Does the Bible Really Say That?: Discovering Catholic Teaching in Scripture (3 page)

Sacred Tradition

Tradition is a “red flag” word for many non-Catholics. They see in Christ’s condemnation of the “tradition of men” (Mark 7:1–13; Matthew 15:1–9) a wholesale condemnation of
all
tradition. But this is a misunderstanding of what he meant when he spoke about traditions of men which “ma[k]e void the word of God.”  

The Pharisees concocted certain “traditions” to avoid following God’s laws. The best example is the one Christ condemned in Matthew 15, the so-called “Korban rule.” Under this scheme, Jews could “donate” all their money to the temple treasury as a pious act of almsgiving. This would afford them the excuse of being “unable” to help should their poor or infirm parents approach them in need of assistance (although they actually had full access to their funds).

To callously ignore your parents’ needs would violate God’s command to “honor your father and mother” (Exodus 20:12). So, under the Korban rule, someone who had technically donated all of his money to God would have a “legitimate” excuse not to give money to his parents. The chicanery of this “tradition of men” is obvious, as is the reason why Christ would condemn that tradition as corrupt and contrary to God’s justice.

But not all tradition is bad.

The fact is, the canon of the New Testament is part of God’s revelation to the Church. But that revelation didn’t come to the Church in the pages of Scripture, the written Word of God. Rather, God gradually revealed this all-important information to the Church through a different means, completely outside of Scripture. After all, there is no “inspired table of contents” in the Bible telling us which books belong in it.

This revelation was preserved and faithfully taught by the Catholic Church, transmitted in its integrity from one generation to the next. That’s why we Catholics have the same twenty-seven books in our New Testaments—from Matthew to Revelation—that Protestants, Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses have in theirs. They have these books in their Bibles because, like it or not, whether they are aware of it or not (and very few of them are aware of it), it was the Catholic Church that received from God the revelation that these books are inspired (see 2 Timothy 3:16), and over the next few centuries the Church fixed the exact canon of these books.

“How can you Catholics believe in purgatory or the Immaculate Conception?” they ask with a roll of their eyes. “Those teachings are nowhere taught in the Bible. Worse yet, they’re traditions of men (see Matthew 15:1–9; Mark 7:1–13; Colossians 2:8; Ephesians 4:14), unbiblical teachings that go against what God says in the Bible.” This attitude is common among Protestants, and you’re likely to run into it, so it’s important that you know what to say about Tradition—what it is, what it isn’t, what it does and why we need it.

For many Protestants, “Tradition” connotes the worst sort of man-made traditions, the kind Christ warned against in Mark 7:1–13 and Matthew 15:1–9. They see Catholic traditions, such as the Real Presence, infant baptism and purgatory, as prime examples of man-made doctrines that conflict with Scripture. Based on the Reformation principle of
sola scriptura
, they arguethat Catholics have
added
things to Scripture, something they consider to be a major no-no.

Many would say that Catholic traditions are bad not simply because they are “added” to the Bible but, worse yet, because they feel they are in direct conflict with it.

It’s important, therefore, to understand what Catholic Tradition is and what it is not, so we can see that not all tradition conflicts with Scripture. In fact, when one correctly understands Tradition, it not only ceases to be a stumbling block but can even become a stepping-stone to the Catholic Church. Many converts to Catholicism have told me this was their experience once they encountered a Catholic who was willing and able to explain authentic Tradition using Scripture.

Let’s return again to Saint Paul, who gives us a theological mini-treatise on the nature and purpose of Tradition, right in the pages of Scripture: “Now I would remind you, brethren, in what terms I preached to you the gospel, which you received, in which you stand, by which you are saved, if you hold it fast—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1–3).

Notice the words Saint Paul chose:

y      there is a body of teaching that “you received” (Greek:
parelabete
);

y      he “preached” this teaching (Greek:
euangelion
);

y      we are to “hold it fast,” meaning that we are not permitted to neglect or dispense with this oral teaching (see also 2 Thessalonians 2:15);

y      he “received” this oral teaching first and then “delivered” (Greek:
paredoka
) this teaching orally to his readers (which is the precise meaning of Tradition: receiving it and hand-ing it on);

y      this orally transmitted teaching is “in accordance with” and compliments the teaching of Scripture, just as it is a sure
interpretation
of what it reflects in Scripture (i.e., the inextricable link between Scripture and Tradition).

Here Saint Paul, one of the Church’s first bishops and doctors, functions in his capacity as a member of the
magisterium
, or “teaching office,” of the Church: to explain the meaning of Scripture and faithfully deliver the message to the faithful (Matthew 28:19–20).

1 Corinthians 15 provides us with an excellent biblical backdrop for understanding how it is that Sacred Tradition works in the Church—alongside, and never in competition with, Sacred Scripture.

Further Reading:
Luke 1:1–4; 1 Corinthians 11:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:15

CCC
, 75–100

CHAPTER 6

Divorce and Remarriage

Divorce and remarriage is a widespread problem these days. Many Christians know the pain of divorce, and some have remarried. Not surprisingly, many of them wonder about the spiritual ramifications of their situation.

Divorced Christians who have never attempted remarriage or who have received from the Church what is known as an “annulment” are not the focus here. Rather, it’s Christians who divorce and remarry without going through the annulment process who should heed the danger of their spiritual situation.

The Catholic Church’s teaching on divorce and remarriage is anchored squarely on Christ’s teaching: “Every one who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery” (Luke 16:18). And again:

    It was also said, “Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.” But I say to you that every one who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. (Matthew 5:31–32)

The
Catechism
says:

    Divorce
is a grave offense against the natural law. It claims to break the contract, to which the spouses freely consented, to live with each other till death. Divorce does injury to the covenant of salvation, of which sacramental marriage is the sign. Contracting a new union, even if it is recognized by civil law, adds to the gravity of the rupture: the remarried spouse is then in a situation of public and permanent adultery....

Divorce is immoral also because it introduces disorder into the family and into society. This disorder brings grave harm to the deserted spouse, to children traumatized by the separation of their parents and often torn between them, and because of its contagious effect which makes it truly a plague on society.

It can happen that one of the spouses is the innocent victim of a divorce decreed by civil law; this spouse therefore has not contravened the moral law. There is a considerable difference between a spouse who has sincerely tried to be faithful to the sacrament of marriage and is unjustly abandoned, and one who through his own grave fault destroys a canonically valid marriage [cf.
FC
84].
(
CCC
, 2384–2386)

This is why God said, “I hate divorce.... So take heed to yourselves and do not be faithless” (Malachi 2:16).

When the rich young man asked Christ what he must do to go to heaven, he responded, “If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” Among those he listed was “You shall not commit adultery” (Matthew 19:16–19).

And in Matthew 19:3–10, when the Pharisees tested Christ by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” Christ answered:

Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said,“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one”? So they are no longer two but one. What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder. They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” He said to them, “For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another, commits adultery.”

Some argue that the phrase “except for unchastity” constitutes an “exception clause” that allows for divorce and remarriage in cases where one or both spouses commits adultery. But this is a misreading of the text. The Greek word here for unchastity,
porneia
, refers to sexual unlawfulness in which two “spouses” are not validly married (John 4:17–18), though they live as if they were. In such cases, to separate and then marry someone else would not constitute adultery, since the two parties were not really married in God’s eyes (i.e. sacramentally) in the first place.

A valid marriage, however, cannot be dissolved. As Christ said, “They are no longer two but one. What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder.”

 Saint Paul added, “[A] married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives; but if her husband dies she is discharged from the law concerning the husband. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress” (Romans 7:2–3).

Anyone who imagines that divorce and remarriage is not serious in God’s eyes should ponder this warning: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,
nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9–10).

That passage might trouble someone who is divorced and remarried but never went through the annulment process, receiving from the Church a declaration of nullity (i.e., “an annulment”). If so, he or she
should
feel troubled. His conscience is warning that something is spiritually very wrong.

If you are in this situation, contact a priest for sacramental confession and get advice on how to correct things—before it’s too late.

Further Reading:
Exodus 20:14; Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 5:18; Proverbs 6:32; Malachi 3:5; Matthew 5:27–28; Mark 10:11–12; 17–19; Luke 18:19–20; Romans 2:22; 13:8–10; 1 Corinthians 7:10–11; Hebrews 13:4

CCC
, 1629–1651, 2384–2386