prior since God is
the author.
 3.3.1. Mutual Priority, Mutual
Inclusion and Mutual Dependence

 Mutual inclusion – One includes the other. No

book interprets itself. Sacred Scripture contains
the whole faith in substance (materially
sufficient) but needs Tradition and Magisterium
for interpretation (formally insufficient, not a
self-interpreting authority). Therefore, Scripture
need the Apostolic Tradition and traditions in
order to make known the Word of God and what
it means
 3.3.1. Mutual Priority, Mutual
Inclusion and Mutual Dependence

 Mutual dependence – two modes of

transmitting the Word of God (not partly in
Sacred Scripture and partly in Tradition).
 3.3.2. Unity of source and
goal

 One Source:
 Revelation, i.e. the Triune God’s self-

disclosure, is the singular source of both

SS and ST. (DV 9).
 One Goal:

 Salvation, i.e. participation in the life of

the Triune God, is the singular goal of

both SS and ST (DV 9).
 3.3.3. Distinction between
Scriptures and Tradition
 Scriptures
 It is the speech of God as it is put down in
writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit.
 SS regulates, limits, grounds, norms ST by

providing a definitive self-understanding of

the Church—her faith, nature, and mission.
SS is norma normans non normata.
 3.3.3. Distinction between
Scriptures and Tradition
 Tradition
 ST transmits in its entirety the Word of God

which has been entrusted to the apostles by

Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits
it to the successors of the apostles so that they
may faithfully preserve, expound, and spread it
abroad by their preaching (DV 9).
 The objective content of ST surpasses that of SS.
ST precedes, elucidates, interprets, and
incarnates SS. SS, i.e. the tacit intuition of the
Word of God, norms the canonicity of SS.
 3.3.4. Equality between
Scriptures and Tradition

 They are Equally the Word of God (expresses the

same mystery) [Trent’s Decree on Sacred Books and
Sacred Traditions to be received (1546) affirmed this
as a response to the reformers’ denial of ST as
channel of revelation (ND 210)]
 3.3.4. Equality between
Scriptures and Tradition

 Together, SS and ST make up the one deposit of

the revealed Word of God. By adhering to the
‚sacred deposit‛ (depositum fidei) contained in
the SS and ST, the whole of the Church remain
always faithful to the teaching of the apostles, the
brotherhood, the breaking of the bread and the
prayers (Acts 2:42).
 3.3.4. Equality between
Scriptures and Tradition

 Therefore, the duties of the Church are: (1)

preservation of deposit, not to subtract or add, (2)
defense of the deposit (Vat 1: Dei Filius), and (3)
faithfully explain the deposit.
 What is deposit of faith?

 the heritage of faith, contained in SS and ST,

entrusted to the whole of the Church (CCC 84)
3.3.5. SS and ST as entrusted
to the Church (DV 10; CFC 84)

 Why entrust to the Church?

 The word of God is a revelatory event.

The Scriptures then are never to be

separated from the people of God whose
life and history (Tradition) formed the
context of their writing and development
(CFC 82). As Sacred Scripture grew from
Tradition, so it is interpreted by Tradition.
 3.3.5. SS and ST as entrusted
to the Church (DV 10; CFC 84)

 Why entrust to the Church?

 By adhering to the ‚Sacred deposit‛ (depositum
fidei), contained in the Sacred Scripture and
Tradition, the whole of the Church, the entire
people of God, united to its pastors, remain
always faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to
the brotherhood, to the breaking of the bread and
the prayers.
 3.4. Magisterium and Its Task of
authentic interpretation of the WOG
 3.4.1. What is magisterium?

 Etymology
 From Latin, magister – word connoting -

authority
 From the root magis (more) as contrasted
with minis (less)
 Magisterium in classical Latin meant the

role and authority of one who was

magister in something
 Official interpreter of the deposit of faith.
 3.4.1. What is magisterium?

 Thomas Aquinas
 The authority of one who teaches

 Chair - the symbol of teaching authority

 2 kinds of magisterium (Aquinas):

 Magisterium cathedrae pastoralis of

bishop – by virtue of his pastoral role
 Magisterium cathedrae magistralis of
theologians – by virtue of their expertise
 3.4.1. What is magisterium?

 Modern use of the term

 Teaching office of the Pope and bishops
 Vatican I documents – Dei Filius, Pastor
Aeternus
 Vatican II documents – Lumen Gentium
 3.4.1. What is magisterium?

 More recently:
 Not only the teaching office and authority
of the hierarchy but also the hierarchy
itself, the bearers of the office
 Bishops + theologians – Pope + bishops –
not only to the authority but to the holders
of the office
 3.4.2. Authentic interpretation

 Authenticum, authentic: not ‚authentic‛ but

“authoritative” or “having hierarchical
authority”
 ‚Authentic‛ means authoritative since they
have taken their authority from Christ
himself. Hence, they are authoritative
teachers.
 3.4.2. Authentic interpretation

 The task of giving an authentic interpretation of

the Word of God, whether in its Scriptures or in the
form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living
teaching office of the Church alone.
 The authority in this manner is exercised in the
name of Jesus Christ. This means the task of
interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in
communion with the successor of Peter, the
Bishop of Rome.
 3.4.3. Tasks of Magisterium
 The Magisterium is not superior to the Word
of God but is its servant. It teaches only what
has been handed on to it. At the divine
command and with the help of the Holy Spirit,
it listens to this devotedly, guards it with
dedication and expounds it faithfully. All that
it proposes for belief as being divinely
revealed is drawn from the single deposit of
faith (DV 10, CCC 86)
 3.4.3. Tasks of Magisterium

 Conservative function: passive tradition,

ecclesia discens; listens devotedly to the Word
and guards it from misinterpretation (DV 10)
 Explanatory Function: active tradition, ecclesia

docens; offers faithful interpretation of the

Word of God, including principles of the
moral order which springs from human nature
itself (Dignitatis Humanae 14).
 3.4.4. Basis of authority of
the teaching office of bishops

 Apostolic Succession: As successors of the

apostolic college , the Episcopal college
inherited from the apostles the mandate to
teach in the name of Christ (CCC 85)
 This insertion into the college of bishops is
not mechanical but theological
 3.4.4. Basis of authority of
the teaching office of bishops

 Apostolic Succession is done through:

 Ordination

 Hierarchical communion (Creed, Cult,

Governance)
 3.4.6. Teaching exercise of
Magisterium

 Ordinary Magisterium:
 When no solemn definition is involved
(e.g., homily).
 3.4.6. Teaching exercise of
Magisterium
 Universal Magisterium:
 When the bishops in communion with the
Roman Pontiff being one in faith and in mission
however dispersed in the world announce the
faith with one mind.
 They must teach actively, teaching something

that is to be held definitively by all, teach in

agreement even though in different places.
 3.4.6. Teaching exercise of
Magisterium
 Universal Magisterium:
 Ex: what is in the Apostle’s Creed (communion
of saints, resurrection of the body, Mary ever-
virgin, etc) have been taught infallibly even
without solemn definition.
 Why? Because definition usually takes place

when an established belief of the Church is

attacked.
 3.4.6. Teaching exercise of
Magisterium

 Extraordinary Magisterium:
 (1) the bishops in an ecumenical council speak

as teacher and judge on questions of faith and

morals, or when
 (2)the Roman Pontiff, as head of the episcopal
college announces a doctrine of faith or morals
in a definitive act (ex cathedra definition) (LG
25).
 3.4.7. Relationship between the
revealed Word of God and the
magisterium

 As official interpreter of the deposit of faith,

magisterium is a servant of the Word of
God, not superior to it (DV 10).
 3.4.8. Magisterial teachings:
gradations (CCC 88)

 Dogma (Faith as response) - Those divinely

revealed truths by the Church as such; those
teachings which pertain to the deposit of faith.
e.g., Articles of faith of the creed, the various
Christological and Marian dogmas, the
doctrine of the institution of the sacraments by
Christ and their efficacy with regard to
grace…
 3.4.8. Magisterial teachings:
gradations (CCC 88)

 Definitive doctrines (Firm Assent as

response) - Those truths which are necessary
to support and explain the deposit of faith. eg.,
Papal infallibility, ordination of men,
euthanasia, prostitution, fornication as grave
sins, election of the pope and ecumenical
council, canonization of the saints
 3.4.8. Magisterial teachings:
gradations (CCC 88)

 Authoritative but non-definitive doctrines

(Religious submission of intellect and will as
response) - Those teaching which are taught
with authority (official) but are open to reform
and revision
3.5. Infallibility
3.5.1. What is Infallibility?

 Immunity from error; a gift of not falling

away from the truth
 3.5.2. The subject of
infallibility

 The Church as a whole

 The Church as a whole is protected from
falling away from the truth of the gospel
 The Church as a whole cannot err.

(Aquinas)
 In believing the gospel that is handed

on
 In teaching through the magisterium
 3.5.3. Papal Infallibility

 By virtue of his office as successor of Peter

and his responsibility over the universal
church (Vatican I).
 He is not infallible as a private person.
 3.5.3. Papal Infallibility
 The Pope speaking ‘ex cathedra’ (Petri): Must be
clearly indicated:
 In fulfillment of his office as supreme pastor

and teacher of all Christians

 By virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, i.e.,
as successor of Peter
 Determining the doctrine of faith and morals,

i.e., a doctrine expressing divine revelation

 Imposing a doctrine to be held definitively by

all
 3.5.4. The Infallibility of the college of
bishops in union with the Pope

 In so far as it succeeds the apostolic college,

the bishops as a collective body enjoy the
fullness of the magisterium.
 3.5.4. The Infallibility of the college of
bishops in union with the Pope
Modes or types of infallible teaching (LG 25)
“Although the individual bishops do not enjoy the prerogative
of infallibility, they nevertheless proclaim Christ's doctrine
infallibly whenever, even though dispersed through the world,
but still maintaining the bond of communion among
themselves and with the successor of Peter, and authentically
teaching matters of faith and morals, they are in agreement on
one position as definitively to be held.(40*) This is even more
clearly verified when, gathered together in an ecumenical
council, they are teachers and judges of faith and morals for the
universal Church, whose definitions must be adhered to with
the submission of faith.”
 3.5.4. The Infallibility of the college of
bishops in union with the Pope

 Ordinary Universal teaching – infallibility as a

college
 Conditions:

 Dispersed around the world

 Bond of unity (hierarchical communion)

 Matters of faith and morals

 Concur in a single view point

 Must believe definitively

 3.5.4. The Infallibility of the college of
bishops in union with the Pope

 Solemn/ extraordinary Universal teaching

 All conditions are present but gathered in a
council