Chapter I. What is Understood by Apostolic Traditions

Here are the words of the holy Council of Trent,* speaking of Christian and Evangelical truth: " (The holy Synod), considering that this truth and discipline are contained in written books, and in unwritten Traditions which, being received by the Apostles from the mouth of Christ himself, or from the same Apostles at the dictation of the Holy Spirit, and being delivered as it were from hand to hand, have come down to us, following the examples of the orthodox Fathers, receives and honours with an equal affectionate piety and reverence, all the books as well of the Old as of the New Testament, since the one God is the author of both, and also these Traditions, as it were orally

• Sess. iv.

ART. II. c. I.] The Rule of Faith. 143 dictated by Christ or the Holy Ghost, and preserved in the Catholic Church by perpetual succession." This is truly a decree worthy of an assembly which could say: It hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us; for there is scarcely a word of it which does not strike home against our adversaries, and which does not take their weapons from their grasp. For what does it henceforth serve them to exclaim: In vain do they serve me, teaching doctrines and commandments of men (Matt. xv. 9); Yoio have made void the commandment of God for your tradition. (ibid. 6). Not attending to Jewish fables (Tit. i. 14); Zealous for the traditions of my fathers (Gal. i. 14); Beware lest any man impose upon you hy philosophy and vain fallacy, according to the tradition of men (Col. ii. 8); Redeemed from your vain conversation of the tradition of your fathers (i Pet. i. 18)? All this is not to the purpose, since the Council clearly protests that the traditions it receives are neither traditions nor commandments of men, but those " which, being received by the Apostle from the mouth of Christ himself, or from the same Apostles, at the dictation of the Holy Spirit, and being delivered as it were from hand to hand, have come down to us. They are then the word of God, and the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, not of men; and here you will see almost all your ministers stick, making mighty harangues to show that human tradition is not to be put in comparison with the Scriptures. But of what use is all this save to beguile the poor hearers? — for we never said it was.

In a similar way they bring against us what S. Paul said to his good Timothy: * All Scripture divinely * 2 Tim. iii. i6, 17.

pired is profitahle to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice, that the man of God may he perfect, furnished unto every good work. Whom are they angry with? This is to force a quarrel.* Who denies the most excellent profitableness of the Scriptures, except the Huguenots who take away as good for nothing some of its finest pieces? The Scriptures are indeed most useful, and it is no little favour which God has done us to preserve them for us through so many persecutions; but the utility of Scripture does not make holy Traditions useless, any more than the use of one eye, of one leg, of one ear, of one hand, makes the other useless. The Council says: it " receives and honours with an equal affectionate piety and reverence all the books as well of the Old as of the New Testament, and also these Traditions." It would be a fine way of reasoning — faith profits, therefore works are good for nothing! Similarly, — Many other things also did Jesus, which are not written in this hook. But these are written that you may helieve that Jesus is the Son of God, and that helieving you may have life in his name (John xx. 30, 31): therefore there is nothing to believe except this! — excellent consequence! We well know that whatever is written is written for our edification (Eom. xv. 4), but shall this hinder the Apostles from preaching? These things are written that you may helieve that Jesus is the Son of God: but that is not enough; for how shall they helieve without a preacher (ibid. x. 14)? The Scriptures are given for our salvation, but not the Scriptures alone; Traditions also have their place. Birds have a right wing to fly with; is the left wing therefore of no use? • Querdle d'Allemand,

ART. II. 0. 1,] The Rule of Faith, 1 45

The one does not move without the other. I leave on one side the exact answers: for S. John is speaking only of the miracles which he had to record, of which he considers he has given enough to prove the divinity of the Son of God.

When they adduce these words: — You shall not add to the word that I sijcah to you, neither shall you take away from it (Deut. iv. 2); But though ive or an angel from heaven preach a gospel to you beside that which ice have preached to yoity let him he anathema (Gal. i. 8): they say nothing against the Council, which expressly declares that this Gospel teaching consists not only in the Scriptures, but also in Traditions; the Scripture then is the Gospel, but it is not the whole Gospel, for Traditions form the other part. He then who shall teach against what the Apostles have taught, let him be accursed; but the Apostles have taught by writing and by Tradition, and the whole is the Gospel.

And if you closely consider how the Council compares Traditions with the Scriptures you will see that it does not receive a Tradition contrary to Scripture: for it receives Tradition and Scripture with equal honour, because both the one and the other are most sweet and pure streams, which spring from one same mouth of our Lord, as from a living fountain of wisdom, and therefore cannot be contrary, but are of the same taste and quality; and uniting together happily water this tree of Christianity which shall give its fruit in due season.

We call then Apostolic Tradition the doctrine, whether it regard faith or morals, which our Lord has taught with his own mouth or by the mouth of the

Apostles, which without having been written in the

I". K

Canonical books has been preserved till our time, passing from hand to hand by continual succession of the Church. In a word, it is the Word of the living God, witnessed not on paper but on the heart.'" And there is not merely Tradition of ceremonies and of a certain exterior order which is arbitrary and of mere propriety, but as the holy Council says, of doctrine, which belongs to faith itself and to morals; — though as regards Traditions of morals there are some which lay us under a most strict obligation, and others which are only proposed to us by way of counsel and becomingness; and the non-observance of these latter does not make us guilty, provided that they are approved and esteemed as holy, and are not despised.