Scripture Alone? What the Bible Really Says About Christian Faith
Many non-Catholic Christians operate under the belief that the Bible alone — Sacred Scripture —is the sole rule of faith, an idea often termed sola scriptura . Interestingly, nowhere in the Bible is this principle explicitly stated or even implied. The historical and scriptural evidence points to a much broader understanding of how God's truth is communicated and preserved: through Sacred Tradition . When Jesus commissioned the apostles in Matthew 28:19–20 , he commanded them to " teach them to obey all that I have commanded you," not to write it all down. This instruction inherently requires the faithful transmission of teaching—oral and lived experience—which is the essence of Sacred Tradition . The writings that eventually became the New Testament were themselves a product of this teaching; as St. Luke explains in his Gospel's introduction, he is committing to an orderly account of the things that were " delivered to us by those who from the beginning were ...