No, it is not true. Protestants have as their sole rule of faith the written Word of God, which we find in Sacred Scripture. The Catholic Church has as its sole rule of faith, the entire Word of God, as it is found in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.
All of the Word of God was at one time passed on orally...Sacred Tradition. Eventually, some of Sacred Tradition was written down...this became Sacred Scripture, which is written tradition. However, Scripture itself tells us that not all of the things that Jesus said and did were written down. And listen to what Paul says about "tradition":
2 Thes 2:15, "So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter." Traditions! Traditions taught by word of mouth, in other words, oral tradition, and traditions taught by letter. Traditions which they are being told to "stand firm and hold to". Sacred Scripture and
1 Cor 11:2, "I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I have delivered them to you." The Corinthians are being commended by Paul because they maintain the traditions that he passed on to them. Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.
2 Tim 2:2: "and what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." What we have here in 2 Timothy is an instance, in Scripture, of Paul commanding the passing on of oral tradition.
1 Thes 2:13, "And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the Word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the Word of God, which is at work in you believers." So, they received as the Word of God that which they heard, not simply that which they read in Scripture.
In other words, the Bible clearly supports the Catholic Church's teaching that the Word of God is contained in both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.
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Also, for our separated brethren who insist on "seeing it in the Bible" (sola scriptura), the Bible itself certifies that the entire teaching of Jesus is not contained therein:
ReplyDeleteJohn 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."
So, according to the Bible itself, there are things Jesus said and did which are not described in it. Therefore, anyone subscribing to sola scriptura has to believe that sola scriptura is not a complete view of the teachings of Jesus - because the Bible says so!
Acts 20:35 "...keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus who himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
This is Saint Paul quoting Jesus...but those words of Jesus are not found in any of the Gospels, only here in Acts. This is a very essential teaching regarding alsmgiving, yet it is not included in the Gospels, only referred to here. You will also note the implicit assumption by St Paul that his audience is familiar with the saying...because they know it through Sacred Tradition.
So it is clear that Jesus, in three years of His ministry, taught many more things than are written in Sacred Scripture...these teachings have been handed down from the Apostles through Sacred Tradition.
thanks mark
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