"Fratres, notum vobis facio Evangelium, quod prædicavi vobis, quod et accepistis ... Tradidi enim vobis, in primis quod et accepi: quoniam Christus mortuus est pro peccatis nostris secundum Scripturas: et quia sepultus est, et quia resurrexit tertia die secundum Scripturas: et quia visus est Cephæ, et post hoc undecim..."
"Now I make known unto you, brethren, the Gospel which I preached to you, which also you have received ... For I delivered unto you first of all, which I also received: how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures and that He was seen by Cephas; and after that by the eleven..." (I Cor. xv, 1, 3-5, from the Epistle for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost)
...as to the common faith of all people; therefore, he says: which you received, all of you. But Augustine says that this pertains to the evidence of this faith, using this argument: For believing things of faith, miracles are either performed or not.
If miracles are performed, I have my point: that they are most worthy and most certain. If none is performed, this is the greatest of all miracles: that by a certain few an infinite multitude of men were converted to the faith, rich men by poor men preaching poverty; by men of one language preaching things that surpass reason, wise men and philosophers have been converted: "Their voice goes out through all the earth"
If it is objected that even the law of Mohammed has been received by many, the answer is that the cases are not alike, because he subjugated them by oppressing them and by force of arms, while the apostles, by dying and by working signs and prodigies, brought others to the Faith.
For he [Mohammed] proposed things which pertain to pleasure and lasciviousness, while Christ and the apostles [proposed] contempt for earthly things...
Saint Thomas Aquinas
On the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians
On the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians
This [understanding of Tradition] is clearly highlighted and visible in certain passages of the Pauline Letters: "I delivered to you... what I also received" (I Cor 15: 3). And this is important. St Paul, it is well-known, originally called by Christ with a personal vocation, was a real Apostle, yet for him too, fidelity to what he received was fundamentally important. He did not want "to invent" a new, so-to-speak, "Pauline" Christianity. Therefore, he insisted, "I have passed on to you what I too received". He passed on the initial gift that comes from the Lord and the truth that saves.
Then, towards the end of his life, he wrote to Timothy: "Guard this rich trust [deposit] with the help of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us (II Tm 1: 14).
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Reposted for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, 2008 (clearly Rorate's favorite Epistle).
Recess for a few days; urgent news may be posted at any time.
Reposted for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, 2008 (clearly Rorate's favorite Epistle).
Recess for a few days; urgent news may be posted at any time.
