The 3 Pillars of the Church

By Joshua Elias

You may have read that “Catholic” comes from the word Universal: The Catholic Church is the same in Singapore as it is in Japan, Portugal, Mexico. If you were to go to a Catholic Church in any part of the world, you would find that the interiors would be strikingly familiar to us as it would be back here in Singapore. To us Catholics, it feels like a tangible home away from home when we are visiting these foreign lands.

Among the many Christian denominations,  Catholics have the largest number and still have the uniformity in the doctrines in spite of local cultural influences. This is because all the Catholic Churches are in communion with the Bishop of Rome (The Pope!). However, why do we have to listen to an organisation so far away from home? The Universal Catholic faithful recognises authority of the Church, but on what basis?

The authority of the Catholic Church can be explained (albeit not perfectly) in an analogy. Imagine that this authority stands on 3 legs! These 3 legs are:

  1. Sacred Scripture – The Old Testament and New Testament
  2. Apostolic Tradition – The Living Tradition of the Church and the Liturgies
  3. The Living Magisterium – The teaching authority of the Pope in Communion with the Bishops

 

Each leg supports the stool that is the authority of the Catholic Church to teach and establish the teachings of Jesus. (The Catholic Church cannot change the teachings of Jesus, but merely establish it). Each leg is essential in upholding the seat, but without 1 leg, the rest cannot stand. Similarly, Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium work hand-in-hand in ensuring that the teachings and doctrines that the Church establishes from the teachings of Jesus. Think of it as checks and balances in the real world.

However, this does not mean that Scripture, Tradition and Magisterium are separate from one another. In fact, we cannot talk about one without mentioning the others.

 

Sacred Scripture

Sacred Scripture is what the world knows of as the Bible. The Bible consists of 46 books from the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament. CCC120 Catholics hold the Bible as the written word of God. This means that God is the author of the contents of the Bible. This makes sense because we believe that the contents of the Bible have been written under inspiration by the Holy Spirit. (CCC105)

The Old Testament prepares us for the coming of Jesus and shows us God’s saving love for us. The texts include prophecies by both major and minor prophets of the time, foreshadowing the birth of Jesus Christ, God who became man, and also beautiful prayers, poetry and imagery that talk about the beauty of God.

The New Testament centers around Jesus, who is God, and His acts, teachings, Passion and glorification, and his Church’s beginnings under the Spirit’s guidance. (CCC124) The New Testament includes the Gospels, which are the heart of Scripture as they follow the life and teachings of Jesus.

As Christians, we follow the Bible as the infallible Word of God. As Catholic Christians, we are a religion of the word. It is through scripture that we can understand the divine revelation of God!

However, there was no new testament in the early decades following the death of Jesus, and the canonical bible of 73 books was not put together until centuries later. So how did the Word of God get passed down? 

 

Apostolic Tradition

The Gospel was first spread orally: through the spoken word of the Apostle’s preachings, the lives they led and examples they gave. In the same way that Jesus spoke his teachings to the Apostles, they too shared the good news to the people they reached out too. Eventually, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they began to record these down into teachings and these have become the gospels that we know today.

In order to determine its accuracy, the Apostles also left bishops as their successors and gave them the same teaching authority that Jesus had given to them. This line of succession has continued from the beginning till today, where we see in the Catholic Church we can trace the lineage of Popes back to St Peter.

Thus, we can see that the Apostolic Tradition is one of succession, where we have a living transmission (aided by the Holy Spirit). Tradition is distinct from Scripture, but very closely connected to it. Through Tradition, the Catholic Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes. Therefore, we Catholics, we do not derive the truths that Jesus has revealed to us via Scriptures Alone, but rather hand in hand with Tradition.

This “Tradition”, with a capital T, is different from tradition. To explain Tradition, we can look towards CCC83, “The Tradition here in question comes from the apostles and hands on what they received from Jesus’ teaching and example and what they learned from the Holy Spirit. The first generation of Christians did not yet have a written New Testament, and the New Testament itself demonstrates the process of living Tradition.”

Overtime, it is natural that different “traditions” in different countries develop over time. Think about the different cultures in the world! Given the universality of the Catholic church, how do we separate the traditions from Tradition? How do we ensure that a local arm of the Catholic church does not deviate from its teachings of Jesus? Hence, the church’s teachings are guided under the Church’s Magistrate.

 

Living Magisterium

Magisterium translates to “teaching office”. This teaching office, or teaching authority, has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome. They are given the responsibility of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in written form or in its Tradition.

Just imagine a time where instantaneous communications were non-existent. For the apostles to spread the gospel, they had to spend months travelling by sea and land. Once they had built up a new community of believers, they left leaders in charge and went on to the next land to continue their evangelisation. Over time, the apostles would send correspondence to their communities, either to encourage them in times of strife, or even to correct the waywardness of these communities. We can look to the Epistles (The New Testament books of St Peter’s and St Paul’s letters) to see that from the very beginning, the leaders of the churches were instructing the various communities around the world on the true teachings of Jesus, guiding them so that they may grow in their faith authentically.

It is no different today: the papacy and the conclave of bishops exist to protect and safeguard the Church’s teachings. (Proverbs 3:11-12) Through encyclicals and apostolic exhortations, the Vatican continues to establish doctrine and the Church’s stance on evolving world issues today. In a time where social issues are widely debated, the Church’s fundamental stance has not changed because of the fundamental truth of Jesus’ love for us as humans.

However, what is essential for us to know is that the Magisterium is not superior to the word of God, but rather works for it. The Magisterium cannot change Sacred Scripture and cannot establish something that goes against a part of Tradition. Instead, the Magisterium simply clarifies and applies the Church’s teachings and explains its stance on world affairs.

In a way, the living Magisterium ensures that the Apostolic Tradition is passed down responsibly. One way in which the early church established doctrines was through councils, which often spanned over years!

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