Reference · Teaching 1
Scripture & Tradition — Cheat Sheet
Positions at a glance
| Position | Claim |
|---|---|
| Sola Scriptura | Scripture is the sole infallible rule of faith; all else is subordinate and correctable by it. |
| Church of Christ | Sola scriptura + the NT gives an explicit, recoverable pattern for church practice. |
| Catholic | One deposit of faith in two modes — Scripture and Tradition — neither sufficient alone, interpreted authentically by the Magisterium. |
Key verses (both sides cite these)
| Verse | Used for |
|---|---|
| 2 Timothy 3:16-17 | Protestant proof-text for sufficiency of Scripture; Catholic reply: read with 3:14-15, describes usefulness not exclusivity. |
| 2 Thessalonians 2:15 | Catholic proof-text: "hold to the traditions... by word of mouth or by letter." |
| 2 Timothy 2:2 | Catholic: oral apostolic teaching to be passed to "faithful men" across generations. |
| John 21:25 | Catholic: not everything Jesus did/taught is written down. |
| Galatians 1:8-9 | Both sides: no other gospel than the one received; the dispute is who decides what the apostles handed on. |
| Mark 7:8 | Protestant/CoC: warns against "the tradition of men" over-riding God's commandment. |
The one-line argument to remember
The canon problem: no verse lists the 27 books of the New Testament. That list was settled by Church authority (Tradition), so trusting your Bible's contents already means trusting a judgment outside "Scripture alone."
Nuance to hold onto
- Sola scriptura ≠ "don't read anything but the Bible." It's a claim about final, binding authority, not about reading habits.
- Catholic Tradition ≠ "whatever the Church feels like adding." It's the same original apostolic deposit, unfolding in understanding over time (development of doctrine), not new revelation.
- Public revelation closed with the apostolic age (Dei Verbum 4; CCC 66), so a new dogma is claimed to define what the deposit already held, not add to it. Vincent of Lérins (Commonitory 23): "real progress, not alteration of the faith." Private revelations (Lourdes, Fatima) add nothing and Catholics need not believe them. Don't present "ended with John" as dogma.
- Church of Christ restorationism is its own distinct move — steelman it separately from generic Evangelical sola scriptura.