vealed truths which the Apostles preached, but did not commit to writing.
St. Paul, therefore, exhorts the first Christians by saying: 'Therefore, brethren, stand fast: and hold the traditions which you have learned, whether by word or by our Epistle' (2 Thess. ii. 14).
35. Have not, then, the Apostles written all that Jesus Christ has taught?
No; the Apostles have not even written all that Jesus has done, far less all that He has taught; for Christ did not commission them to write, but to preach His doctrine (Mark xvi. 15; Matt, xxviii. 19).
'Many other signs also did Jesus in the sight of His disciples, which are not written in this book' (John xx. 30).
The Bible, therefore, does not contain the entire Revelation of God, The Bible nowhere tells us how many Divine books there are, and which they are; if we did not know this for certain from Tradition, we should not even have a Bible. — The Bible does not, in doubtful passages, decide upon the true meaning of its words; therefore, all sects have always appealed to the Bible, in order to prove their contradictory doctrines, and each one of them pretended to have hit on its true meaning. — If we would consult the Bible only, without Tradition, we ought, for instance, still to keep holy the Saturday with the Jews, instead of Sunday, and to refrain ourselves from things strangled, and from blood (Acts xv. 20); moreover, we ought, with the Anabaptists, to let little children, who are incapable of being instructed, die without Baptism; since, according to the mere words of the text, Christ has commanded, first to teach, and then to baptize (Matt, xxviii. 19).
36. Why is the unwritten doctrine of the Apostles called 'Tradition'?
It is called Tradition — that is, a handing down — because, since the times of the Apostles, it has, without interruption, been handed down in the Catholic Church from generation to generation.
'And the things which thou hast heard of me by many witnesses, the same commend to faithful men, who shall be fit to teach others also' (2 Tim. ii. 2).
37. Where are the teachings of Tradition contained?
The teachings of Tradition are contained chiefly in
