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Wellsprings
christian-scripture-revelationfeatured in 36 works

Scripture and Tradition

One well or two streams? How the written word and the handed-down faith hold authority

This concerns the relationship between written Scripture and the Church's transmitted teaching (paradosis) as sources of authority. Early witnesses like Irenaeus and Basil appealed to both, and the question became a defining divide at the Reformation. Catholics and Orthodox hold Scripture and Tradition together as inseparable, while Protestants assert sola scriptura, that Scripture alone is the final authority. The Council of Trent and Reformation debates sharpened this difference.

How it traveled

  1. 1 Corinthians
    Ephesus · 67
    explains
  2. Against Heresies: Book III
    Lyons · 202
    explains
  3. The Prescription Against Heretics.
    · 220
    explains
  4. The Chaplet, or De Corona.
    · 220
    explains
  5. The Church History of Eusebius
    Caesarea · 339
    explains
  6. De Spiritu Sancto
    Caesarea (Cappadocia) · 379
    explains
  7. A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  8. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  9. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  10. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  11. Homilies on First Corinthians
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  12. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  13. The Apology of Rufinus. Addressed to Apronianus, in Reply to Jerome's Letter to Pammachius
    Aquileia · 411
    applies
  14. The Letters of St. Jerome
    Bethlehem · 420
    explains
  15. Reply to Faustus the Manichæan
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  16. On Christian Doctrine
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  17. The Confessions
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  18. Letters of St. Augustin
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  19. City of God
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  20. On the Morals of the Catholic Church
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  21. On the Profit of Believing
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  22. A Treatise on Nature and Grace
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  23. The Commonitory of Vincent of Lérins, For the Antiquity and Universality of the Catholic Faith Against the Profane Novelties of All Heresies
    Lérins · 445
    explains
  24. John of Damascus: Exposition of the Orthodox Faith
    Damascus · 749
    explains
  25. Exordium
    Wittenberg · 1546
    explains
  26. Discussion: Second Part
    Wittenberg · 1546
    applies
  27. Commentary on Galatians
    Wittenberg · 1546
    applies
  28. Erasmus’ Scepticism
    Wittenberg · 1546
    challenges
  29. The Sovereignty of God
    Wittenberg · 1546
    challenges
  30. Book First. of the Knowledge of God the Creator
    Geneva · 1564
    explains
  31. Book Fourth. of the Holy Catholic Church
    Geneva · 1564
    explains
  32. Book Third. the Mode of Obtaining the Grace of Christ. the Benefits It Confers, and the Effects Resulting from It
    Geneva · 1564
    explains
  33. Prefatory Material
    Geneva · 1564
    explains
  34. A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections, in Three Parts
    Northampton, Massachusetts · 1758
    explains
  35. A History of the Work of Redemption
    Northampton, Massachusetts · 1758
    explains
  36. Thoughts on the Revival of Religion in New England
    Northampton, Massachusetts · 1758
    applies

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Modern teachers who discuss this idea

Modern and living teachers whose books take up Scripture and Tradition. These works are still in copyright, so we can’t show the text here — each links out to the book.