Stone & Incense Search
Start hereCurious, or no faithEvangelical, Pentecostal or ProtestantFrom another faithSomeone I love is CatholicBecoming CatholicI was Catholic once Today in the ChurchLibraryHard questionsVoices of the revivalTake the next stepAboutSources & methodSupport the site
Evangelical, Pentecostal or ProtestantStep 2 of 8

The Bible and Tradition

We agree the Bible is God’s word. The question is how it reached you.

Start here

Watch this first

Debunking "Bible Alone" with the Bible · Catholic Answers

Give it 2 minutes, then come back and we’ll walk through it together.

Video: Debunking "Bible Alone" with the Bible, Catholic Answers Live, published May 9, 2023. Checked 10 October 2026. Loads from YouTube (privacy-enhanced mode) only when you press play. Watch on YouTube

Catholics and Protestants agree all Scripture is inspired.1 Catholics hold that Scripture and apostolic Tradition flow from one source, and that the Church discerned which books belong in the Bible.23

Watch first Or start reading1 min read
Book of Kells, folio 27v: the four Gospel symbols, a man, a lion, a calf and an eagle, in a woven border.

Book of Kells, folio 27v, the symbols of the four evangelists, c. 800. Trinity College Library, Dublin. Public domain, source.

Journeys / Evangelical, Pentecostal or Protestant / Step 2 of 8

On this page

Quick answers to related questions

Keep reading

All 8 steps in Evangelical, Pentecostal or Protestant You’re on step 2
  1. 1. What we share
  2. 2. The Bible and Tradition
  3. 3. Faith and works
  4. 4. The Lord’s Supper
  5. 5. Peter and the pope
  6. 6. Mary: honored, not worshiped
  7. 7. The saints, and asking for prayers
  8. 8. Coffee and next steps

Thessalonica, a letter from Paul

Paul tells a young church to hold on to what they were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter.4

Word of mouth. Before there was a New Testament, there was preaching.5

The Catholic claim isn’t “Bible plus extras.” It’s one stream from one source.

01Common ground

Where we agree

Scripture

All Scripture is inspired by God.6 The Catholic Church teaches that God is its author and that it teaches His truth without error.17

“Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness,”

2 Timothy 3:166

So where do we split?

02The real disagreement

One source, two streams

Disputed questionChurch teaching

Catholics hold that Scripture and Tradition flow from the same divine source and move toward the same goal.2

Tradition here means what the apostles handed on, not later customs; the Church distinguishes the two.8

Your reading: the Bible alone is the final authority. The Catholic reading: the Bible was written, gathered and handed on inside the Church, so Scripture, Tradition and the Church’s teaching office stand together.9

Then who decided which books count?

03The test case

Who drew up the list?

HistoryDisputed question

The Bible doesn’t include a table of contents from God. The list of books was discerned by the Church through apostolic Tradition.3

Every Christian who opens a Bible is already trusting that judgment. That’s worth sitting with.

Next: faith, works, and the verse everybody quotes.

Your move

Try this, this week

  1. Read 2 Thessalonians 2:15. Notice “by word” and “by letter.”
  2. Read John 21:25. Not everything Jesus did got written down.
  3. Read the Case page on who decided which books are in the Bible.

You’ll need

  • A Bible.
  • Ten minutes.

Remember Not Bible plus extras: one stream, one source.

If this is hard

If this feels like an attack on the Bible you love, it isn’t. Catholics read the same Scriptures, every Sunday, out loud.

How to talk to a priest

Only one thing to do

Your one next step

Watch the video, then read the Case page on the canon side by side with your own Bible.

Who decided which books?

Step 2 of 8 · Evangelical, Pentecostal or Protestant

Next: faith, works, and the verse everybody quotes.

Step 3: Faith and works
Back to all steps

Take it with you

Printable one-page cardDownload card (A4 PDF)Download card (US Letter PDF)

Short link: stoneandincense.com/go/cg2

Your real next step

This page can’t give you the sacraments. A parish can.

We’re just pointing. People walk with you. Find a Catholic parish near you, go to a Mass, or just ask a priest for ten minutes. You don’t need to have it figured out.

Take the next step What to say when you call

Notes

How we know · 9 sources for this page
  1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 105. vatican.va
  2. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 80. vatican.va
  3. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 120. vatican.va
  4. 2 Thessalonians 2:15 [Douay 2:14], World English Bible. read the chapter
  5. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 76. vatican.va
  6. 2 Timothy 3:16, World English Bible. read the chapter
  7. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 107. vatican.va
  8. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 83. vatican.va
  9. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 95. vatican.va

Excerpts from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for use in the United States of America Copyright © 1994, United States Catholic Conference, Inc. – Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used with Permission. English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Modifications from the Editio Typica copyright © 1997, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops – Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Scripture: World English Bible, Catholic edition (public domain), modern verse numbers; Douay-Rheims numbers in brackets where they differ. Early Christian writers: Ante-Nicene Fathers (1885, public domain). Video: “Debunking "Bible Alone" with the Bible,” Catholic Answers Live, supporting material, not a teaching source.

Scenes marked “Imagine” are an invitation to picture the moment, not a historical record. Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words; our wording is not an official Church text. Report an errorCorrections.