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§ 9. “ Sacred Tradition and sacred Scripture,
then, are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other. For both
of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some
fashion to form one thing, and move towards the same goal. Sacred Scripture is
the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy
Spirit. And Tradition 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, enlightened by the Spirit of
truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound and spread it abroad by their
preaching. Thus it comes about that the Church does not draw her certainty
about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Hence, both Scripture
and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal feelings of devotion and
reverence.”
§ 10. “Sacred Tradition and sacred Scripture make up a single sacred
deposit of the Word of God, which is entrusted to the Church. By adhering to it
the entire holy people, united to its pastors, remains always faithful to the
teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and the
prayers (cf. Acts 2:42 Greek). So, in maintaining, practicing and professing
the faith that has been handed on there should be a remarkable harmony between
the bishops and the faithful.”
Dei Verbum. ‘Dogmatic Constitution on Divine
Revelation’ no 9 - 10, in The Conciliar and Post-Conciliar
Documents, ed. by A.FLANNERY, Dominican Publications, Dublin 1975, p. 755.
See full chapter here.
In order to be valid, tradition must be scriptural.
Note, however, that a tradition does not become scriptural just because
Fathers of the Church, theologians or the Magisterium of the Church quote some
scriptural texts. In order to be validly scriptural, the use made of
Scripture must be legitimate. This means that only those written sources
are valid sources of tradition which employ Scripture according to the intended
meaning of the inspired authors.
The inspired meaning of
Scripture is established by taking into account:
* the
‘literal sense’ intended by the
author;
* the ‘literary
forms’ employed by the author;
* the
‘intended scope’ of the
text;
* possible limitations such as ‘rationalizations’ in the
text.
The Church's experience in the past provides excellent material to
illustrate the principle. I will concentrate here on two examples: the Church's
failure, for 19 centuries, to discern the proper Tradition regarding slavery;
and its claim that only Catholics could be saved. In both instances, one of the
chief causes of the faulty ‘tradition’ was a faulty interpretation of
Scripture.
- The test case of slavery.
- The test case of ‘no salvation outside the
Church’.
- The progressive understanding of Scripture in the
history of the Church leads to an wareness of Christ's true mind
The use of Scripture in the socalled
‘tradition’ favouring slavery
Although many Popes condemned the excesses of the international slave
trade, the official Magisterium of the Church endorsed the legitimacy of
slavery as such until Pope Leo XIII in 1888! Look at some of the facts,
abbreviated for lack of space:
- the local Council at Gangra in Asia Minor, in 362 AD, excommunicated
anyone telling a slave to despise his master or withdraw from his service;
- the same decree is repeated in a Council under Pope Martin I in 650
AD;
- the ninth Council of Toledo in 655 AD imposed slavery on the children
of priests;
- the Synod of Melfi under Pope Urban II in 1089 imposed slavery on the
wives of priests;
- the Third Lateran Council of 1179 imposed slavery on those helping
the Saracens;
- the legitimacy of slavery was incorporated in the official Corpus
Iuris Canonici, based on the Decretum Gratiani, which became the official
law of the Church since Pope Gregory IX in 1226;
- in 1454, through the bull Romanus Pontifex, Pope Nicholas V
authorised the king of Portugal to enslave all the Saracen and pagan people his
armies would conquer;
- though, as I stated before, some subsequent Popes condemned the
excesses of the slave trade, they did not condemn slavery as such;
- in fact, the Holy Office in Rome still declared on 20 June 1866:
“Slavery itself, considered as such in its essential nature, is not at
all contrary to the natural and divine law, and there can be several just
titles of slavery and these are referred to by approved theologians and
commentators of the sacred canons.... It is not contrary to the natural and
divine law for a slave to be sold, bought, exchanged or given”.
Read about all this: J.F.MAXWELL, ‘The
Development of Catholic Doctrine Concerning Slavery’, World Jurist
11 (1969-70) pp.147-192 and 291-324.
Note that the Holy Office, in 1866, declared that slavery was ‘not
contrary to divine law’. In theological terms this means: slavery is in
harmony with the inspired meaning of Scripture.
Among the biblical proofs supporting the legitimacy of the tradition
were the following Scriptural texts:
1. The use of Old Testament texts
The Old Testament takes the institution of slavery for granted. See for
instance Sirach 33,25-30.
Israelites can be enslaved by other Israelites as penalty for theft (Ex
22,3), to pay off debt (Ex 31,2-6; Lev 25,39), by purchase from a foreigner
(Lev 25,47-55), and by sale of a daughter by her father (Ex 21,7-11). These
kind of texts became the source on which canon lawyers and theologians
constructed the four ‘just titles of slavery’ (see Holy Office text
quoted above): capture in war, just condemnation, sale & purchase, and
birth (the child of a slave mother is a slave!).
Comment: Paul had clearly shown that the Old Testament Law had
been abrogated. The principle of equality in Christ of Jew and Greek, slave and
free, man and woman, had been clearly enunciated. Read
Galatians 3,28.
These arguments are
therefore invalid!
2. The use of Gospel texts
Suppose one of you has a slave who returns from the fields after ploughing or
minding the sheep, will he say to him: ‘Sit down now and have your
meal’?
Will he not more likely say: ‘Get my supper ready. Tidy up
and serve me while I eat and drink. You yourself can have your meal
afterwards’?
Will he be grateful to his slave for doing what he
was told?
In the same way, when you have done all you have been told to
do, say: ‘We are only slaves. We have done no more than our duty’.
Luke 17,7-10; see also Matthew 10,24-25;
13,27-28; 18,25; etc.
Some Fathers of the Church, theologians and Popes have used
such Gospel passages to prove that slavery is willed by God. Jesus himself,
they said, accepted slavery. Jesus gives examples from slavery which show that
he took the subordination of slaves for granted. What is more, Jesus admired
the service of submissive and humble slaves. Therefore, it is something
beautiful that is not contrary to God’s will!
Comment: Jesus just adduced the example of slavery to make a
point. He did not abolish slavery, as little
as he abolished the social dependence of women, but it is not legitimate to
conclude from such texts that he endorsed slavery. This follows from
the literary form he uses, as well as
from his intended scope.
3. The use of New Testament Letters
“Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not
with eye-service as just pleasing people, but in singleness of heart, pleasing
the Lord.
Whatever your task work with commitment, as serving the Lord and
not human beings, etc. . . .”
Colossians 3,22-25; see also Ephesians 6,5-9; Titus 2,9-10; 1 Peter
2,18-20.
These texts were used to prove that the Apostles endorsed the practice
of slavery. Theologians kept repeating these kinds of arguments until late in
the nineteenth century. It brought them to a firm conclusion: ‘It is
certainly a matter of faith that slavery in which a man serves his master as a
slave, is altogether lawful. This can be proved from Holy
Scripture.’ From a standard work: LEANDER, Questiones Morales
Theologicae, Lyons 1692; Volume 8, De Quarto Decalogi Precepto, Tract.IV,
Disp. I, Q.3.
Comment: the argument is invalid because, in these socalled
‘household codes’, the authors of these letters address the immediate
situation of their audiences (in which social slavery was a fact). Deducing
general principles regarding slavery from the texts goes beyond their
intended scope.
Lesson: In our own time the Church, including the Magisterium,
has come to the recognition that slavery is against basic human rights and
‘contrary to God's intent’ (Vatican II, Gaudium et Spes, no
29).
This recognition has the following implications:
- The socalled ‘tradition’ that was thought to endorse
slavery and on which the Magisterum based its justification of slavery was, in
fact, not part of the real Tradition handed down from Christ.
- The socalled ‘tradition’, which was claimed to be
scriptural (see Holy Office in 1866: “slavery is not contrary to
divine law”) has been proved to be not scriptural. The biblical texts were
quoted illegitimately. Their interpretation went beyond the inspired and
intended sense.
- The real Tradition that came down from Christ and the Apostles was
contained in the principle of fundamental equality for all, enshrined in
the universal baptism of Christ applied
to men & women, slave & free, alike; as also explicitly
taught by Paul.
- Only this valid Tradition was truly biblical!
The use of Scripture in the socalled
‘tradition’ that there is no salvation outside the Church
Until at least 1854, the official teaching of the Church was that there
was no salvation outside the Church. Here are some statements by the
Magisterium:
- In a profession of faith prescribed by Pope Innocentius III in 1208
we read: “We believe that outside the one, holy, Roman, Catholic Church no
one will be saved” (Enchiridion Symbolorum, Denzinger (=abbr. Denz)
no 423).
- In the IVth Lateran Council of 1215: “There is one universal
Church of the faithful outside which no one at all is saved” (Denz.
430).
- Boniface VIII solemnly defined in his Bull Unam Sanctam of
1302: “We declare, we proclaim, we define that it is absolutely necessary
for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff”
(Denz. 468).
- The Council of Florence in 1442, under Pope Eugene IV: “(The
Holy Roman Church).. firmly believes, professes and preaches that no-one
remaining outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews, heretics
or schismatics, can become partakers of eternal life; but they will go to the
‘eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels’ (Mt. 25:41),
unless before the end of their life they are received into it. For union with
the body of the Church is of so great importance that the sacraments of the
Church are helpful only for those remaining in it; and fasts, almsgiving, and
other works of piety, and exercises of a militant Christian life bear eternal
rewards for them alone. And no one can be saved, even if he sheds his blood for
the name of Christ, unless he remains in the bosom and unity of the Catholic
Church” (Denz. 714).
The use of Scripture
By the Fathers of the Church, theologians and Popes, the
‘tradition’ was mainly based on the following Scripture texts:
- “I give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you bind
on earth shall be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed
in heaven” (Matthew 16,19; see also 18,18).
- “Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved. Who does not
believe will be condemned” (Mark 16,16).
The argument given was that these texts are exclusive in what they
state. They attribute universal power to the hierarchy and make baptism the
only means of salvation.
Comment: The absolute way of speaking is a specific literary
form, the hyperbole, characteristic of the Jewish way of speaking. For
other examples read: Matthew 7,4; 23,24; 5,29; 5,34-35; 24,36; 12,30
(contrast with Mark 9,40!). This literary
form has to be taken into account.
Moreover, Jesus did not enter into
the wider question of how virtuous people are saved in and through their own
religions. The exclusive interpretation went beyond his
intended scope.
Lesson: In the 19th century the Church began to modify its
teaching, stating that one could belong to the Church also ‘in
desire’ and that this sufficed for salvation. Vatican II completed this
process by clearly stating that there is salvation for those outside the
Church, ‘all those who seek God with a sincere heart’ (Lumen
Gentium 15-17) and that their various religions are also, to some extent,
means of salvation (Nostra Aetate, on Relation to non-Christian
Religions.
This recognition has the following implications:
- The socalled ‘tradition’ that was thought to limit
salvation to Catholics and on which the Magisterum based its doctrinal
justification was, in fact, not part of the real Tradition handed down from
Christ.
- The socalled ‘tradition’, which was claimed to be
scriptural has been proved to be not scriptural. The biblical texts were
quoted illegitimately. Their interpretation went beyond the inspired and
intended sense.
- The real Tradition that came down from Christ and the Apostles was
contained in other Scripture texts, such as Christ's respect for the religious
sincerity of Romans (Matthew 8,5-13), Samaritans (John 4,7-26; Luke 10,29-37)
and Syro-Phenicians (Matthew 15,21-28; Mark 7,24-30); and Paul's teaching that
God judges everyone, Jews or non-Jews according to the dictates of their own
conscience (Romans 2,6-16).
- Only this valid Tradition was truly biblical!
The progressive understanding of
Scripture in the history of the Church leading to an awareness of Christ's true
mind
Since Scripture and Tradition are one source of Revelation, ‘a
single deposit of the Word of God’ (Vatican II, Divine Revelation’ no 9 - 10), it follows that
they must both develop together in the spiritual and theological awareness of
the Church.
- Tradition is not something additional to Scripture (in the sense
that it transmits apostolic doctrine not contained in Scripture) but another
way of imparting the truths of Scripture - Scripture itself being
“absolutely sovereign”.
- Tradition is a thésaurisation or constant accrual of
meditation on the biblical text made by one generation after another, “the
living continuity of faith quickening the people of God” - a sort of
midrash [reflection] or gemara [commentary].
- Many parts of Scripture mean more to Christians today than they did
to their predecessors in the early centuries A.D. because of what they have
meant to intervening generations of Christians.
- Tradition is the cumulative interpretation of Scripture, accruing at
compound interest over the centuries, without getting more out of Scripture
than is there at least implicitly. See F.F. Bruce, Tradition, Old and
New, Paternoster Press, New York 1970, pp. 167-168.
Yves M.J. Congar, the undisputed expert on tradition, describes the
process as an interpaly between the original words and deeds of Christ on the
one hand, and the continuing activity of the Spirit on the other (Tradition
and Traditions, London, Burns & Oates, pp. 338-347). I will summarise
his thoughts here.
The dogmatic content of Tradition consists in the correct interpretation
of scriptural revelation in terms of its central object: Christ and the
salvation he brought. Now, according to the New Testament, though Christ is the
content of Scripture, he gives us understanding of it through his Holy Spirit.
It is the Spirit who enables us to say “Jesus is Lord” (1 Corinthians
12,3); the texts of Scripture are obscure until we turn for understanding to
the Lord, under the influence of his Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 3,12-18).
Doubtless this is why St Paul exhorted Timothy to “guard the truth that
has been entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us” (2
Timothy 1,14).
The Letters of St Paul, and St Luke’s Acts of the Apostles,
attribute the whole of the Church’s life and the work of its ministry to
the Spirit. The promise of the gift of the Spirit, made by our Lord to the
apostles (John 14,18; 14,16; 15,26; 16,12-13) was not only addressed to the
Twelve. On the contrary, we have reasons for asserting that it applies also to
the Church in all ages. Note the recurrence, in John 14 and 16, of the word
“you”: I shall give you, I shall send you, he will lead you, he
will give you understanding. This repeated “you” refers both to
persons (the apostles) and to the community. In fact, at Pentecost the Spirit
is given to all the disciples, a hundred and twenty in number (cf. Acts 1,15;
cf. Luke 24,33: “The eleven . . . and those who were with them”). The
promised Spirit was given to the community of those who were present; when new
members were joined to the first nucleus of a group, and then to the Church, as
time went on, they in their turn would receive the Spirit who builds up the
body of Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 12,13). Basically, this gift of the Spirit is
on a par with the saving economy as a whole: the event, once it has taken
place, concerns all succeeding generations, working in them.
The role thus vested in the Holy Spirit is the actualizing and
interiorizing of what Christ said and did. Living faith in Christ has now to be
lived out by human beings succeeding each other in time, coexisting separately
in space. The pattern of truth and life set up once and for all, and for all
people, must become a personal pattern for each individual, and a common
pattern for untold multitudes of people leading, each one, his or her own
individual life in space and time. A personal appropriation has to be made, not
merely by a decision taken by people, which would be neither a principle of
unity nor a principle of divine life, but by a new act of God himself, no
longer visibly incarnate at a moment of human history, but giving himself
interiorly to each and all. This is the work of the Spirit.
Since he is Spirit, he acts in persons in a spiritual manner
without in any way forcing them. Scripture characterizes this intervention by
comparing it to an indwelling, a penetrating oil, an inner inspiration scarcely
distinguishable from the normal workings of our mind, a consciousness which is
alone able to plumb the depths of our personal life (1 Corinthians 2,10ff.).
And yet, he is in all people, working from within to bring about unity and
unanimity. He disposes each, according to his or her nature, vocation and
place, to seek and promote the communion of all. His gifts are made “for
the common good” (1 Corinthians 12,7), “for building up the body of
Christ” (Ephesians 4,12; cf. 1 Corinthians 12,13). This is how the
‘sensus fidelium’ can carry a latent
tradition that is later explicitated in the Church.
The structure of our faith results from the union of a spiritual energy
or inspiration received directly from God, with the acceptance of a teaching
passed on by the Church, from Christ and the apostles, over a long historical
process. In our faith there are joined together a historical transmission of
the pattern of belief and a spiritual “event” which the Spirit brings
about in each new consciousness. What is produced at the personal level, is
reproduced analogically at the ecclesial level, where the great Sequentia
sancti Evangelii [=the unfolding of the Holy Gospel] must be progressively
realized. The Church itself is perfectly well aware of this; it testifies as
much, both in the words of the Fathers or theologians and in those privileged
moments of self awareness and collective stocktaking called councils. The
dynamic aspect in Tradition thus owes its origin to
the lasting activity of the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion
For a ‘tradition’ to be part of the Church's genuine
Tradition it needs to be scriptural. This means that it must be based on a
correct understanding of the inspired meaning of scriptural texts. In the
history of the Church, such a correct understanding often went hand in hand
with a new awareness of important issues. The new, correct interpretation of
Scripture comes about through the undying activity of the Holy Spirit in the
Church.
John Wijngaards
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