Many Christians, and even many Biblical scholars, theologians, and members of the clergy and religious life, have accepted ideas about the Bible that contradict the teachings of Tradition and of Scripture itself. This partial list of errors and their correction is intended to defend the truth about Tradition and Scripture.
1. If anyone believes or teaches that the Bible is only infallible concerning teachings that pertain to salvation, or if anyone believes or teaches that the Bible is not infallible at all, it is proof that he has gone astray from the teaching of Christ, who himself said, 'scripture cannot be broken' (John 10:35), and from the teaching of the Apostle Paul, who said, 'All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness' (2 Tim 3:16).
“Through all the words of Sacred Scripture, God speaks only one single Word, his one Utterance in whom he expresses himself completely.” (CCC, n. 102). Since all of Sacred Scripture is one Word, it cannot be true that only some parts are true, while other parts are in error. All the things asserted as true by Sacred Scripture, whether on the topic of salvation, or articles of faith, or morals, or historical and geographical facts, or even scientific truths are completely true and accurate, containing no flaw, omission, or imperfection. For Scripture is a clear and unsullied reflection of Christ, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, and the Trinity is entirely without flaw, omission, or imperfection.
2. If anyone believes or teaches that the Bible should be interpreted without faith, or that the Bible can be correctly understood without both grace and faith, or that scholarship should in any way take precedence over grace and faith in the study, teaching, interpretation, or translation of the books of Sacred Scripture, it is proof that he has gone astray from the Tradition of the Church, which, from the time of Christ and the Apostles, and even from the time of the Patriarchs of old, has always placed grace and faith above scholarship.
3. If anyone believes or teaches that the true meaning of the Bible consists only in that meaning intended and understood by the human authors of the books of Scripture, or that the truths of the Bible do not extend also to a level of meaning intended by God Himself,—a meaning that is beyond the intentions and understanding of all the human authors of Scripture,—it is proof that he has fallen away from the true Christian faith, which has always interpreted and understood the Sacred Scriptures to contain many truths not formerly understood, even by the human authors themselves. For example, the infallible doctrines of the Virgin Mary's Immaculate Conception and her Assumption into Heaven are understood by the Church as being present within Scripture implicitly, along with many other truths.
4. If anyone believes or teaches that the Bible promotes, teaches, or approves of slavery or any manner of enslavement of human beings, it is proof that he does not understand the teachings of the Bible and is not fit to teach the Christian faith.
5. If anyone believes or teaches that the Bible promotes, teaches, or approves of the oppression of women, or of the oppression of any ethnic or racial group, it is proof that he does not understand the teachings of the Bible and is not fit to teach the Christian faith.
6. If anyone believes or teaches that the Bible promotes, teaches, or approves of women having positions of leadership, teaching, or authority over adult men or over any group that includes adult men, it is proof that he has gone astray from the teachings of Scripture, which plainly teaches that women cannot have such roles over men, and from the teachings of Tradition, which has always reserved certain roles in the Church, the family, and in any orderly society only to men.
“Let a woman learn in silence with all submissiveness. I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over men; she is to keep silent.” (1 Tim 2:11-12)
“Wives, be submissive to your husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.” (Ephesians 5:22)
“Wives, be obedient to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.” (Colossians 3:18)
“As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silence in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate, as even the law says. If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.... what I am writing to you is a command of the Lord.” (1 Cor 14:33-35, 37)
7. If anyone believes or teaches that the Bible contains some teachings that are merely the result of the particular society and culture in which it was written, or that some teachings of the Bible are not true teachings for all times, or that the Bible contains some teachings that do not apply to society today, it is proof that he does not adhere to the fullness of truth taught by Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture. For, if any interpretation of any passage from Sacred Scripture has the effect of making that passage null and void, it is, in truth, not that passage, but the interpretation itself which is null and void.
“Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place.” (Mt 5:18).
8. If anyone believes or teaches that Sacred Tradition is not infallible, or that it is not the source of Sacred Scripture, or that it is merely the oral tradition that preceded and is contained in Sacred Scripture, it is proof that he does not understand the true meaning of Sacred Tradition and is not fit to teach the Catholic faith.
9. If anyone believes or teaches that Sacred Tradition is an oral tradition, or that the truths of Sacred Tradition can be written down without ceasing to be Sacred Tradition, or that Sacred Tradition itself is, in whole or in part, the writings of the Church fathers, it is proof that he does not understand the true meaning of Sacred Tradition and is not fit to teach the Catholic faith.
10. If anyone believes or teaches that Sacred Tradition is not “the deeds wrought by God in the history of salvation” (Dei Verbum, n. 2), or that Sacred Tradition is not unwritten truths, it is proof that he does not understand the true meaning of Sacred Tradition and is not fit to teach the Catholic faith.
11. If anyone confuses Sacred Tradition with the transmission of Sacred Tradition, or if anyone believes or teaches that Tradition and its transmission are one and the same, or if anyone believes or teaches that Tradition is merely what perpetuates and transmits the Sacred Deposit of Faith, it is proof that he does not understand the true meaning of Sacred Tradition and its transmission and is not fit to teach the Catholic faith.
In truth, Tradition and Scripture together constitute the Sacred Deposit of Faith. The Magisterium teaches only from the truths of Tradition and Scripture. Tradition, Scripture, Magisterium are a reflection of the Most Holy Trinity: Father, Son, Spirit.
Tradition is distinct from its transmission. Tradition cannot be the means by which the Deposit of Faith is perpetuated and transmitted because Tradition, together with Scripture, constitute the one Deposit of Faith. Tradition and Scripture are transmitted by the Church, as it is led by the Magisterium and the Holy Spirit. Tradition and Scripture are transmitted by the lives of the faithful, and by the effect that Tradition, Scripture, Magisterium have on the faithful as the Body of Christ on earth. Tradition is “the deeds wrought by God in the history of salvation” (Dei Verbum, n. 2). These deeds are remembered and lived by the faithful, whose lives and very souls are transfigured by the deeds (Tradition) and words (Scripture) of God. Tradition is transmitted by the remembrance and living faith of the Church, and even by the effect that Tradition has on the Church, which serves to transmit Tradition to and throughout each generation. But Tradition is not and cannot be the same as its transmission.
12. If anyone believes or teaches that the infallible Sacred Magisterium cannot be exercised by the Pope alone, as well as by the body of Bishops led by the Pope, or if anyone believes or teaches that any individual Bishop, other than the Pope, or that any group of Bishops, not led by the Pope, can exercise the Sacred Magisterium, it is proof that he has gone astray from the true Catholic faith and is not fit to teach or to lead the Church.
13. Whoever bases their faith solely on what is taught by the Magisterium, rejecting the teachings of Tradition and Scripture until and unless these are taught by the Magisterium, has gone astray from the true Catholic Faith and has fallen into the sin of heresy. The idea and practice of believing only what the Magisterium teaches is a heresy against the true Catholic Faith. The idea that we can only access Tradition and Scripture through the Magisterium exalts the Magisterium to the detriment of Tradition and Scripture.
by Ronald L. Conte Jr.
November 7, 2005
