For Christians, especially Catholics...?

Question

Is the Bible is sole infallible guide to Christian doctrine and practice? Can "tradition" be held higher than the Word? Isn't it a contradiction because you would have to go back to the Bible to check?

(My opinion is yes because that opens the door to all new ideas. For example, Mormonism said the Bible was not "absolute" and jumped on this point saying that there is "missing holes" in the Bible and introduced the Book of Mormon. What else could happen)

to remy,
correct me if im wrong but i think you are confusing oral tradition with doctrinal tradtion (which may be my fault for not being clear).

I agree that the ppl didnt have gospels for at least 50 yrs. So AT THE TIME may had to relate to oral tradition but not now.

Answer 1

your right! The bible is all we need! don't let anyone tell you any different.

Answer 2

Catholics are guided by both Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition in doctrine and practice.

The Catholic Church does not use Holy Scripture as the only basis of doctrine. It could not. The early Catholic church existed before and during the time that the New Testament was written (by Catholics).

There were hundreds of Christian writings during the first and second centuries. Which New Testament writings would become official was not fully decided until about 400 AD.

Catholics believe that the Holy Spirit was guiding the early church (and is guiding the church today) to make the correct choices about things like:
+ The Holy Trinity (which is also only hinted at in the Bible)
+ Going to church on Sunday instead of Saturday (which is actually directly against one of the Ten Commandments)
+ The Communion of Saints
+ Which writings include in the New Testament?

Things that are even more modern like
+ Slavery is bad. Slavery is never declared evil in the Bible. This was one of the justifications for slavery in the Confederate States.
+ Democracy is good. The Bible states that either God should be the leader of the nation like Israel before the kings or kings should be the leader, "Give to Caesar that which is Caesar's." This was talked about a lot during the American Revolution.

This second source of doctrine is called Apostolic Tradition.

Do Christians who do not allow the continuing guiding force of the Holy Spirit to make their beliefs more and more perfect, still endorse slavery as Colossians 3:22 commands, "Slaves, obey your human masters in everything"?

With love in Christ.

Answer 3

Not everything that Christ did and taught is in the Bible.
How much is not there? Read John 21:25 "There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written".
And right thereafter in the following book: Act. 1:2-3 - until the day he was taken up, after giving instructions through the holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God
WHERE IS WHAT CHRIST TAUGHT THESE 40 DAYS?
Answer: oral tradition:
•Act. 20:35 - Paul records a saying of Jesus not found in gospels "its better to give than to receive"
•1 Cor. 15:1-2 - Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I PREACHED to you
•1 Thess. 2:2-3 - ...we drew courage through our God TO SPEAK TO YOU the gospel of God with much struggle.
•1 Thess 2:13 - And for this reason we too give thanks to God unceasingly, that, in receiving the word of God FROM HEARING US, you received not a human word but, as it truly is, the word of God,
•2 Thess. 2:15 - Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an ORAL STATEMENT or by a letter of ours

Etc., etc.

However, the Tradition and the Magisterium can complement but cannot contradict the Bible, as the Church teaches that the public revelation stopped with the death of the last apostle.

That is NOT what the Mormons teach, so they can "invent" new revelations such as that one the each of us will be given a planet to play God

Answer 4

>>Is the Bible is sole infallible guide to Christian doctrine and practice?<<

What does the Bible say?

1) Not everything was included in the Bible (John 21:25).
2) We are told to "stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle." (2 Thessalonians 2:15)
3) The church is "the pillar and bulwark of the truth." (1 Timothy 3:15)

Looks like the answer is no.

Answer 5

Tradition is very important, because without tradition which preserves the scriptures there would be no Bible at all. The first Christians as a community which accepted the Word of God (Jesus) did not have a book, the Gospel came later, without these people there would be no Gospel at all.
In the end it is not that tradition is more important than the Bible, but that it is important to have both.

Answer 6

Where do the two contradict?

If Scripture is silent on something (say the shape of churches or the garments the preacher is to wear) then I say it's unimportant and tradition can be a guide.

If it's theological, and it is not stated outright, it is open to interpretation, and so long as the interpretation does not contradict Scripture, then who determines whether it is right or wrong?

The problem with Scripture as final authority is that two different persons can express the authority of Scripture, and do it in two different ways. Hence the need for sacred tradition to help understand and resolve those conflicts.

And you're not the first one to look at a conflict, or look at Catholic doctrine. This has been discussed for two millenia.

Answer 7

Sola Scriptura doesn't make since. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that the Bible is the only authority. As a matter of fact is says that the Church has the divin authority to govern (Matt. 16:13-20 and Luke 10:16). The Bible also tells us that the Church is the pillar and foundation of truth (Tim. 3:15). Finally, the Bible clearly states that not everything is recorded in the Bible (John 21:25) So how can the Bible be the only authority when it clearly says that it isn't? We do not hold tradition to be higher than the Word of God, but we do hold to our taditions, as the Bible says we should. 2 Thess 2:15 and 3:16 tells us to hold fast to the traditions that were taught, either orally or in writing.

God bless,
Stanbo

Answer 8

First, Mormons don't believe that the Bible is fallible, but understand that it has been translated numerous times and that man isn't perfect or infallible. So, the Bible does contain the word of God and it is perfect to the extent it is translated/interpreted correctly. They believe that the Book of Mormon is just another testament of the truth found in the Bible and of Christ.

It is the interpretation of man, sociatal norms, etc. that causes new ideas to arise. Additionally, by saying the Bible is infallible, doesn't mean it contains everything God would like for us to know (but it could). Just saying that is left to interpretation also.

Bottom line is, religion is about faith, and faith can't be quantified or proved through objective evidence. It is personal and we should therefore respect people for being individuals.

Answer 9

Good question. The Church comes before the Bible because she gave us the Holy Scriptures to begin with. Also, think about it, for much of Christian history, the Bible was not available to ordinary believers. There was no Bible until the Catholic Church collected and Canonized the letters/books that are in our current Bible. Then the only Bibles that existed were hand printed, and few were in existence.

Holy Tradition is what the Church teaches about issues that develop over time, and how she interprets the Bible. We have a 2000 year history full of belief and Tradition.

The living Magisterium, the Holy Father and Cardinals in union with him, guide the Church infallibly in matters of Faith and Morals. The Catholic Church has always taught the truth of God with no contradiction.

Please feel free to contact me for more a more detailed response: [e-mail]
Marc

Answer 10

I wasn't going to answer until i saw a fundamentalist here with my same name. I won't tell you anything different than any of the other Catholics that posted answers here. We are all in the same Christian Church founded by Christ and the Apostles and I am glad that God gave us the Bible to help preserve the traditions we were taught by Christ and His Apostles. If the Bible was all we needed we would not have churches , pastors, religious books hymnals or anything else because we could just read the Bible and know all we needed to know and be all we needed to be. The Church is the Body of Christ. How could the Bible be all we need. Don't we need Christ? Peace be with you

Answer 11

my answer will be yes but not the same like yours.

Its because I believe the Word of the Lord is the Bible and not just some claims to include or exclude whenever they like or dislike.

The Bible is not here for you to check on, Its for you to act on. Whatever had or will happen is stated in the Bible, so is the coming of Christ. Have faith and make sure its strong enough to withstand the trying times.