PROTESTANT VIEW
Scripture alone is the only infallible source of divine revelation and the final authority for matters of faith and practice. Sola Scriptura does not mean that all truth is contained in the Bible, rather that all we need to know for salvation is contained within it.
“All scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice. That the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (DRB).
CATHOLIC VIEW
The Catholic view is that alongside Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition (that is, those teachings which have been handed down from the Apostles) constitutes divine revelation. Interpretation of this revelation has been entrusted to the Catholic church through the magisterium or teaching authority that it possesses. This it is claimed, was given to it by Christ himself.
“This living transmission, accomplished in the Holy Spirit, is called Tradition, since it is distinct from Sacred Scripture, though closely connected to it. Through Tradition, the Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes. The sayings of the holy Fathers are a witness to the life-giving presence of this Tradition, showing how its riches are poured out in the practice and life of the Church, in her belief and her prayer.”
Paragraph 78, CCC.
“Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.”
2 Thessalonians 2:15 (DRB).
The Pope as the visible head of the Church on earth, and the successor of Peter, acts with the authority given to him directly by Christ in Matthew 16:18. Scripture and Tradition together form the fidei depositum – the sacred deposit of faith.
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