Chapter II - Handing on Divine Revelation

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1. God has seen to it that what he had revealed would be handed on to all generations, when God comes in to the image of Christ the Lord is whom the full revelation of the supreme God is brought to completion commissioned the Apostles to preach to all men that Gospel which is the source of all saving truth and moral teaching, and to import to them heavenly gifts.

2. The commission was faithfully by the Apostles, by their oral preaching, examples, and observances handed on what they had received from Christ's mouth. from living with Christ, what he did, and what they had learned through the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Also, the commission was fulfilled by those Apostles and apostolic me who under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit.

3. In order to keep the Gospel alive for ever in the church, the left the bishops as their successors, handing over on them the authority to teach in their own place.

4. The Sacred Tradition and the Sacred Scripture of both the Old and New testaments are like mirror in which the pilgrim Church on earth look at God from whom she has received everything, until she is brought finally to see Him as He is. Sacred Tradition takes the word of God entrusted by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, and hands it on to their successors in its full purity, so that led by the light of the Spirit of truth, they may in proclaiming it preserve this word of God faithfully, explain it, and make it more widely known. There are lots of examples about Sacred Tradition in the Bible, one of them is about Peter when he was following the words of Jesus, and try to avoid people from lying to the Holy Spirit and not to put the Lord's Spirit to the test as in the story of Ananias and Sapphire in (Acts 5:1-8), the second example is about curing sick people when they carried Peter who had evil spirit in them and they were al helm, when Peter was trying to follow the teaching for Jesus in (Acts 5:14-17).

5. There are a relation and connection between sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture. For both of them, flowing from the same divine wellspring, in a certain way merge into a unity and tend toward the same end. For Sacred Scripture is the word of God inasmuch as it is consigned to writing under the inspiration of the divine Spirit, while sacred tradition takes the word of God entrusted by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, and hands it on to their successors in its full purity, so that led by the light of the Spirit of truth, they may in proclaiming it preserve this word of God faithfully, explain it, and make it more widely known. Consequently it is not from Sacred Scripture alone that the Church draws her certainty about everything which has been revealed. Therefore both sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture are to be accepted and venerated with the same sense of loyalty and reverence because they are both necessary to each other because they form one sacred deposit of the word of God, committed to the Church. Holding fast to this deposit the entire holy people united with their shepherds remain always steadfast in the teaching of the Apostles, in the common life, in the breaking of the bread and in prayers, so that holding to, practicing and professing the heritage of the faith, it becomes on the part of the bishops and faithful a single common effort.

6. The pilgrim church is the Church on earth.

7. Therefore the Apostles, handing on what they themselves had received, warm the faithful to hold fast to the traditions which they have learned by word or letter, and fight to defense the faith handed on once and for all. What was handed on by the Apostles now includes everything that contributes towered the holiness of life and increase in faith of the People of God; and hands on to al generations all that she herself is, all that she believes.

8. There is a growth in understanding of the realities and the words which have been handed down though:

* Penetrating understanding of the spiritual realities which they experience.

* Preaching of those who have received through Episcopal succession the sure gift of truth.

* The Church moves forward toward the fullness of divine truth until the words of God reach their complete fulfillment in her.

9. By holding fast to this deposit the entire holy people united with their shepherds remain always steadfast in the teaching of the Apostles, in the common life, in the breaking of the bread and in prayers, so that holding to, practicing and professing the heritage of the faith, it becomes on the part of the bishops and faithful a single common effort.

10. The task of interpreting the word of God has been entrusted completely to the living teaching office of the Church, whose authority is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ. Their responsibility is not above the teaching of the word of God, serves it, and teach only what has been handed on, listening to it devoutly, guarding it scrupulously and explaining it faithfully in accord with a divine commission and with the help of the Holy Spirit.

11. The sacred tradition, sacred Scripture and the teaching authority of the Church, in accord with God's most wise design, are so linked and joined together that one cannot stand without the others, and that all together and each in its own way under the action of the one Holy Spirit contribute effectively to the salvation of souls.