So then, brethren, 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)
Whether you’re Catholic with Evangelical roots, or if you’ve ever been challenged with the question, “but where is that in the Bible?” then this article is for you.
For many Christians, the opinion that the Bible is the best and only source of religious knowledge feels natural, even obvious. However, the Catholic Church holds onto something more rich and nutritious than only relying on scripture. It is about the Word of God which stems from Sacred Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium.
Let’s discuss why Catholics do not hold fast to sola Scriptura, and why that position does not reject the use of the Bible but rather requires a deeper reverence for it.
Sola Scriptura is Not Found in Scripture
This is where the irony rolls in—the belief that sola Scriptura is the only rule of faith is itself not found anywhere in the Bible. In fact, scripture confirms that the Word of God was passed on orally and by tradition, first from the apostles to their disciples, and from there they were able to reach multitudes. All this occurred before the content was ever written down.
Church authority includes apostolic teaching stemming from the succession from Peter as the first pope. This is backed up by a scripture verse: “…and 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).
The Early Church did not have the New Testament written for several generations, at least not until the fourth century. Christians practiced the Faith based on the knowledge they had from oral apostolic teaching, the Eucharist, the liturgy, and guidance from bishops.
Scripture is Infallible, Not Self-Interpretations
Protestants assume that you can read the Bible and accept any of the information found there, as long as they are guided by the Holy Spirit. Yet St. Peter warns that scripture is truthful, but can be misinterpreted if not understood correctly: “There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scripture” (2 Pt. 3:16). There are numerous Protestant denominations that claim to use the same version of the Bible—but we know this is untrue. They arrive at radically different teachings, particularly concerning the sacraments, pastoral life, and more.
Sola Scriptura assumes that a text can be written as an authoritative text, in place of a human interpreter. However, texts always require an interpreter, and authority needs to reside in a person with authority or within an established office (just like the U.S. Constitution in the Supreme Court), not just in a book.
God’s Word is the Living Word
Catholic theology affirms that Divine Revelation is not a fixed deposit; it is a living encounter with the person of Christ. The Catechism of the Catholic Church clearly states:
The Christian faith is not a “religion of the book.” Christianity is the religion of the “Word” of God, a word which is “not a written and mute word, but the Word which is incarnate and living.” If the Scriptures are not to remain a dead letter, Christ, the eternal Word of the living God, must, through the Holy Spirit, “open [our] minds to understand the Scriptures.” (CCC108)
The Word was entrusted to the apostles. This is why Christ revealed truths to His apostles personally, because they could be trusted to teach others accurately from the One from whom all truth derives. This was passed on in two ways: Scripture and Tradition.
Scripture Came from the Church
It is important to remember that the Church did not derive its foundation from the Bible, scripture does not precede tradition, and the Bible came from the Church. The New Testament, as reiterated earlier, was not compiled for nearly 400 years after Christ’s time on earth. The Church has discerned the use of canons of Scripture at the councils such as Rome (382 AD), Hippo (393 AD), and Carthage (397 AD).
The Magisterium Safeguards the Integrity of the Faith
As the teaching authority of the pope and the bishops in union with him, the Magisterium does not create new doctrines. The Magisterium preserves the integrity of the Word of God, for the “task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone” (CCC 85). Without the Magisterium, the Catholic Faith becomes the target for other religions and people to form private interpretations and doctrines shaped more by culture than by truth.
What This Means for Catholics
If you are a convert from a Protestant or non-denominational background, it can feel like a big shift once you embrace the Catholic position of Scripture. However, it is an embrace of truth! It is not just “me and the Bible” but me, the Bible, the sacraments, along with the Church Militant being encouraged by the Church Triumphant. It is not just “God speaks through Scripture,” but God speaking within Scripture, Tradition, and the Church as a whole, united, together, in harmony.
By rejecting sola Scriptura, you are not abandoning the written Word of God. You are embracing the full context for which the Bible was written and proclaimed.
Final Thoughts
Think of the big three—Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium—as a three-legged stool of Catholic authority. Take away one of the legs, and the whole stool falls apart.
Rejecting sola Scriptura does not mean you do not love the Bible. It means you adopt the Bible in its entirety, not leaving out any of the truths that it contains, as part of living in harmony with the Catholic Church.
So, the next time someone asks, “why don’t Catholics just rely on Scripture?” you can say, proudly and confidently, that Catholics believe the Word of God is not limited to only Scripture; that Truth is not an opinion held by other denominations; and, finally, because Christ gave us the Church, not a book club.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
