Q: I belong to a non-denominational church which is based on Sola Scriptura (Bible alone). Can you help me understand why Catholics believe in the Bible and a man-made tradition?
     -A.V.

A: If every Catholic in the world were to wear a t-shirt explaining why we do what we do – the shirt would say: Scripture and Tradition.

(Though, come to think of it, if 1 billion people all wore the same t-shirt there’d still be no explanation as to why so many of the guys wearing them don’t realize they have pit stains but raise their arms anyways. Some things will always be a mystery.)

Scripture and Tradition. We're big fans.

Some Christians believe in Sola Scriptura – Scripture alone. No tradition, no authority. Which would be kinda nice to accept…I can’t stand authority. 
"We’re not gonna take it."
"I can’t drive 55."
And apparently, I can’t quote songs that were made less than 15 years ago. 

Now here’s why Catholics believe in Scripture and Tradition.
Let’s say it’s about the year 42 or so. Jesus’ Resurrection was about 9 years ago, and His disciples are out telling people about the Good News.

So do they have Scripture? Sure, what we nowadays call the Old Testament. But not the New Testament like we’ve got it today.

Then how did people learn about Jesus – if not from the Bible? Stories were passed on by word of mouth, by telling and re-telling the story. You see, they were an oral people (No Monica Lewinsky jokes here, please).

Paul started writing some letters in the 50’s. He was giving guidance and teaching to the new Church as they were trying to figure out what they believed. He encouraged them to stick to the oral and written teachings... 
And eventually, people began writing down the stories of Jesus. The disciples, and other eyewitnesses, were starting to die. And in order for things to be carried on correctly it needed to be written down.

Now without getting into a whole Biblical explanation of which Gospel writer wrote what when and why (are there enough w’s in that phrase?) – suffice it to say stuff was written down. 

“The Bible”, as in the one we have today, still didn’t exist yet. Yet the Faith existed. There was authority, there were priests, deacons, they were gathering on Sundays to break bread…sounds pretty Catholic, right? But there was no “Bible” that was authoritative yet. 

When it was all decided what was canonical (ie, what makes the cut), guess who made the call? This little organization called the Catholic Church. Remember, “catholic” means “universal”. Somebody had to decide what was heretical, what was inspired, what was just plain garbage.

So this group of people chose what would be in the Bible, right or wrong. (I’m guessing right since it wasn’t very cool of God to let it happen if it wasn’t His will.) 

And Scripture, you probably see by now, comes out of Tradition. You can’t separate the two. Scripture is our living Tradition. The Bible is absolutely, positively the Word of God. But Tradition still exists.

Now this is the hinge. It’s fine to disagree, of course. It’s fine to say these people had their head’s up their you know whats when they made the decision. It’s fine to say God used the Church up to the point of making the Bible but then abandoned it. 

But this is the “Money Shot” for Catholics. Talking about confession, Mary, the Eucharist, you name it - if the question always is…“Where does it say that in the Bible?” The answer will always come back to Scripture And Tradition, Scripture And Tradition.

Say it with me now: Scripture and Tradition...

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