THE TRANSMISION OF DIVINE REVELATION

CATECHESIS 4: CHAPTER 2

THE TRANSMISION OF DIVINE REVELATION

God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, that is, Christ. God graciously arranged that the things he had revealed for the salvation of all peoples should remain in their entirety, throughout the ages, and be transmitted through all generations.

Divine Revelation can be transmitted through:

1.      The Apostolic Tradition

Christ commanded the Apostles to preach the Gospel, whereby they should communicate the gifts of God to all men, either orally or by writing. By orally it means that the Apostles handed down what they had received directly from Christ whether they heard it from the lips of Christ, or from his way of life and works, or whether they learnt it through the Holy Spirit; by writing means the Apostles and other men associated with them, who were guided by the same Holy Spirit communicated the message in writing.

To preserve the living Gospel in the Church, the Apostles left the bishops as their successors. The apostolic preaching was to be preserved in a continuous line of succession until the end of time. This is tradition. Through tradition, the Church transmits her doctrine, life and worship and all that she believes to all generations.

The Father communicated his Word in the Holy Spirit and remains present and active in the Church. God continues to converse with the Holy Spirit through whom the living voice of the Gospel rings out in the Church and through her in the world, and makes the Word of Christ dwell in them in all its richness.

2.       The Relationship between Tradition and Sacred Scriptures.

Sacred Scripture is the Word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and is put down in writing. Holy Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God, which has been entrusted by Christ and the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, then to their successors. With the guidance of the Spirit of Truth, they faithfully preserved, and spread it by preaching. The Church, to whom transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, has the duty to accept and honour with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence both, the Sacred Scriptures and Tradition. 

3.       The Interpretation of the Heritage of Faith.

The task of interpreting the Word of God authentically has been entrusted solely to the living teaching office of the Church that is to the Pope and to the Bishops in communion with him. Bishops who are not and do not want to be united with the successor of Peter have no authority of giving the faithful an interpretation of God’s Word.

The Church exercises the authority it holds from Christ to the fullest extent in a form obliging the Christian people to an irrevocable adherence of faith. An example of this is, when Pope Pius XII declared the truths of faith, the dogma of the Church, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on 1 November 1950.

Resource: Catechism of the Catholic Faith, Paulines Publications Africa, 11^th Reprint 2012.

                     Apostolic Consitution on Munificentissimus Dei, Pope Pius XII, Vatican 1950.