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

Questions / The Bible

What is Sacred Tradition?

Church teaching

Answered on video by Ascension Presents

Video: Why Catholics Use Scripture and Tradition, Ascension Presents, published Aug 21, 2019. Checked 10 October 2026. Loads from YouTube (privacy-enhanced mode) only when you press play. Watch on YouTube

In short: The living handing-on of the Gospel by the apostles and their successors. Scripture and Tradition together make one deposit of God’s Word. CCC 78 CCC 97

The answer, in writing

Church teaching

Tradition is the living transmission of the Gospel, accomplished in the Holy Spirit, by which the Church hands on to every generation all that she is and all that she believes. CCC 78

“Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture make up a single sacred deposit of the Word of God.” CCC 97

Our words

Not “the way we’ve always done it.” It’s the faith the apostles lived and preached, handed on like a family inheritance.

Next step: Start the Protestant journey

Honestly? The best answers come from people, not websites. Take the next step: find a parish near you

Related questions

Who decided which books are in the Bible? Catholic Answers · 1 minDo Catholics read the Bible? Bishop Robert Barron · 8 minHow does someone become a canonized saint? Fr. Mike Schmitz · 7 minWho wrote the New Testament? Dr. Brant Pitre · 10 min

Sources on this page

How we know · 2 Catechism paragraphs
  1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 78, 97 (official text on vatican.va).

Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words and cites every teaching claim. Our own wording is not an official Church text. Found a mistake? Report an errorCorrections.