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Inner Life of a Catholic

The Profession of Faith 

Because of this the Church does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from Sacred Scripture alone. Sacred Tradition passed on from the Apostles and Sacred Scripture must both be accepted and honoured with equal sentiment of devotion and reverence.

The Apostles entrusted the 'Sacred deposit' of the faith contained in both Tradition and Scripture to the whole Church. By remaining loyal to this heritage the entire holy people of the Church, united to its pastors, remains always faithful to the teachings of the Apostles and the 'breaking of bread' together in brotherhood. The task of preserving the true Apostolic teachings has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone and its authority in these matters is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ. This heritage was entrusted to the early bishops and the tradition has been passed down, in communion with Peter's successors.

Within the Church, the Magisterium is not superior to the Word of God but is, rather, its servant, teaching only what has been handed won to it. Unger the guidance of the Holy Spirit and by Divine command it guards the Word from both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition with dedication and expounds it faithfully, as drawn from this single deposit of faith.

Mindful of the words of Christ: "He who hears you hears me" (Lk 10:16), the faithful receive the teachings and directives that their pastors give them in different forms and holding true to the Word. The Magisterium exercises this authority by defining dogmas - truths contained in Divine Revelation and truths having a connection with them. They oblige the faithful to adhere to these dogmas of faith and truth as dogmas are lights along the path of faith, thus reinforcing our spiritual life.

All Sacred Scripture is but one book, the Book of Christ, because the Old Testament points towards Christ and the New Testament is the fulfillment of God's covenant in Him. They contain the Word of God, and because they are truly inspired, they are the Word of God. As the author of the Sacred Scriptures, God inspired writers to to act for Him and through Him, and because the author is God there is no error.

What comes from the spirit must be understood by the spirit and interpretation of the spirit-inspired Scriptures must be attentive above all to what God wants to reveal through His Word. The Church, then accepts and venerates the 46 Books of the Old Testament and the 27 Books of the New Testament. (See our section on the Bible) 

The four Gospels hold central place because these are Christ-centred. The unity of the Old and the New Testament proceed from the unity of God's plan of salvation His covenants with man and His Revelation. The Church has always venerated the Divine Scriptures as she venerates the Body of the Lord in the Eucharist, both nourish and govern the whole Christian life.

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