Scripture Within the Life of the Church
The Bible does not stand apart from the Church—it is born from within her life. The same Holy Spirit who inspired the Scriptures also guided the Church in recognizing, preserving, and proclaiming them. The Church, East and West, has always held that Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition are not separate sources of truth, but two expressions of one divine revelation.
As the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, the Church “does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence” (CCC 82).
The Role of the Church
The Church is not above the Word of God, nor merely beside it. Rather, the Church is the vessel through which God has entrusted His Word to the world. As Saint Paul described it, the Church is “the pillar and foundation of truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). Through the Church’s liturgy, teachings, councils, and saints, the Word of God is preserved, explained, and made present for every generation.
The canon of the Bible—that is, the official list of books recognized as Sacred Scripture—was not fully defined in the earliest years of Christianity. The Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, discerned over time which writings were truly inspired. This canon was largely settled by the fourth century, based on the texts already being used in the worship and preaching of the Church.
“No prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by human will; rather, human beings moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
—2 Peter 1:20–21
Tradition and the Transmission of the Word
Tradition, in the Christian sense, is not simply customs or practices. It refers to the living transmission of the faith, passed down from the apostles through preaching, teaching, liturgy, and the witness of the saints. It is in this context that the Scriptures were written, received, and rightly understood.
The Church teaches that Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture “form one sacred deposit of the Word of God, committed to the Church” (Dei Verbum 10). Both are essential. Scripture is the Word of God written; Tradition is the Word of God lived and handed on.
The Word at the Heart of the Church
The Scriptures are most fully alive when proclaimed in the liturgy, meditated upon in the hearts of the faithful, and embodied in the life of the Church. In every Divine Liturgy (Mass), the Church listens to the Word and responds in faith. Scripture is read aloud, interpreted through preaching, and sealed in the hearts of the faithful through the Eucharist.
In the Church, Scripture and Tradition cannot be separated. Together they nourish the Church, and through the Church, the Word of God reaches every corner of the world.
“Where the Church is, there is the Spirit of God; and where the Spirit of God is, there is the Church and all grace.”
—St. Irenaeus
Next: Part 5 – The Bible in the Life of the Church →