XVIII. Of Tradition,

It only remains now to decide what the Catholics believe concerning the Word of God, and the Authority of the Church. Jesus Christ having established His Church by the preaching of the unwritten word, it became the first rule of Christianity ; and when the writings of the New Testament were added to it, this word lost none of its authority on that account : therefore we feel bound to receive with the same reverence all that the Apostles taught, whether by writing, or by precept, as St. Paul himself has expressly declared, 2 Thess. ii. 15.

And it is a certain proof, that when no origin of a doctrine can be traced, and yet it is embraced by the whole Church, it must have come down from the Apostles themselves ; and we cannot resolve ourselves to treat any doctrine thus established otherwise than with the greatest submission, due only to Divine authority. And I verily believe that these Reformers would, if not over prejudiced, agree with us here from their very hearts ; for they could not but suppose that a doctrine received from the commencement of the Church must have come from the Apostles themselves ; therefore our adversaries must not express a surprise if we are anxious to receive all the traditions our Fathers held, or if so receiving them, we preserve them as sedulously as we do the Scriptures -themselves.