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Hi, Maria —
Better than a priest is the official
Catechism of the Catholic Church: I. The Apostolic Tradition
75 "Christ the Lord, in whom the entire Revelation of the most high God is summed up, commanded the apostles to preach the Gospel, which had been promised beforehand by the prophets, and which he fulfilled in his own person and promulgated with his own lips. In preaching the Gospel, they were to communicate the gifts of God to all men. This Gospel was to be the source of all saving truth and moral discipline." (Vatican II, Dei Verbum 7; cf. Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15.)
In the apostolic preaching. . .
76 In keeping with the Lord's command, the Gospel was handed on in two ways:
- orally "by the apostles who handed on, by the spoken word of their preaching, by the example they gave, by the institutions they established, what they themselves had received - whether from the lips of Christ, from his way of life and his works, or whether they had learned it at the prompting of the Holy Spirit" (Vatican II, Dei Verbum 7)
- in writing "by those apostles and other men associated with the apostles who, under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, committed the message of salvation to writing". (Vatican II, Dei Verbum 7)
. . . continued in apostolic succession
77 "In order that the full and living Gospel might always be preserved in the Church the apostles left bishops as their successors. They gave them their own position of teaching authority."
(Vatican II, Dei Verbum 7 § 2; St. Irenæus, Adv. Hæres. 3,3,1:PG 7/1,848; Harvey,2,9)
Indeed, "the apostolic preaching, which is expressed in a special way in the inspired books, was to be preserved in a continuous line of succession until the end of time."
(Vatican II, Dei Verbum 8 § 1)
78 This living transmission, accomplished in the Holy Spirit, is called Tradition, since it is distinct from Sacred Scripture, though closely connected to it. Through Tradition, "the Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes." (Vatican II, Dei Verbum 8 § 1) "The sayings of the holy Fathers are a witness to the life-giving presence of this Tradition, showing how its riches are poured out in the practice and life of the Church, in her belief and her prayer." (Vatican II, Dei Verbum 8 § 3)
79 The Father's self-communication made through his Word in the Holy Spirit, remains present and active in the Church: "God, who spoke in the past, continues to converse with the Spouse of his beloved Son. And the Holy Spirit, through whom the living voice of the Gospel rings out in the Church - and through her in the world - leads believers to the full truth, and makes the Word of Christ dwell in them in all its richness." (Vatican II, Dei Verbum 8 § 3; cf. Colossians 3:16)
(CCC 80 — 100)
In Brief
96 What Christ entrusted to the apostles, they in turn handed on by their preaching and writing, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to all generations, until Christ returns in glory.
97 "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture make up a single sacred deposit of the Word of God" (Vatican II, Dei Verbum 10) in which, as in a mirror, the pilgrim Church contemplates God, the source of all her riches.
98 "The Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes". (Vatican II, Dei Verbum 8 § 1)
99 Thanks to its supernatural sense of faith, the People of God as a whole never ceases to welcome, to penetrate more deeply and to live more fully from the gift of divine Revelation.
100 The task of interpreting the Word of God authentically has been entrusted solely to the Magisterium of the Church, that is, to the Pope and to the bishops in communion with him.
We're not priests (we're knowledgeable
lay Catholics), but we won't be offended
by your questions.
So to answer your question, no, we
do not believe the Bible is the only
source of authority for a Christian.
There are two verses Protestants
tend to use to claim the Bible is
the sole authority.
One is 2 Timothy 3:16-17:
16 All Scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in
righteousness, 17 that the man of
God may be complete, thoroughly
equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
There are a few problems with this.
Chiefly, Scripture commends to us
to obey tradition as well
as Scripture (2
Thessalonians 2:15, 2 Timothy 2:2).
It is the Church which is the pillar
and foundation of the truth (1
Timothy 3:15), not the Bible.
Moreover, it's important to have
someone in authority interpret the Scriptures
for you. Peter refers to those unlearned
and unstable who distort scriptures to
their own destruction (2 Peter
3:16). The Ethiopian eunuch knew
that he could not understand Scripture
properly without someone to interpret
it (Acts 8:31). So merely having
the Scriptures is not enough; one
must rightly interpret them.
The other Scripture often brought
up is when Jesus condemns the traditions
of men, but those who bring
up this verse are usually unaware
that Jesus endorses Jewish tradition,
too.
2 The teachers of the law
and the Pharisees sit in Moses'
seat. 3 So you must obey them and
do everything they tell you. But
do not do what they do, for they
do not practice what they preach.
(Matthew 23:2-3)
You'll find nothing about Moses'
seat in Scripture, because it was
a Jewish tradition. Moses' office
of resolving religious disputes was
carried on after his death as a matter
of tradition and lasted to Jesus'
day. Jesus here commands them to
respect the tradition. Thus, when
Jesus was condemning traditions
of men, he was really not condemning
the concept of tradition per se,
but condemning those who invoked
it as a means of violating the Commandments.
If you look at Scripture, when it
comes to authority, it is clear that
authority is not vested in a book
(which, after all, has no power to
settle concrete disputes between
believers who each think they are
interpreting it right), but in human
beings:
"He who listens to you, listens
to me; he who rejects you, rejects
me, and he who rejects me, rejects
Him who sent me."
(Luke 10:16)
"He whom God sends speaks
God's word, for God gives the
Spirit without limit."
(John 3:34)
"What you have heard from
me, keep as the pattern of sound
teaching, with faith and love
in Christ Jesus. Guard the good
deposit that was entrusted to
you -- guard it with the help
of the Holy Spirit who lives in
us."
(2 Timothy 1:13ff)
In this last verse, the faith is
called a deposit, which is held,
not in Scripture, but in Timothy's
heart. Elsewhere it says, "Earnestly
contend for the faith once for all
entrusted to the saints"
(Jude 3-4) which is a similar concept.
"Do your best to present
yourself to God as one approved,
a workman who has no need to be
ashamed, rightly handling the
word of truth."
(2 Timothy 2:15 RSV)
Rightly handling here
I think more literally is rightly
dividing which implies an authority
to interpret Scripture.
The truth comes, again, not exclusively
through the Scriptures (although
the Scriptures are an expression
of truth), but through the living
community:
"But when he, the Spirit
of Truth, comes, he will guide
you into all truth"
(John 16:13)
"But the Counselor, the Holy
Spirit, whom the Father will send
in my name, will teach you all
things and will remind you of
everything I have said to you"
(John 14:26)
" 'The Redeemer will come
to Zion, to those in Jacob who
repent of their sins,'
declares
the Lord. 'As for me, this is
my covenant with them,' says the
Lord.
'My Spirit, which is on
you, and my words that I have
put in your mouth will not depart
from your mouth, or from the mouths
of your children, or from the
mouths of their descendants from
this time on and forever,' says
the Lord."
(Isaiah 59:20-21)
The question for Protestants is:
- Does the Protestant world look
like something that has been guided
to all truth, with the Spirit
teaching all things to it and
reminding it of everything Jesus
said to his Church, and have the
words of Jesus remained in their
mouths continuously (and clearly)
since Jesus's ascension into Heaven?
- Do Protestants, despite their
reliance on the Scriptures, know
the truth with certainty, or is
it a matter of:
"the Spirit says
the Bible says this to me,
and
you say the Spirit says that
to you, and
he says the Spirit says something
else to him, and
she says the Spirit says still
something else to her"?
- If the Bible is clear, understandable,
and able with the Spirit's help
to be infallibly understood by
all believers, why don't all Spirit-filled
Protestants agree on what God's
Word says — why is there so much
disagreement?
Here is an earlier answer that may
help you:
Finally, a few tracts published by
Catholic Answers (not affiliated
with us):
Eric
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