Why Catholics Believe in Sacred Tradition
When some Christians hear the word “tradition,” they picture something dusty.
Grandma’s fruitcake recipe.
The way your family has always opened presents on Christmas Eve.
Nice, maybe.
But not exactly the Word of God.
So when Catholics say they believe in Sacred Tradition, it can sound like they are adding human customs to the Bible.
Wait… Why Do Catholics Follow Tradition and Not Just the Bible?
A lot of Christians think:
“The Bible is enough. Jesus condemned the traditions of men. Christians should follow Scripture alone.”
And at first that sounds right.
Jesus did criticize the Pharisees for holding on to human traditions that canceled out God’s commandments (Mark 7:8–13).
So why would Catholics hold on to tradition?
But then you start reading a few passages and you have to stop for a second.
Because St. Paul tells Christians to hold on to tradition.
What St. Paul Actually Said
Writing to the Christians in Thessalonica, Paul says:
“Therefore, brethren, stand fast; and hold the traditions which you have learned, whether by word, or by our epistle.”
— 2 Thessalonians 2:14 (2:15 in most Bibles)
Wait.
Whether by word, or by our epistle.
Paul handed on the faith two ways.
In writing.
And by word of mouth.
And he told Christians to hold on to both.
Jesus Did Not Write a Book
Here is something worth noticing.
Jesus never wrote a single book.
He never told the Apostles to write one either.
He told them to go and teach (Matthew 28:19–20).
The Church was preaching, baptizing, and celebrating the Eucharist for years before the first book of the New Testament was written.
And for decades before all of them were finished.
The first Christians received the faith the same way Paul describes: by word first, and then by letter.
Not Everything Was Written Down
St. John ends his Gospel with this:
“But there are also many other things which Jesus did; which, if they were written every one, the world itself, I think, would not be able to contain the books that should be written.”
— John 21:25
John is telling us plainly that the Bible does not contain everything Jesus did and said.
And Paul tells Timothy to pass on what he heard, not just what he read:
“And the things which thou hast heard of me by many witnesses, the same commend to faithful men, who shall be fit to teach others also.”
— 2 Timothy 2:2
Heard.
Handed on.
That is what the word tradition means.
It comes from the Latin tradere: to hand over.
Tradition With a Capital T
Here is where the confusion usually comes from.
Catholics are not talking about customs like fish on Friday, the color of vestments, or what language the Mass is in.
Those are traditions with a small t.
They can change, and some have.
Sacred Tradition, with a capital T, is the faith Jesus gave to the Apostles and they handed on to the Church.
The same faith that is written in Scripture.
Lived, preached, and prayed from the very beginning.
The Catechism says Scripture and Tradition flow from the same divine wellspring and move toward the same goal (CCC 80).
They are not two different faiths.
They are one faith, delivered two ways.
What About “Traditions of Men”?
So what about Jesus’ warning in Mark 7?
Jesus was not condemning all tradition.
He was condemning human traditions that contradict God’s commandments.
In that passage, some Pharisees were using a loophole to avoid supporting their parents.
That is a tradition of men.
Paul’s traditions came from Christ.
Big difference.
Catholics agree with Jesus: any “tradition” that contradicts the Word of God should be thrown out.
Sacred Tradition never contradicts Scripture, because both come from the same God.
You Already Believe Some Tradition
Here is a “wait a second” moment.
Every Christian accepts at least some things the Bible never spells out.
Which books belong in the Bible? There is no inspired table of contents.
Why do most Christians worship on Sunday instead of Saturday? No verse commands the change.
The word “Trinity” is not in the Bible either, though the truth is.
How do we know these things?
Because the Church handed them on.
That is Tradition.
Then You Read the First Christians
Around A.D. 180, St. Irenaeus wrote that even if the Apostles had left no writings, Christians should follow the tradition they handed on to the churches.
He said some Christian tribes who could not read believed the faith firmly, kept safe in their hearts without paper and ink.
Around A.D. 375, St. Basil the Great wrote that some Christian beliefs and practices come from Scripture and some from the unwritten tradition of the Apostles, and both have the same force.
The early Church did not think “Bible only.”
It thought “the whole faith of the Apostles.”
So What Is the Catholic Claim?
Here it is in simple terms.
Jesus gave His teaching to the Apostles, and they handed it on in writing and by word of mouth.
Paul told Christians to hold on to both.
John said not everything was written down.
The Church Fathers treated the unwritten tradition of the Apostles as binding.
Catholics believe Scripture and Sacred Tradition together form one deposit of the Word of God, guarded by the Church (CCC 95–97).
So the real question is not:
“Why don’t Catholics just follow the Bible?”
The better question is:
“If the Apostles handed on the faith by word and by letter, why would we keep only half?”
Because the same Church that wrote the New Testament also remembered what it heard.
Keep reading: Is Everything Catholics Believe Found in the Bible?, or browse more questions in Catholicism Explained.
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Catholic Sources
Scripture (Douay-Rheims): Matthew 28:19–20; Mark 7:8–13; John 21:25; 1 Corinthians 11:23; 2 Thessalonians 2:14; 2 Timothy 2:2.
Catechism of the Catholic Church: CCC 75–83 (Tradition); CCC 95–97 (Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium).
Early Christian writers: St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.4 (c. A.D. 180); St. Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit 27 (c. A.D. 375).
Church documents: Second Vatican Council, Dei Verbum 7–10.
