Many critics of Church Tradition argue that it is an ambiguous concept, one that lacks clear definition. Protestants often use this perceived lack of clarity as a justification for embracing sola scriptura. However, this perspective oversimplifies the nature and role of Tradition in the Church. I aim to demonstrate why this view is misguided and to offer a more nuanced understanding of Tradition’s place in Christian theology.
The two questions that we should ask are “What is Tradition?” and “How do we know what it is?” For the first question, Tradition (uppercase T) is the infallible interpretation of the Bible. Some Catholics believe that there are some Apostolic Traditions that are not found implicitly or explicitly, but that isn’t as common of a belief. This isn’t to be confused with tradition (lowercase t), which isn’t infallible and comprises just traditions that the Church has established over time.
Therefore, Tradition would include things that are obvious in Scripture (that Jesus is God) as well as things others would argue are not as explicit, like the idea that baptism is regenerative or that Christians can lose their salvation.
Knowing this, we can think about how some challenges to Tradition don’t work. For example, in a debate on sola scriptura, Gavin Ortlund, a Protestant scholar, in his opening statement asked the audience to give a list of Apostolic Traditions. This is an impossible challenge, as someone would need to give a list of everything in the Bible, as well as all the other Traditions that are not explicitly in the Bible.
The next question that would need to be answered would be “How do we know what Tradition is?” There are a few ways we could do this, but one of the best-known ways is by looking to the consensus of the Church Fathers. One father could have something wrong, but it would be difficult to say that the majority, or that a consensus, of Fathers got something wrong, especially since this is the reason we know what the Bible consists of.
Likewise, this consensus is the main reason that we know that baptism is regenerative and that Christians can lose their salvation. Both of these beliefs were unanimously believed by the early Fathers, and this is why they are a part of Tradition. Because of this widespread consensus, it would be pretty hard to argue that these beliefs are incorrect. A heretical belief would have to infiltrate not only some churches, but all churches, without anyone opposing the idea. How exactly would that work? I’m not sure, but it would be immensely difficult.
This is also the main reason that Catholics and Orthodox believe that these Traditions are infallible. By proving that these Traditions had a great consensus in the early Church, we can prove they came from Jesus, making them infallible.
There are several objections that one might make to this idea of Tradition. For sake of time, I’ll go over only a couple. The first objection would be that Tradition is ambiguous, and that because of this, we should believe in sola scriptura. Gavin Ortlund made this exact argument in his opening statement, referenced earlier. Ortlund argued that Tradition is ambiguous and that we can see this by looking at the early Church, whose members disagreed as early as the second century on the date of Easter.
This is historically accurate, but it is not a huge blow to the Catholic position. Just because there are certain Traditions that aren’t clear, that wouldn’t mean that Tradition as a whole is just a wash. That would be like saying that because there was controversy over books like Revelation, the Bible as a whole, including books like the Gospel of John, which did not have controversy, should be dismissed. In other words, just because some traditions (like the date of Easter) are unclear, this would not mean that other Traditions such as baptismal regeneration should be dismissed. Jesus knew that some Traditions would not be as clear, so he created a Church to settle disputes.
This brings me to my second objection. Some will argue that Catholics do not believe in Tradition as a final rule of faith, but only that the Church is a final rule. Here is James White defining this idea: “The church defines what Scripture is, what Scripture says, what Tradition is, what Tradition says.”
This argument is made quite often, and it lacks a lot of nuances, but I can’t go over all of it in one article. In any case, one reason that this argument doesn’t work is that Pope Francis cannot just make up a new Tradition. Even Traditions that White argues have no bearing in the early Church, like the assumption of Mary, have writings to support them going back to around 350 A.D.
Another reason this argument fails is that Pope Francis would not be able to contradict previous Apostolic Tradition. If Pope Francis were to come out tomorrow and say, “I declare that baptism no longer saves,” he would be attempting nullify the Church’s claims to papal infallibility, since this Tradition is extremely clear in the early Church. The pope is not above Apostolic Tradition.
To summarize: Everyone can read the Bible and recognize that Jesus is God. However, sometimes, Scripture is unclear or can be read incorrectly. In many of these scenarios, we can look back at the early Church and see what they believed to get an interpretation. This is called Tradition. Then, if both Scripture and Tradition are unclear, we can go to the Church and ask the Magisterium to give an infallible declaration. Therefore, the Catholic paradigm is not “sola ecclesia,” where the Church makes all of the decisions. Rather, it is a three-legged stool, with Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium all playing important roles.
In conclusion, the concept of Church Tradition is far more nuanced and significant than its critics often acknowledge. Although some may perceive it as ambiguous, Tradition serves as a vital complement to Scripture, offering clarity where ambiguity might exist. It represents the infallible interpretation of the Bible, rooted in the consensus of the early Church Fathers and preserved through centuries of Christian thought.