7 Bible Verses Every Catholic Should Know (2 of 7)

St. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians: “So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter. We, as Catholics, know that the Bible alone is not enough. We also have Tradition (capital T). The New International Version (NIV) of the Bible, which most Protestants use, translates the word “traditions” to “teachings.” Our Catholic Bible uses the Revised Standard Version (RSV) which uses the word “traditions.” The New Testament was originally written in Greek. In the original Greek, the word used is “paradosis” which is translates into “tradition,” for handing over something. In the NIV protestant version, every time Jesus uses the word “paradosis” to criticize the pharisees, this word is translated into “tradition.” In the same translation, when “paradosis” is used to describe something positive, however, the word used is “teaching.” Subconsciously, one would get the impression that the word “tradition” is bad or negative, that there is no positive role for tradition in Christian life. And this is the Protestant's experience with the word “tradition.” But this is not actually the case. In reality, St. Paul uses the word “paradosis” to always mean “tradition.” Christian Tradition comes from the apostles and continues down through their successors, and we, as Catholics, continue to follow St. Paul and the other apostles, including the orally transmitted teachings which are Tradition, down to the present day. (Source: Dr. John Bergsma, St. Paul Center)