“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:1-14)

God revealed His Love and Truth through Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. Jesus Christ is the Word of God who became flesh and dwelt among us.

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

He wore a cloak that had been dipped in blood, and his name was called the Word of God. (Revelations 19:13)

Protestants and other Christian denominations follow the written Word, Sacred Scripture, as the sole ruth of faith- Sola Scriptura. Catholic and Orthodox Christians believe Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word, revealed the fullness of truth in both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) states:

Christianity is the religion of the ‘Word’ of God, a word which is ‘not a written and mute word, but the Word which is incarnate and living’ (CCC, no. 108).

While the written Word of God in Sacred Scripture can inspire and enlighten us, it does not have the power to save us. The Word would have to become flesh to redeem us by dying on the cross, destroying sin and death, and establishing a Church with specific means to sanctify and guide us to everlasting life.

Hold Fast to the Traditions

At the time of Jesus, the New Testament did not yet exist. Four hundred years would pass before the collection of individual books from the Old and New Testaments were compiled together into one book.

So how did Christians perserve the teachings of Jesus in the early centuries? They remained faithful to Christ’s Church and held fast to the traditions they received from the Apostles.

Sacred Tradition is not mere human traditions, but the teachings of Jesus Christ– the Incarnate Word– passed down from the Apostles to every Christian generation. Sacred Tradition is Apostolic Tradition.

In his letters to the Christians in Corinth and Thessalonia, St. Paul the Apostle wrote:

I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold fast to the traditions, just as I handed them on to you. (1 Corinthians 11:2)

Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours. (2 Thessalonians 2:15)

Jesus taught many important things and performed numerous miracles that were not written down. 

But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. (John 21:25)

Which came first: the Bible or the Church?

This question may be tricky if you are not familiar with Christian history, or if you skipped over the previous paragraphs. The answer is, of course, the Church.  

The Bible, which consists of various books from the Old and New Testaments, was not compiled together into one book until the 4th century.

Jesus did not come to leave us with a book (he left that task for his followers) but to establish a community of believers (Acts 2:42-47), who would become members of His Church, the “Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth” (1 Timothy 3:15).

The Church of the Living God

Jesus, the Incarnate Word of God, gave his apostles the authority to preach and teach his gospel, saying: “He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.”

Christ built his church with a hierarchical structure. It is the “Household of God built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone” (Ephesians 2:20).

Jesus chose Simon to be his representative leader, changing his name to Peter, and proclaiming:

“You are Peter and upon this rock, I will build my church. . . I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:18-19).

The keys symbolize a leadership position. For example, a mayor is given the keys to a city in honor of his position. Christians recognized the Chair of Peter as an office of authority in the same manner the Jews recognized the “Chair of Moses” (Matthew 23:2).

The Church is not a mere human institution but the Mystical Body of Christ with Jesus as the head:

And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. (Colossians 1:18)

And he put all things beneath his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way. (Ephesians 1:22-23).

Christ’s Church is a Divine institution that has four distinct marks: One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic.

    1. ONE:
      • “[T]here will be one flock, one shepherd” (John 10:16).
      • “One body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call;  one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:4-5).
      • “Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf ” (1 Cor. 10:17).
    2. HOLY:
      • “Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her . . . that she might be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:25-27).
    3. CATHOLIC:
      • Jesus instructed his apostles to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19)
      • The word “Catholic” means “universal” (Greek: katholikos). St. Ignatius used it as early as 107 A.D. in Antioch, where “disciples were first called Christians”(Acts 11:26).
    4. APOSTOLIC:
      • The Church is “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone” (Eph. 2:20)

Jesus Christ established the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church to be the pillar of fire, guiding the faithful through the darkness of this world to eternal life in heaven.

Antioch was not only the place where Christ’s disciples were first called Christians (Acts 11:26) but where his Church was called “Catholic” (Greek: καθολικός “universal“), based on the writings of St. Ignatius in 107 A.D.

St. Ignatius knew both St. John and St. Peter personally. He was John’s disciple and became the third bishop of Antioch after his appointment by St. Peter in the year 67. Ignatius served as bishop until his martyrdom in the year 107. He wrote seven letters to various churches on his way to his execution in Rome.

In a letter to the early Christians in Smyrna, Ignatius wrote, “Wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church” (Smyrnaeans, circa 110).

Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition reveal the fullness of God’s love and truth. Jesus remains ever present with us in the written Word and as the Word made Flesh, guiding us as the head of his Mystical Body, the “Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth” (1 Tim 3:15).