(2 Th. 2:14). Moreover, the Apostle here refers to the Scriptures
which Timothy was taught in his infancy [i.e., the Old Testament].”¹
The third passage from Acts refers to the Bereans, who received the Gospel
enthusiastically and who checked its claims against “the Scriptures.” At
first glance it could be claimed that as the Bereans were using the written
Scriptures as their only “rule of faith”, they established the precedent for all
other Christians. However, what is often overlooked is that the Bereans had
“received the word” orally, and that they were checking its claims against
the Old Testament Scriptures only. Certainly no one could reasonably
suggest that Christians today imitate the Bereans and have only the Old
Testament as their rule of faith.
Not only is the doctrine of Sola Scriptura not found in the Bible, it is
expressly denied by it. The Scriptures we have in hand expressly state that
they do not contain everything (St. John 20:30; 21:25), or give us an
account of all that Christ had said or done (St. John 16:12). In addition, we
know that there existed other Apostolic writings now lost, such as an earlier
letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians mentioned in 1 Cor. 5:9: “I wrote to you
in my letter ... But now I am writing to you...” Also missing is a Laodicean
epistle recommended to the Colossians by St. Paul, probably written by
himself (Col. 4:16).
Nevertheless, the fact there are certain Apostolic writings missing is of no
fatal consequence to Catholics. This is so because the Catholic Church
maintains that divine revelation is fully contained in her Deposit of Faith
(body of teaching), comprised of both written Scripture and Tradition.
Tradition here is Apostolic Tradition, not merely the tradition of men, and
ranks equally with the written word to complete divine revelation.
Tradition supplements the written word of God, it does not contradict it.
Furthermore, it assists the Church to fully understand and appreciate the
whole written word. Tradition embraces all those truths which have been
passed on from age to age either orally, in the writings of the Church
Fathers, in the Acts of the Martyrs, in early paintings and inscriptions, in
the practices and customs of the Universal Church, and in the definitions of
Councils and Popes.
1
Inspiration in its Relation to Revelation, 1884.
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