Sacred Tradition
The notion that the fullness of God's truth is not contained in the Bible alone is regarded as heresy by most Protestant denominations, but the Catholic Church has always maintained that alongside Sacred Scripture, there is an extra-Biblical Sacred Tradition from which we must also draw in order to gain the fullness of God's truth. The tradition we speak of is not "the traditions of men," but rather those things that Jesus and His Apostles said and did that were not recorded in Scripture. The last verses of the Gospel according to John clearly state that not all of Christ's words and actions were recorded, but only certain aspects of His ministry were recounted that we might believe. So what of those things that Jesus said and did that are not contained in the New Testament? Are we to disregard them as inconsequential simply because the Bible does not record them? The Catholic Church is of a mind that Jesus did nothing that was not of great consequence, and His Apostles preached the entirety of the truth right up until the death of John, the last surviving Apostle. It is with John's death that the period of public revelation ended, and it is here also that the "deposit of faith" was finally brought to completion. It is this "deposit of faith," comprising both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, from which the Catholic Church derives its teachings.
Apologetics Links Related to Sacred Tradition
All links are taken from the Catholic Answers website
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