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Analogy Apologetics · Debated Verses · Scripture, Tradition & Church Authority

The Apostolic Deposit: Heard, Received, Entrusted

6 debated passages on Scripture, apostolic Tradition, and the teaching authority of the Church. Read each passage on its own terms, then compare it with the wider New Testament pattern of written Scripture, oral apostolic transmission, and a visible Church charged with guarding the deposit of faith.

6 debated passages · RSV-CE · Scripture, Tradition & Church Authority

What does the passage actually establish?

Choose the strongest reading. After the correct answer, compare the verse with texts that protect both sides of the biblical teaching: grace cannot be earned, and living faith cannot be separated from charity and obedience.

0 / 6 first try
Scripture, Tradition & Church Authority

RSV-CE excerpt

Which interpretation best accounts for this passage?

Read the full passage in the RSV-CE ↗

The interpretive framework

Revelation is received.The apostolic faith is received from God and handed on; the Church does not invent new revelation.
Transmission has more than one mode.Scripture is inspired and uniquely normative, while the New Testament also recognizes authoritative oral apostolic teaching.
The Church has a teaching role.Christ established a visible Church that guards, teaches, adjudicates, and transmits the apostolic deposit.
Scripture excerpts are from the Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition (RSV-CE) and are intentionally brief; use the linked passage for full context. The exercise distinguishes apostolic Tradition from merely human traditions that contradict God. It does not treat every custom or later practice as divinely revealed.