Tuesday, September 19, 2017

The Catholic Church created The New Testament, not the reverse.

The Catholic Church created
The New Testament, not the reverse.
********************************
Jesus entrusted His Apostles with the deposit of Faith to be handed down to the posterity intact.

'Deposit of Faith' means 'The body of saving truth' given us by Jesus through His Apostles.

Jesus ordered them to teach the nations "everything I have commanded you" and assured them "know that I am with you always, until the end of the world." (Mt 28:18-20). 

The articles of Faith are contained in 'everything I have commanded you'.

The Apostles gave the posterity everything that Jesus commanded them to give, first by word of mouth and then in writing

What they gave in writing is called 'The New Testament'.

What Jesus gave us to believe cannot be augmented in substance when they are explained to us.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church notes: 

"The apostles entrusted the sacred deposit of the faith
contained in Sacred Scripture and Tradition, to the whole of the Church."

Read:

"It is for thee, Timothy, to keep safe what has been entrusted to thee, avoiding these new, intruding forms of speech, this quibbling knowledge that is knowledge only in name;",(1 Tim 6:20;)

The people to whom the Apostles transmitted the message remained always faithful to the teaching of the apostles.

The faithful were united within themselves and with the Pastors who were leading them.

They participated in the Eucharist and prayers.

In maintaining, practicing and professing the faith that had been handed down, there was   remarkable harmony between the bishops and the faithful.

Oral Tradition and Scripture came from the same Person, Jesus.

Deposit of Faith = Apostolic Tradition (or Sacred Oral Tradition) + Sacred Scriptures.

Apostolic Tradition began from Jesus commissioning the Apostles to "go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Teach them to carry out everything I have commanded you" (Mt.28: 19-20).

It was by this oral Apostolic Tradition that the Church discerned which books should be included in the New Testament. 

The books of the New Testament were written between about 45 A.D. and as late as 100 A.D.

But they were not put into a defined canon or single collection until the end of the fourth century. 

The 27 books that would go into the New Testament, the canon, were decided upon at the Council of Rome in 382 A.D., which met under the authority of Pope Damasus I.

This was reaffirmed at subsequent Councils at Hippo in 393 and Carthage in 397 A.D.

But even before that period
thousands of people had been converted into Christianity  and were living according to the articles of Faith received through oral Apostolic Tradition.

The Holy Spirit protected the oral Tradition or Apostolic Tradition taught by the true Church, which by 100 A.D. was already known as the "Catholic Church."

'Sola Scriptura' people must understand that   'Apostolic Tradition + Scripture' contain  our Deposit of Faith.

Lourdu Selvam.

No comments:

Post a Comment