What Jesus revealed about God to the Apostles through his words and actions 2000 years ago has been handed down in the Catholic Church even until today by Sacred Tradition.
Beginning with the Apostles, before anything was written in the New Testament, the teaching of Jesus was preached in person, received by other disciples, and then handed down by word of mouth.
From generation to generation, the Catholic Church has continued to transmit the fullness and truth of Divine Revelation through the same Sacred Tradition of the Apostles, along with written Word of God found in Sacred Scripture.
Unlike man-made trends and customs, Sacred Tradition comes from God and always supports and compliments Sacred Scripture.
It would be impossible to write down all that Jesus said and did. So, while the Bible contains the story of Jesus and what is necessary for salvation, what the Apostles preached and handed down goes beyond what is contained in Sacred Scripture.
The full deposit of faith is found in Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, interpreted by the teaching office of the Church’s Magisterium.
Jesus did not write a book:
Everything that God wants man to know is not written down:
The Gospels do not contain all of Jesus’ works:
But we ought to give thanks to God for you always, brothers loved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in truth. To this end He has [also] called you through our gospel to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.
2 Thessalonians 2: 13-15
The living Tradition of the Apostles:
The early Christians preached about a person:
This tradition which comes from the Apostles develops in the Church with the help of the Holy Spirit. For there is a growth in the understanding of the realities and the words which have been handed down. This happens through the contemplation and study made by believers, who treasure these things in their hearts through a penetrating understanding of the spiritual realities which they experience, and through the preaching of those who have received through Episcopal succession the sure gift of truth. For as the centuries succeed one another, the Church constantly moves forward toward the fullness of divine truth until the words of God reach their complete fulfillment in her.
Pope Paul VI, Dei Verbum, 18 November 1965
Scripture and Tradition cannot be separated:
Scripture is not the only authority:
God’s authority in Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium:
This living transmission, accomplished in the Holy Spirit, is called Tradition, since it is distinct from Sacred Scripture, though closely connected to it. Through Tradition, “the Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes.” “The sayings of the holy Fathers are a witness to the life-giving presence of this Tradition, showing how its riches are poured out in the practice and life of the Church, in her belief and her prayer.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church 78
A very important word:
The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Catholic Church
Bluegrass and the Rosary:
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