How are Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition related?
Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition are bound closely together, communicating one with the other. Flowing from the same divine well-spring, both come together to form one sacred deposit of the Word of God entrusted to the Church.
Sacred Scripture is the speech of God put down in writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Sacred Tradition is the living transmission of the Word of God, accomplished in the Holy Spirit by the Apostles through their preaching, institutions, worship, and way of life.
Christianity is not a 'religion of the book' alone, but of the living Word of God made flesh, Jesus Christ. Sacred Tradition actually preceded the New Testament: the early Church preached the Gospel, celebrated the Eucharist, and lived the faith for decades before the individual books of the New Testament were written and compiled.
Sources
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 80
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 82
- 2 Thessalonians 2:15
Awaiting review by the chaplaincy. Written in our own words; the Church's own texts are the authority.