Sources of our Catholic Faith

Scripture, Church Teaching and Tradition

The Catholic faith is rich in spirituality
Of the many Christian faiths that have diverged from the common rootedness to the person and teaching of Jesus, the Catholic faith perhaps has grown and progressed in a way that made it rich in its tradition of beliefs and in its spirituality. Many Christians stress only the Scripture as the basis of their Christian faith. Catholics however, have retained Church teachings and Tradition, as part of its spirituality and theological reflections. In fact, what makes a Catholic distinct from other Christians are these two sources of our faith: Church teaching and Tradition.

The late Holy Father stresses the importance of Christian unity and ecumenism. This too makes the Catholic faith rich in tradition and spirituality. In this context, Catholics can be in harmony and unity with other Christians through the common Scriptural tradition that all Christians have access to. So, even if Catholics differ from other Christians in beliefs because of their adherence to Church teaching and Tradition, they can nevertheless be a bridge in the forefront of the ecumenical movement and Christian unity - taking as the common point of reference the Scripture.

Scripture
The use of Scripture, has lately been the source of unity for many Christians. Some translations of the Bible have involved Bible scholars from different Christian denominations. Usually, the translation that is produced from such a collaborative effort is very good, because of the various points of view and faith contexts that were incorporated in the translation. Translations such as these would have a more objective use of terminology and words.

Scripture has always been the main source of the Catholic faith even though it was not known to the lay faithful before the Second Vatican Council. But with the current emphasis on the importance of knowing the Scriptures, many Catholics have made reading the Bible as an important part of their prayer life.

To those already familiar with the Bible, here are additional information that can help you understand the context by which we study and pray the Scriptures:

We inherited the Old Testament from the Jewish Bible
The Jewish Bible consists of 'twenty-four books'.

The Law - Pentateuch: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy
The Prophets: [the earlier prophets] Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings
(I & II), [the later prophets] Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel
The Twelve prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah,
Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi
The Writings: Psalms, Job, Proberbs, Ruth, the Song of Songs,
Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, Chronicles

We inherited contents and materials also from the Greek Bible
The Greek Bible or Septuagint, was used by the Jews of the Dispersion
With the exception of the apocryphal books, the contents of the Greek Bible is the same as that of the Old Testament accepted by the Church

The apocryphal books that are added from the Jewish Bible are: Judith, Tobit, 1 and 2 Maccabees [plus the apocryphal 3 and 4], 1 and 2 Esdras, the Book of Wisdom, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Baruch, Letter of Jeremiah, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon

Although the focus mostly of our Christian faith lies in the New Testament teaching, many of the passages in the New Testament refer back to passages in the Old Testament. It is thus necessary also to understand the Old Testament context of the New Testament passages. An example to this would be the 'Emmanuel' prophecies from the book of Isaiah from which the passage about the Incarnation [in Matthew] is based. Another example is the passage, 'My God, my God, why have you abandoned me!'. This has a reference to Psalm 22. And there are countless other references which can be found that is very interesting to study.

Church Teaching
Church teaching are those teachings that sprung from the official councils that have been convened in our Church history. From the first ecumenical council of of Nicaea in 325 A.D. up to the present Vatican II Council teaching that we follow today, much of what we believe in our Catholic faith are based on these official teachings of the Church. Although some of the teachings of the Church in the past are still true, what is important now is the teaching of Vatican II which is now being applied in our Catholic liturgy and practice. It also shapes what we think as regards the current moral crisis the Church and the world is being challenged with today.

In the original text of the teachings, a certain theological background is needed in order to understand certain concepts and terminology that are being used in the Church documents. However, for the simple study of our faith, we need only to look at the Catechism. This too, was based on the teachings of Vatican II. The current Catechism published by the Church is a revision from the Baltimore Catechism. Vatican II teaching is very much reflected and is the main context of all that is presented in the new Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Tradition
Tradition refers to all forms of liturgical practices, devotions, religious literature, and other traditional Catholic faith practices that have been handed down from generation to generation of Catholic believers. Usually, these traditions are from local liturgical practices: as in the way processions are organized, or in the way novenas are prayed, or in the way some Lenten traditions are practiced.

Tradition has its basis in Scripture and Church teaching and it grows and evolves with time. One very popular expression of this Tradition which have been with us since the beginning and which has grown with the present awareness of the importance of Scriptures, is the tradition of praying of the rosary and the practice of praying the stations of the Cross. Both Catholic traditions were now revised so as to make it more scripturally-based and more oriented towards the person of Christ. The Light or Luminous mysteries, which reflect the public ministry of Jesus, was added by the late Holy Father, John Paul II. This addition was accompanied by the release of the document, Rosarium Virginis Mariae. As regards the Stations of the Cross, many of the 'stations' in the old practice were removed because they have no Scriptural basis. They revised the stations to include more Scripturally-based events in the Passion of Jesus.

Summary
When other Christians question the Catholics why they believe as they do, they only have to say that the Catholic faith is based not only on Scripture but also on Church teaching and Tradition. The reason why the Catholic Church has remained steadfast in its stand towards the encroachments of world systems is because it has kept its tradition of Church teaching intact and its Tradition intact. Before the Catholic Church can make a decision on a moral issue that is affecting the People of God, she makes her discernment by consulting the wisdom of past teaching and tradition and with the help of the Holy Spirit. It is this treasure trove of Church teaching and Tradition that has held Catholic faith solidly firm in the basic truths of the Christian tradition since the time of Jesus and the early Christian communities led by the apostles.

Dennis-Emmanuel Cabrera
January 31, 2005
[August 8, 2006]

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