"Tradition is a human invention: I stick to the Bible." This objection is one of the most frequent coming from a Protestant interlocutor or simply someone skeptical of the Church. It seems unassailable because it appears to rest on Scripture itself: Did Jesus not condemn the "tradition of men"? Does Saint Paul not warn against "human traditions"? The conclusion seems obvious: Tradition is the enemy of the Bible, and a faithful Christian should reject it in favor of the sacred text alone.
This article does not address the doctrine of sola scriptura itself — that topic is covered elsewhere (Sola Scriptura, why Catholics do not follow sola scriptura) — nor the distinction between Tradition with a capital T and human traditions, treated in a dedicated article (Tradition and traditions). Its question is narrower and more exegetical: when one opens the Bible and reads what it itself says about the word "tradition," what is found?
The answer often surprises those who have only remembered Mark 7. The same New Testament that condemns "traditions of men" expressly commands holding fast to apostolic "traditions" (2 Th 2:15), praises Christians who "keep" them (1 Cor 11:2), calls to entrust by word of mouth a "deposit" of faith (2 Tim 2:2), and presents the Church as "the pillar and foundation of the truth" (1 Tim 3:15). Even more: the New Testament itself draws on an unwritten Jewish tradition and plainly acknowledges that not everything was recorded in the books (Jn 21:25). Far from condemning Tradition, the Bible presupposes, practices, and imposes it.
The Protestant objection: “The Bible condemns Tradition”
Before responding, the objection must be given its strongest form — otherwise the refutation is worthless. A well-posed objection is not a whim: it rests on real texts, and the error lies not in the verses cited but in the conclusion drawn from them.
The common form of the objection
As heard in ordinary conversation, the objection strings together three assertions: (1) Jesus condemned tradition, (2) Saint Paul condemned tradition, (3) therefore tradition opposes the word of God and must be rejected in favor of Scripture alone. The argument’s strength is rhetorical: it seems to derive its conclusion from the Bible itself, turning the Church’s own Book against her. It is the sister objection to sola scriptura, often its first link in the mouth of an evangelical[1].
The three hammer verses: Mark 7, Colossians 2, Matthew 15
Three passages almost always recur. The first is Jesus’ dispute with the Pharisees about ritual washings, where Christ directly reproaches them for sacrificing God’s commandment to their custom:
"You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men. […] You nullify the word of God by your tradition which you hand down." — Jesus, Mark 7:8,13[2]
The second is Saint Paul’s warning to the Colossians:
"See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition […] and not according to Christ." — Saint Paul, Colossians 2:8[3]
The third is Matthew’s parallel, where Jesus accuses the Pharisees of "transgressing the commandment of God" for the sake of their tradition, quoting Isaiah: "the doctrines they teach are but human precepts."[4] These three pillars support the idea that "the Bible condemns Tradition."
The key verse: 2 Timothy 3:16-17
To these texts against tradition, the objector almost always adds a positive verse meant to establish the exclusive authority of Scripture — the most cited text in the entire debate:
"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." — Saint Paul, 2 Timothy 3:16-17[5]
Read quickly, this verse seems to say that Scripture suffices: it makes the man of God "complete" and "equipped for every good work." What more could be needed? We will return later to this decisive text, for it is precisely on it that the objection breaks.
What the objection gets right
It must be acknowledged frankly: the verses cited are authentic and their condemnation is real. Jesus indeed condemns a certain tradition; Paul indeed warns against a certain tradition. Honest apologetics does not distort this fact[6]. The turning point is therefore not in the texts, but in a logical leap: the objector moves from "the Bible condemns certain traditions" to "the Bible condemns Tradition." It is this shift — from the particular to the universal — that must be examined, returning to the word everyone uses without defining.
What does the text say? The biblical vocabulary of “tradition”
The entire discussion revolves around a Greek word: parádosis. Now, this word in the New Testament is not a pejorative term. It is a neutral word that can designate a good or bad reality depending on its source—just like the word “doctrine” or the word “teaching.”
Parádosis: a neutral word, not a bad word
The noun parádosis (παράδοσις) literally means “that which is handed down, delivered, entrusted.” It derives from the verb paradídōmi (παραδίδωμι), “to transmit, deliver, hand over from hand to hand”[7]. The word itself says nothing about the value of what is transmitted: it all depends on who transmits and what. A tradition can come “from men” and contradict God (Mark 7); it can just as well come from the apostles, “under the dictation of the Holy Spirit,” and be authoritative (2 Thessalonians 2:15). To conclude from Mark 7 that all parádosis is bad is to commit the same error as someone who, reading “the love of money is the root of all evils” (1 Tim 6:10), would conclude that money is evil in itself[8].
Paradídōmi and paralambánō: receiving and transmitting
The family of words is even broader. To the verb paradídōmi (“to transmit”) corresponds its correlative paralambánō (παραλαμβάνω), “to receive.” This pair—receive / transmit—is precisely the technical vocabulary of oral transmission in Judaism and among the early Christians[9]. It is this pair that Saint Paul uses to describe the very heart of the Gospel: “I delivered to you (parédōka) what I also received (parélabon)” (1 Cor 15:3). The Gospel itself thus presents itself as a parádosis: something received and then transmitted. A third term is added, parathḗkē (παραθήκη), “the entrusted deposit,” which Timothy must “keep” (2 Tim 1:14)[10].
A “bad” tradition and a “good” tradition in the same New Testament
The decisive fact is this: the same word, under the same pen, sometimes designates a condemned reality, sometimes a commanded reality. Saint Paul writes parádosis in a negative sense in Colossians 2:8 (“the tradition of men”) and in a positive sense, a few letters later, in 2 Thessalonians 2:15 (“stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught”). The criterion is therefore never the word itself, but the source: human tradition opposed to God, or apostolic tradition coming from God. The following table contrasts the two uses in the New Testament corpus.
Here are, classified according to whether they condemn or command, the main uses of the word parádosis and its derivatives in the New Testament:
| Reference | Greek word | Meaning | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mark 7:8-13; Matthew 15:3-9 | parádosis tōn anthrṓpōn | “tradition of men” that nullifies the Word | Condemned |
| Colossians 2:8 | parádosis tōn anthrṓpōn | “philosophy” founded on human tradition | Condemned |
| 2 Thessalonians 2:15 | paradóseis | traditions taught “by word of mouth or by letter” | Commanded |
| 2 Thessalonians 3:6 | parádosis | tradition “received from us” | Commanded |
| 1 Corinthians 11:2 | paradóseis | traditions “handed down” to keep | Commanded |
| 1 Corinthians 15:3 | paradídōmi / paralambánō | the Gospel “received” then “transmitted” | Commanded |
| Jude 3 | paradotheísē pístis | “the faith once for all delivered” | Commanded |
This table is enough to dissolve the objection in its raw form: one cannot conclude from Mark 7 that “the Bible condemns Tradition,” since the Bible, in the same breath, commands holding to another Tradition. What remains is to examine these commands closely.
The verses where the Bible commands holding to Tradition
This is the heart of the matter. If one looks in the New Testament for what it says positively about apostolic transmission, one finds not a mere lip service tolerance, but a series of explicit commands to keep it, accompanied by praise for those who preserve it and reproach for those who depart from it.
2 Thessalonians 2:15: “whether by word of mouth or by letter”
The clearest text is this one. Saint Paul has just spoken about the last things, then he concludes with a solemn order:
“So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter.” — Saint Paul, 2 Thessalonians 2:15[11]
Everything is in this verse. First, Paul commands (“hold firm”) to keep the paradóseis, the very word the objection thought disqualified. Then, he distinguishes two channels of transmission, placed on the same level: oral word (“by word of mouth”) and written letter. Apostolic oral Tradition and apostolic Scripture are thus presented by Paul himself as two modes of one transmission, both authoritative[12]. To want to keep only “by letter” while rejecting “by word of mouth” is to obey half the verse while disobeying the other.
2 Thessalonians 3:6 and 1 Corinthians 11:2: praise and reproach
Paul does not stop at commanding: he sanctions. A few lines later, he orders to avoid the brother “who does not obey the tradition you received from us” (2 Th 3:6)[13]. Fidelity to Tradition becomes a criterion of communion. Conversely, he praises the Corinthians for keeping it:
“I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the traditions just as I passed them on to you.” — Saint Paul, 1 Corinthians 11:2[14]
Keeping Tradition is therefore, under Paul’s pen, a reason for praise; neglecting it, a reason for break. This is the opposite of condemnation.
1 Corinthians 15:1-3: the core of the Gospel “received” and “transmitted”
Even deeper: what Paul calls “the Gospel,” the heart of the faith—the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ—he explicitly presents as a parádosis, something received and then transmitted before being written down:
“Brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you […]. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” — Saint Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:1,3[15]
The verbs “delivered” (parédōka) and “received” (parélabon) are the very terms of tradition. The Gospel, then, did not begin as a book: it began as an oral preaching, received and transmitted, which Scripture would later record without exhausting it[16]. Tradition is not a late addition to the Gospel: it is its original mode of transmission.
2 Timothy: the “deposit” to guard and entrust
The pastoral epistles develop this logic with a precise image, that of the deposit (parathḗkē): a treasure entrusted that must be transmitted intact. To Timothy, Paul writes two complementary things:
“Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. […] Guard the deposit entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.” — Saint Paul, 2 Timothy 1:13-14[17]
He then specifies the chain of transmission, over four generations, and always by oral means:
“What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” — Saint Paul, 2 Timothy 2:2[18]
Four links are named: Paul → Timothy → “faithful men” → “others.” This is the very description of apostolic succession as the oral transmission belt of the deposit[19]. Not a word about a book that would suffice on its own: everything rests on a word “heard,” kept, then entrusted.
Jude 3: “the faith once for all delivered”
Finally, Saint Jude sums this up in a formula that will become classic:
“I found it necessary to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” — Saint Jude, Jude 3[20]
The Greek word is again a derivative of paradídōmi (paradotheísē): the faith is a thing delivered, a closed deposit “once for all” (hápax) entrusted to the saints. The New Testament, far from presenting faith as a text to be freely interpreted, presents it as an inheritance received that must be defended.
The Bible knows itself to be incomplete: the Word overflows the Book
A second front of the objection implicitly assumes that all the teaching of Christ and the apostles would fit within the pages of the New Testament. Yet Scripture itself affirms the opposite: it acknowledges repeatedly that it does not contain everything, and that faith is first transmitted by the living word.
“The world itself would not suffice”: John 20:30 and 21:25
The evangelist John says this twice, the second time with a famous hyperbole:
“And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.” — Saint John, John 21:25[21]
A few verses earlier, he had already noted: “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book” (John 20:30)[22]. Scripture itself thus presents itself as a selection, not as an exhaustive inventory. Part of what Jesus said and did was not recorded—and if it was transmitted, it could only have been by a means other than the book[23].
Faith comes from hearing before the book: Romans 10:17
Saint Paul makes hearing—not reading—the ordinary way of faith:
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” — Saint Paul, Romans 10:17[24]
In a world where the vast majority of people were illiterate and where the New Testament did not yet exist as a collection, faith spread by the oral preaching of the apostles and their envoys[25]. This is the very order of the risen Christ: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations”—by voice, before pen.
The apostles prefer to speak face to face: 2 and 3 John
A revealing detail: the apostles themselves sometimes judge the written word insufficient and prefer personal encounter. Saint John writes this twice:
“I have many things to write to you, but I do not want to write with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, that our joy may be full.” — Saint John, 2 John 12[26]
He repeats almost the same thing in his third letter (3 John 13-14)[27]. Thus, within the very pages of the New Testament, an apostle deliberately chooses to reserve part of his teaching for oral word rather than writing. Unwritten Tradition is not a late Roman theory: it is a fact attested by Scripture.
A saying of Jesus outside the Gospels: Acts 20:35
The most striking proof is found in Acts: Saint Paul quotes a saying of the Lord which does not appear in any of the four Gospels:
“I have shown you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” — Saint Paul, Acts 20:35[28]
This phrase of Jesus—a agraphon, a “non-written saying” in the Gospels—survived only by oral transmission, and it is Scripture itself that later recorded it[29]. Here is a case where the New Testament proves, in practice, that authentic words of Christ circulated outside the Book, by Tradition alone.
The New Testament Itself Draws from Tradition
The argument can be turned even more radically. Not only does the Bible acknowledge that it does not contain everything, but the inspired authors of the New Testament themselves cite extra-biblical Jewish traditions — accounts that appear nowhere in the canonical Old Testament. If divine inspiration itself draws upon unwritten tradition, how could this tradition be, in principle, contemptible?
Jannes and Jambres, Borrowed from Jewish Tradition
Saint Paul names the two magicians who opposed Moses:
“Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth.” — Saint Paul, 2 Timothy 3:8[30]
Yet these two names appear nowhere in the Old Testament: the book of Exodus only speaks anonymously of Pharaoh’s “magicians” (Ex 7:11, 22). The names Jannes and Jambres come from Jewish tradition — they are found in the Targum known as Pseudo-Jonathan and in other rabbinic writings[31]. Paul, under the inspiration of the Spirit, thus draws a detail from an extra-scriptural oral tradition.
The Rock That Followed Israel in the Desert
Similarly, when Paul rereads Exodus, he writes:
“They drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ.” — Saint Paul, 1 Corinthians 10:4[32]
The idea of a rock that follows the people through the desert is not in the text of Exodus or Numbers: it is a rabbinic tradition (the “well of Miriam” that accompanied Israel) which Paul adopts and Christianizes[33]. Once again, the apostle takes for granted a detail transmitted orally.
Enoch and the Body of Moses in the Epistle of Jude
The epistle of Jude is a classic case. In two verses, it draws from two Jewish writings outside the canon. First, the dispute between the archangel Michael and the devil “over the body of Moses” (Jude 9) — an episode absent from the Old Testament, which the Fathers, from Origen onward, linked to a writing entitled the Assumption (or Ascension) of Moses[34]. Second, a prophecy explicitly attributed to Enoch:
“Enoch, the seventh from Adam, also prophesied about these men: ‘Behold, the Lord comes with his holy myriads to execute judgment upon all.’” — Saint Jude, Jude 14-15[35]
This quotation almost verbatim echoes the Book of Enoch (1 Enoch 1:9), a Jewish writing not included in the Church’s canon[36]. An inspired book thus explicitly cites a non-canonical tradition.
“He Shall Be Called a Nazarene,” a Prophecy Without a Traceable Text
A final, more subtle example. Saint Matthew writes that Jesus came to live in Nazareth “so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled: He shall be called a Nazarene” (Mt 2:23)[37]. Yet no verse in the Old Testament says this in these terms. Matthew therefore refers to a prophetic teaching transmitted orally, of which we do not have the exact written text[38]. The evangelist regards as “fulfilled” something that is not a traceable quotation from Scripture.
What Do These Borrowings Prove?
We summarize these four cases in the following table, indicating for each the New Testament passage, the traditional element employed, and its absence from the Old Testament canon:
| NT Passage | Tradition Taken for Granted | Presence in the Old Testament |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Timothy 3:8 | The names “Jannes and Jambres” | Absent (Exodus speaks of “magicians” without naming them) |
| 1 Corinthians 10:4 | The rock that “follows” Israel | Absent (tradition of the “well of Miriam”) |
| Jude 9 | The dispute over the body of Moses | Absent (Assumption of Moses) |
| Jude 14-15 | The prophecy of Enoch | Absent (1 Enoch 1:9) |
| Matthew 2:23 | “He shall be called a Nazarene” | Absent (no corresponding verse) |
The inevitable conclusion: the inspired authors of the New Testament treat unwritten tradition as a legitimate source of knowledge. One cannot, without contradiction, venerate their writings while rejecting in principle the transmission from which these writings draw.
What Jesus Really Condemns in Mark 7 and Matthew 15
We must now address the verses "against" tradition and show that they do not say what people make them say. The golden rule of exegesis is to read the text in its context. The context of Mark 7 is precise and limited.
The Case of Qorban
Jesus does not condemn tradition in general: He condemns a specific abuse, the qorban. The custom allowed a man to declare "offering reserved for God" (qorban) the goods that should have been used to support his elderly parents, thus exempting himself from the fourth commandment:
“You say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, “Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is korban”’ […] then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother; thus you nullify the word of God by the tradition that you hand down.” — Jesus, Mark 7:11-13[39]
The complaint is surgical: a human tradition allows one to violate a divine commandment under the guise of piety. It is not the transmission that is at fault, but its perverse content[40].
"The Commandment of God" versus "The Tradition of Men"
Jesus’ vocabulary is unambiguous. He contrasts two terms: "the commandment of God" on one side, and "the tradition of men" on the other (Mk 7:8). The adversary is not tradition as such, but human-origin tradition when it "nullifies" the divine Word[41]. Jesus reproaches the Pharisees not for having a tradition, but for preferring their tradition over the commandment of God — a defect of content and source, never a defect of transmission.
The Criterion: Conformity or Contradiction to the Word of God
From this emerges the criterion that runs throughout the New Testament: a tradition is good when it comes from God (through the apostles) and conforms to His Word; it is bad when it comes from men and contradicts it. This is exactly the distinction between apostolic Tradition and human traditions, treated specifically in a dedicated article (Tradition and traditions), and which also underpins the answer to the related question: Does Tradition contradict the Bible?. To take from Mark 7 that "the Bible condemns Tradition" is to confuse the two realities that Jesus precisely wanted to distinguish.
Does 2 Timothy 3:16 Teach “Scripture Alone”?
We must return to the cornerstone verse of the objection, for the entire edifice rests on it. Properly read, it says a lot — but not what the objection claims.
"Useful" Does Not Mean "Sufficient Alone"
The text affirms that Scripture is "God-breathed" (gr. theópneustos, "breathed by God") and "useful" (gr. ōphélimos) for teaching, correcting, and training[42]. But "useful" is not "sufficient by itself." A tool can be indispensable without being the only necessary tool. The verse proclaims the inspiration and usefulness of Scripture — which the Catholic Church holds with the utmost firmness — but it nowhere says that it is the only rule of faith, to the exclusion of Tradition[43]. To derive sola scriptura from this verse is to make it say exclusivity where it only affirms value.
"All Scripture" Referred to the Old Testament
Even more decisive: which "Scripture" is Paul speaking of? The preceding verse says: “From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures” (2 Tim 3:15). Timothy, as a child, had access only to the Old Testament: the New Testament was not yet written or compiled[44]. If one took the verse literally as proof of sola scriptura, it would prove too much: it would establish that the Old Testament alone suffices — which no Protestant accepts. The argument thus backfires on its bearer.
The Paradox: "Sola Scriptura" Is Not in Scripture
The paradox that closes the discussion remains: no verse in the Bible teaches that the Bible alone is authoritative. The doctrine of Scripture alone is itself not written in Scripture — it is therefore, strictly speaking, a human tradition posited a priori, and which refutes itself[45]. For the full development of this point, see the dossier Sola Scriptura — Scripture Alone and why Catholics do not follow sola scriptura. From the strictly exegetical point of view that is ours here, the observation suffices: the text supposed to found Scripture alone does not found it.
The Bible Presupposes a Church That Teaches with Authority
If Scripture is not self-sufficient as an isolated rule, it is because it constantly refers to a living authority entrusted with preserving and interpreting it: the Church. Again, this is not a Catholic deduction imposed on the text; it is the text itself that says so.
“The Church, Pillar and Support of the Truth”
Saint Paul does not give this title to Scripture, but to the Church:
“If I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth.” — Saint Paul, 1 Timothy 3:15[46]
It is the Church — not the Book alone — that is called “pillar and support of the truth” (stŷlos kài hedraíōma tēs alētheías)[47]. The image is architectural: the revealed truth rests on the Church as a building rests on its pillar. A truth supported only by a text without an authorized interpreter would, in Paul’s vocabulary, be a pillar without support.
“Tell It to the Church” and “Whoever Listens to You Listens to Me”
Jesus himself confers on the Church — and those He sends — a binding teaching authority. At the end of fraternal correction, the ultimate authority is not a text but a community:
“If he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” — Jesus, Matthew 18:17[48]
And He identifies listening to His sent ones with listening to Himself: “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me” (Lk 10:16)[49]. The teaching authority of the apostles and their successors is therefore of divine institution, not a clerical usurpation.
The Council of Jerusalem: “The Holy Spirit and Us”
The Acts of the Apostles show this authority at work from the very first doctrinal crisis of the Church. To settle the question of circumcision for Gentiles, the apostles and elders do not merely open Scripture: they deliberate in council and promulgate a binding decision:
“It has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements.” — The Council of Jerusalem, Acts 15:28[50]
The formula is striking: an assembly of men dares to say “the Holy Spirit and us.” And the decision is then transmitted orally, from city to city, as a norm to be observed (Acts 16:4)[51]. This is the very model of a living Tradition exercising authority alongside Scripture.
The Spirit Who “Leads into All Truth”
Finally, Jesus announces that revelation will unfold after His departure, through the Holy Spirit given to the Church:
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you into all the truth.” — Jesus, John 16:12-13[52]
Faith is therefore not locked up in a text but entrusted to a Church that the Spirit “leads” and “introduces” into the truth over time[53]. This is precisely what the Catechism will call the “living transmission” of the Word of God.
How the Fathers and the Magisterium Read These Texts
This reading is not a modern invention designed to save the Catholic cause. It has been constant since the ancient Church, and it was solemnly defined by the Magisterium. The passage through the Fathers and councils confirms that the exegesis proposed here is that of the great Christian Tradition.
Saint John Chrysostom on 2 Thessalonians 2:15
As early as the 4th century, commenting on the key verse, Saint John Chrysostom draws the exact conclusion defended in this article from “whether by word of mouth or by letter”:
“It is therefore clear that the apostles did not transmit everything by letter, but also many things unwritten; and both are equally worthy of faith. Let us also hold the tradition of the Church as worthy of faith. It is a tradition; seek nothing more.” — Saint John Chrysostom, Homily IV on 2 Thessalonians[54]
Saint Basil: The Written and the Unwritten “Have the Same Force”
A little earlier, Saint Basil the Great, in his treatise On the Holy Spirit, states the principle even more decisively:
“Among the doctrines and customs preserved in the Church, some come to us from written teaching, others have been handed down ‘in mystery’ by the tradition of the apostles; and both have, with regard to true religion, the same force.” — Saint Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit, ch. 27[55]
And Basil asks, to prove it: “What writing has taught us to turn toward the East for prayer?”[56] — showing by example that the first Christians already lived by unwritten traditions held to be apostolic.
The Council of Trent, Session IV in 1546: “With Equal Sentiment of Piety”
In response to the Reformers, the Church defined this doctrine in its most explicit decree. The fourth session of the Council of Trent declares that the truth of the Gospel is contained
“in the written books and in the unwritten traditions which, received by the apostles from the mouth of Christ himself or handed down as by word of mouth by the apostles under the dictation of the Holy Spirit, have come down to us.” — Council of Trent, Session IV, April 8, 1546[57]
And the council specifies that it receives Scripture and Tradition “with an equal sentiment of piety and reverence” (lat. pari pietatis affectu ac reverentia)[58]. Scripture and apostolic Tradition are not set in competition but received with one heart.
Did Trent Define “Two Sources”? The Geiselmann Nuance
For intellectual honesty, a historical subtlety must be noted. An initial draft of the Tridentine decree spoke of the truth contained “in part” (partim) in Scripture and “in part” (partim) in Tradition — a formula suggesting two materially distinct reservoirs. The final wording abandoned this “partim… partim” in favor of a simple “and… and”: the truth is in Scripture and in Tradition. The dominant scholarly reading, following historian Josef Rupert Geiselmann, concludes that Trent did not dogmatically define a strict theory of “two sources” and left open the question of the material sufficiency of Scripture[59]. This nuance, debated among specialists, does not change the thesis of this article: whether or not Scripture contains everything materially, it is not transmitted or interpreted without the living Tradition of the Church.
Vatican II and the Catechism: One Deposit, Two Modes of Transmission
The Second Vatican Council took up and refined this teaching in the constitution Dei Verbum. Tradition and Scripture are declared there to be “closely connected and communicating with each other,” springing “from the same divine source” (DV 9), and forming “one sacred deposit of the word of God” entrusted to the Church (DV 10)[60]. The Catechism sums up the entire matter in a sentence that could serve as the conclusion of this article:
“The first generation of Christians did not yet have a written New Testament, and the New Testament itself attests to the process of living Tradition.” — Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 83[61]
The Magisterium adds a crucial clarification, which dispels any fear of arbitrary clerical power: this Magisterium “is not above the word of God, but serves it” (DV 10)[62]. The Church does not place itself above Scripture: it serves it, just as it serves the Tradition from which Scripture was born.
Summary: Yes, the Bible Teaches Tradition
The initial question now calls for a clear answer. The Bible teaches Tradition — not just any tradition, but apostolic Tradition. It commands it (“stand firm and hold to the traditions,” 2 Th 2:15), praises it (1 Co 11:2), makes it a criterion of communion (2 Th 3:6), describes the Gospel itself as something “received” and “handed on” (1 Co 15:3), organizes its oral transmission over several generations (2 Tm 2:2), and presents it as “the faith once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).
The verses that the objection cites — Mark 7, Matthew 15, Colossians 2 — do not contradict this finding: they condemn human traditions contrary to God, never apostolic transmission. And the verse supposedly founding “Scripture alone,” 2 Timothy 3:16, affirms the inspiration and usefulness of Scripture without ever asserting its exclusivity — especially since it referred, in Paul’s time, to the Old Testament. Far from opposing the Book to Tradition, Scripture binds them together: it knows itself to be incomplete (Jn 21:25), draws itself from Jewish tradition (Jude 14–15), and points to a Church “pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Tm 3:15) that the Spirit leads into “all the truth” (Jn 16:13). As the Catechism summarizes: the New Testament itself attests to the process of living Tradition.
For Further Reading
- Sola Scriptura — Scripture Alone: the complete doctrinal dossier on the Protestant principle of Scripture alone and its refutation.
- Why Don’t Catholics Follow Sola Scriptura?: the systematic Catholic response.
- What Is the Difference Between Tradition and traditions?: the key distinction between capital T and lowercase t.
- Does Tradition Contradict the Bible?: the mirror question.
- Responses to Protestantism: the hub of Protestant objections.
- The Five Solae: historical and theological synthesis of the five principles of the Reformation.
- The Canon of the New Testament: how the Church received the list of inspired books — an act of Tradition.
Notes and References
On the doctrine of sola scriptura (“Scripture alone”) as one of the five principles of the Reformation and its detailed refutation, see the Ignispedia dossiers Sola Scriptura and The Five Solae. This article deals only with the strictly exegetical aspect: what the Bible says about the word “tradition.”
1Mark 7:8,13, official liturgical translation (AELF). The full passage (Mk 7:1–13) recounts Jesus’ dispute with the Pharisees and scribes about ritual washings and korban.
2Colossians 2:8 (AELF). The “tradition of men” (gr. parádosis tōn anthrṓpōn) is here associated with “empty and deceptive philosophy” and opposed to Christ.
3Matthew 15:3,6,9 (AELF): “Why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? […] You have nullified the word of God for the sake of your tradition! […] The doctrines they teach are only human precepts.” Jesus here quotes Isaiah 29:13.
42 Timothy 3:16–17 (AELF). Greek: Scripture is said to be theópneustos (“God-breathed”) and ōphélimos (“useful”).
5Apologetic principle: present the objection in its strongest form (steelman) before responding. Conceding what is true — Jesus and Paul do condemn certain traditions — strengthens the response rather than weakening it.
6Parádosis (παράδοσις), from pará (“beside”) and dídōmi (“to give”): literally “that which is handed over, transmitted.” The term is used thirteen times in the New Testament — census from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, art. “Tradition”: Mt 15:2, 3, 6; Mk 7:3, 5, 8, 9, 13; 1 Cor 11:2; Gal 1:14; Col 2:8; 2 Thess 2:15; 3:6 — sometimes negatively (human traditions), sometimes positively (apostolic traditions).
7The fallacy consists in charging a word with a fixed moral value that the text does not give it. Like “doctrine,” “teaching,” or “zeal,” the word “tradition” is morally neutral: its quality depends on its source and content.
8The pair paradídōmi / paralambánō (“to hand on” / “to receive”) translates the rabbinic technical vocabulary of transmission (Hebrew masar / qibbel), used for example in the tractate Pirqé Avot (“Moses received the Torah from Sinai and handed it on…”). Paul applies it to Christian transmission.
9Parathḗkē (παραθήκη), “deposit, a good entrusted to someone’s care”: a Greek legal term designating what is entrusted to a depositary who must return it intact. Used in 1 Tm 6:20 and 2 Tm 1:12,14 for the faith entrusted to Timothy.
102 Thessalonians 2:15 (AELF). Greek: stḗkete kaì krateíte tàs paradóseis hàs edidáchthēte eíte dià lógou eíte di' epistolēs hēmōn — “stand firm and hold to the traditions… whether by word or by our letter.”
11The verse places oral transmission and written transmission on the same level, by the double conjunction eíte… eíte… (“whether… or…”). This is the scriptural foundation of the doctrine of two modes of transmission of one Word of God (cf. Catechism no. 76, citing Dei Verbum 7).
122 Thessalonians 3:6 (AELF): “We command you to keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and does not follow the tradition (parádosis) you received from us.” Faithfulness to apostolic Tradition is a criterion of ecclesial communion.
131 Corinthians 11:2 (AELF). The verse introduces Paul’s teaching on conduct in assembly and the Lord’s Supper: all paradóseis transmitted orally before being recorded.
141 Corinthians 15:1, 3 (AELF). The passage (15:3-7) is regarded by exegesis as a pre-Pauline creed, an oral formula of faith predating the letter’s writing (around 54 AD), thus one of the oldest testimonies of Christian Tradition.
15The primitive preaching (kḗrygma) preceded the writing of the Gospels by several decades (circa 65-100 AD). For a generation, the Christian faith was transmitted without a written New Testament: a historical fact recalled by the Catechism at no. 83.
162 Timothy 1:13-14 (AELF). The “pattern of sound words” (gr. hypotýpōsis hygiainóntōn lógōn) and the “deposit” (parathḗkē) are terms of transmission, not mere reading.
172 Timothy 2:2 (AELF). The verse describes four links in the chain of oral transmission: Paul, Timothy, the “faithful men,” and “others.”
18This chain of oral transmission of the deposit by the laying on of hands is the scriptural foundation of apostolic succession (cf. 2 Tim 1:6; Titus 1:5). The Fathers, notably Irenaeus of Lyons (Against Heresies, III, 3), made it the decisive criterion of the authenticity of faith against the Gnostics.
19Jude 3 (AELF, numbered Jude 1:3). Greek: tē hápax paradotheísē toîs hagíois pístei — “the faith once for all delivered (paradotheísē) to the saints (hagíois).” The verb is again a derivative of paradídōmi.
20John 21:25 (AELF). A classic Semitic hyperbole emphasizing that the written word cannot exhaust the work of Christ.
21John 20:30 (AELF): “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book.”
22The Gospels present themselves as selections ordered toward a purpose (Jn 20:31: “so that you may believe”), not as exhaustive accounts. What was not written could only have been transmitted, if at all, by preaching.
23Romans 10:17 (AELF). Greek: hē pístis ex akoēs — “faith comes from hearing (akoḗ, the act of listening).” The ear, not the eye, is the ordinary organ of faith in the apostolic economy.
24In the Greco-Roman world of the 1st century, literacy rates were low — about 10% for the Empire as a whole, higher in urban areas, according to the reference study by W. V. Harris, Ancient Literacy (Harvard University Press, 1989) — and books, copied by hand, were rare and costly. The spread of the Gospel was therefore predominantly oral, in accordance with Christ’s missionary command (Mt 28:19-20; Mk 16:15).
252 John 12 (AELF, numbered 2 Jn 1:12). The apostle explicitly prefers the spoken word “face to face” (gr. stóma pròs stóma, “mouth to mouth”) over ink and paper.
263 John 13-14 (AELF, numbered 3 Jn 1:13-14): “I have much to write to you, but I do not want to do so with ink and pen. I hope to see you soon, and we will speak face to face.”
27Acts 20:35 (AELF). The saying “It is more blessed to give than to receive” is not reported by any of the four Gospels: it is an agraphon (an unwritten saying of Jesus) preserved only by oral tradition, then recorded by Luke.
28An agraphon (from the Greek á-graphon, “not written”) is a saying attributed to Jesus absent from the canonical Gospels. Acts 20:35 is the most certain example, since it is cited within the New Testament itself: proof that authentic words of Christ circulated outside the written Gospels.
292 Timothy 3:8 (AELF). The names Jannes and Jambres, magicians of Pharaoh, do not appear in the Exodus narrative (Ex 7:11, 22 speaks anonymously of “magicians”).
30The names “Jannes and Jambres” come from Jewish tradition: they appear in the Targum of Pseudo-Jonathan (on Ex 1:15 — where Jannes and Jambres, “chiefs of the magicians,” announce to Pharaoh the birth of the liberator — and on Ex 7:11), in the Babylonian Talmud (Menahot 85a, under the Aramaic forms “Yohana and Mamre”), and in the Damascus Document of Qumran (CD 5:17-19: Belial raises up “Jannes and his brother” against Moses and Aaron). Paul, inspired by the Spirit, thus draws on a detail from an extra-biblical tradition.
311 Corinthians 10:4 (AELF). The idea of a rock that follows the people is found in no Old Testament text: it is a Jewish traditional interpretation.
32The rabbinic tradition of the “well of Miriam,” a rock or water source that accompanied Israel in its desert wanderings, is attested in the Tosefta (Sukkah 3: the well that was with the Israelites in the desert, described as a rock) and in the Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum of Pseudo-Philo (10:7: God brought forth for them “a well of water that followed them”; cf. 11:15). Paul adopts and Christianizes it: “that rock was Christ.”
33Jude 9 (AELF, numbered Jude 1:9), on the dispute between the archangel Michael and the devil “over the body of Moses.” The episode is absent from the Old Testament. As early as the 3rd century, Origen (On First Principles, III, 2, 1) linked it to a Jewish writing entitled the Ascension (or Assumption) of Moses (lat. Assumptio Moysis); Clement of Alexandria (Adumbrationes in Epistolam Judae) and Didymus the Blind (In Epist. Judae Enarratio) make the same connection.
34Jude 14-15 (AELF, numbered Jude 1:14-15). Jude explicitly attributes the prophecy to “Enoch, the seventh from Adam.”
35The citation in Jude 14-15 almost verbatim echoes 1 Enoch 1:9, an intertestamental Jewish writing (3rd–1st century BC) not included in the Church’s canon (though it is in the Ethiopian Church’s canon). An inspired book thus explicitly cites a non-canonical source without canonizing the entire work.
36Matthew 2:23 (AELF): “He will be called a Nazarene.” No verse in the Old Testament contains this formula (proposed allusions include Is 11:1, the netzer, “branch,” or the consecration of the Nazirite, but no literal citation).
37Matthew introduces the formula by “the word spoken by the prophets” (plural and without precise reference), indicating he refers to a prophetic teaching transmitted rather than to a specific written text — another sign of New Testament use of tradition.
38Mark 7:11-13 (AELF). The qorban (from Hebrew qorbān, “offering”) designated property dedicated to the Temple; Pharisaic casuistry allowed, by this vow, to withhold resources “reserved for God” from the support of parents.
39Jesus’ complaint is precise: a human tradition serves as a pretext to circumvent an explicit divine commandment (the fourth: “Honor your father and your mother”). It is not transmission that is condemned, but the inversion of priorities to the detriment of God’s Law.
40The lexical opposition in Mark 7:8 — “the commandment of God” (tḕn entolḕn toû Theoû) versus “the tradition of men” (tḕn parádosin tōn anthrṓpōn) — shows that the discriminating criterion is origin (divine or human) and conformity to the Word, not the fact of being transmitted.
41Theópneustos (θεόπνευστος, “God-breathed/inspired”) and ōphélimos (ὠφέλιμος, “useful, profitable”): the verse affirms two properties of Scripture (inspiration and usefulness), but no Greek term means “sufficient by itself” or “exclusive.”
42Logical argument: “useful for” does not imply “alone necessary.” The same apostle who says Scripture is “useful” also commands to hold fast to oral traditions (2 Th 2:15) — proof that he does not attribute exclusive sufficiency to it. This argument serves as exegesis of the text, not as a demonstration accepted by all.
432 Timothy 3:15 (AELF): “From childhood you have known the sacred Scriptures.” Timothy, raised by his mother Eunice and grandmother Lois (2 Tim 1:5), knew the Old Testament from childhood; the New Testament canon would only be fixed gradually in the 4th–5th centuries. “All Scripture” therefore primarily designates the Old Testament.
44The proposition "Scripture alone is authoritative in matters of faith" is itself not stated by any verse of Scripture: it therefore does not satisfy its own criterion. This is the classic logical objection of self-refutation, developed in the Sola Scriptura dossier.
451 Timothy 3:15 (AELF). Greek: stŷlos kaì hedraíōma tēs alētheías — "pillar (stŷlos) and foundation/support (hedraíōma) of the truth." The title is given to the Church, not to Scripture.
46The architectural image — the Church as the pillar bearing the truth — implies an active role as guardian and interpreter, not a mere passive receptacle. The revealed truth is "supported" by the Church, which is responsible for it.
47Matthew 18:17 (AELF). At the end of fraternal correction, the ultimate appeal instance is "the Church" (ekklēsía), whose refusal to listen results in exclusion. Immediately follows the power to "bind and loose" (Mt 18:18).
48Luke 10:16 (AELF): "Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me." Jesus equates listening to his envoys with listening to himself and the Father.
49Acts 15:28 (AELF). The Council of Jerusalem (circa 49-50) decides by a collegial decision attributed to the Holy Spirit, not by Scripture citation alone: the New Testament model of the Church’s doctrinal authority gathered in council.
50Acts 16:4 (AELF): "In the cities where they passed through, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, so that they might be observed." The conciliar decision is disseminated orally as a binding norm.
51John 16:12-13 (AELF). Jesus announces a unfolding of the truth after his departure, led by the Spirit within the Church — the scriptural foundation for the harmonious development of doctrine.
52This "guidance" of the Church by the Spirit toward "the whole truth" grounds the notion of living Tradition (Catechism nos. 78-79) and the harmonious development of dogma theorized by Saint Vincent of Lérins (Commonitorium, 434) and later by John Henry Newman (Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, 1845).
53Saint John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, Homily IV (on 2 Th 2:15), translated from English in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 13 (text on newadvent.org, /fathers/23054.htm). Original: "Hence it is manifest, that they did not deliver all things by Epistle, but many things also unwritten, and in like manner both the one and the other are worthy of credit. Therefore let us think the tradition of the Church also worthy of credit. It is a tradition, seek no farther."
54Saint Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit (De Spiritu Sancto), ch. 27, § 66, translated from English in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 8 (CCEL). Original: "…some we possess derived from written teaching; others we have received delivered to us 'in a mystery' by the tradition of the apostles; and both of these in relation to true religion have the same force."
55Saint Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit, ch. 27, § 66 (CCEL, NPNF series 2, vol. 8): "What writing has taught us to turn to the East at prayer?" Basil lists, as examples of unwritten traditions held to be apostolic, the sign of the cross, the orientation of prayer toward the East, the words of the eucharistic epiclesis, and baptismal blessings.
56Council of Trent, 4th session, April 8, 1546, decree Sacrosancta on the reception of the holy books and traditions (Denzinger-Hünermann no. 1501). Text cited according to the French edition of Denzinger’s Enchiridion Symbolorum.
57Council of Trent, session IV (Denzinger no. 1501): the council receives and venerates Scripture and apostolic traditions "pari pietatis affectu ac reverentia" — "with an equal sentiment of piety and reverence." This formula is quoted verbatim by Dei Verbum 9.
58On the passage from "partim… partim" (draft) to "et… et" (final text) of the Tridentine decree, see the work of Josef Rupert Geiselmann, Die Heilige Schrift und die Tradition (1962). His thesis — Trent did not define a strict theory of two materially distinct sources — is the dominant scholarly reading but remains debated: some historians consider that the removal of partim aimed not to settle the question, without endorsing a material sufficiency of Scripture.
59Second Vatican Council, dogmatic constitution Dei Verbum (November 18, 1965), nos. 9 ("holy Tradition and holy Scripture are therefore closely connected and communicate with one another […] both must be received and venerated with equal feelings of devotion and reverence") and 10 ("Holy Tradition and Holy Scripture form one sacred deposit of the word of God, entrusted to the Church"). Official French text on vatican.va.
60Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 83. The number distinguishes apostolic Tradition (coming from the apostles) from theological, disciplinary, liturgical, or devotional "traditions" developed over time, which the Magisterium may maintain, modify, or abandon.
61Dei Verbum 10: "This magisterium is not above the word of God, but serves it, teaching only what has been handed down." Tradition and the Magisterium are therefore not competing authorities with Scripture but servants of the same Word of God (cf. Catechism no. 86).
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