Bellarmine · De Controversiis · On the Word of God · Book IV: On the Unwritten Word (Tradition)
Chapter 2: What Tradition is, and how manifold
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. I, De Verbo Dei, Book IV: On the Unwritten Word of God (Tradition). The Latin source text is public domain; this English rendering is released with the site. Scripture quotations follow Bellarmine's Vulgate citations, rendered in Douay-Rheims wording where he quotes exactly. Click “Show the Latin” for the original (raw OCR of the scan; scanning errors remain — the scan itself is the authority).
The name of Tradition is general, and signifies all doctrine, whether written or unwritten, which is communicated by one to another. Exodus 17, Write this for a memorial in a book, and deliver it to the ears of Josue. Acts 6, the written law of Moses is called Tradition: We have heard him say that this Jesus shall destroy this place, and shall change the traditions which Moses delivered unto us. But 1 Corinthians 11, For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, Tradition is called doctrine set forth by the living voice; and 2 Thessalonians 2, Hold the traditions which you have learned, whether by word or by our epistle.
But although the name of Tradition is general, yet this same name is accommodated by the Theologians to signify only unwritten doctrine. So Irenaeus: “It comes to pass,” he says, “that they consent neither to the Scriptures nor to Tradition.” Tertullian in the book On the soldier's crown: “If thou demand a law of Scripture, thou wilt find none; Tradition will be held out to thee as author, etc.” Cyprian book 2 epistle 3: “Know that we are admonished that, in offering the chalice, the Lord's Tradition be kept, that the chalice which is offered in commemoration of him be offered mixed with wine.” Which place Kemnitz falsely expounds of written Tradition; for nowhere in the whole Gospel or the epistles of the Apostles is it written that the chalice mixed with wine, that is, wine and water, be offered. In almost the same manner nearly all the ancients use the name of Tradition for unwritten doctrine; and in this way we shall henceforth use this name.
But by unwritten doctrine is called not that which is nowhere written, but that which is not written by its first author. Let the baptism of infants be the example. That infants are to be baptized is called an unwritten apostolic Tradition, because this is not found written in any apostolic book, although it is written in the books of almost all the ancient Fathers.
Now there is a twofold division of Traditions: the former is taken according to the authors of the Traditions, the latter according to the matter. The former is into Divine, Apostolic, and Ecclesiastical Traditions. Divine are called those which were received from Christ himself teaching the Apostles, and are nowhere found in the divine Letters; such are those which pertain to the matter and form of the Sacraments, for we have few things of these in the divine Letters, and yet it is certain that the essence of the Sacraments could not be instituted save by Christ. For therefore the Apostle 1 Corinthians 11, speaking of the Sacrament of the Eucharist, said: For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you.
Apostolic Traditions are properly called those which were instituted by the Apostles, yet not without the assistance of the Holy Ghost, and nevertheless are not extant written in their epistles; such is the fast of Lent and of the four seasons, and many others, of which afterward. Yet sometimes even divine Traditions are called apostolic, and apostolic are called divine. Divine Traditions are called apostolic, not that they are from them, since they had received them apart from Christ; and apostolic are called divine, not that God immediately instituted them, but that the Apostles instituted them not without the Spirit of God. In which manner all the epistles of the Apostles are called divine and apostolic writings, even though certain precepts in them be divine and certain properly apostolic, as is plain from that of 1 Corinthians 7: I command, not I, but the Lord; and afterward, I speak, not the Lord.
Ecclesiastical Traditions are properly called certain ancient customs, begun either by Prelates or by peoples, which by little and little, by the tacit consent of the peoples, obtained the force of law. And indeed divine traditions have the same force as divine precepts, or divine doctrine written in the Gospels; and likewise unwritten apostolic Traditions have the same force as written apostolic Traditions, as is asserted in the Council of Trent session 4; and the reason is manifest. For the word of God is not such, nor has any authority, because it is written on parchments, but because it proceeded from God, either immediately, as are the discourses of the Lord, or through the Apostles, as is the decree of the Apostles, Acts 15. Nor do the heretics deny this, or can deny it; for, as we shall say afterward, the question is not how great is the force of a divine or apostolic Tradition, but whether there be any Tradition truly divine or apostolic.
But Ecclesiastical Traditions have the same force as the written decrees and constitutions of the Church; for in the civil commonwealth too there is the same force of approved customs and of written laws, as is plain from distinction 1 canon Consuetudo, and the law Diuturna, Digest On laws.
The other division of Traditions is according to the matter, into Traditions of Faith and Traditions of morals; which again are either perpetual or temporal, and either universal or particular, either necessary or free. A Tradition of Faith is that the blessed Mary was always a virgin, that there are only four Gospels, etc. A Tradition pertaining to morals is that the sign of the Cross is to be painted on the forehead; that on certain days fasts or feasts are to be celebrated, etc. A perpetual Tradition is one which is instituted to be kept always, until the consummation of the world, as in the examples set down. A temporal one is that which is instituted for a certain time, as the observation of certain legal ceremonies which were to be kept until the full promulgation of the Gospel, that the Church might the more easily [be weaned from the Synagogue]. A necessary Tradition is one which is delivered in the form of a precept, as the celebration of the Pasch on the Lord's day after the fourteenth Moon of March. A free one is that which is delivered in the form of a counsel, as the sprinkling of lustral water, and the like.
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
CAPUT II. Quid sit. et quotuplex Traditio. Nomen Traditionis generale est, et signi¬ ficat omnem doctrinam sive scriptam, sive non scriptam, quae ab uno communicatur alteri. Exod. XVII, Scribe hoc ob monumen¬ tum in libro , et trade in auribus Josue. Actor. VI. lex Mosis seri pta vocatur Traditio : Au¬ divimus eum dicentem , quoniam 3 esus destruet locum istum , et mutabit Traditiones , quas tradi¬ dit nobis Moyses (1). At I. Corinth. XI. Ego enim accepi a Domino , quod et tradidi vobis ; (1) Exod. XVII, 14. ; Act. VI, 14. 196 LIBER IY. Traditio, vocatur doctrina viva voce exposi¬ ta : et II. Thess. II. Tenete Traditiones , 'quas didicistis , sive per sermonem , sive per episto¬ lam (1). Tametsi vero Traditionis nomen generale sit ; tamen hoc ipsum nomen accommodatum est a Theologis ad significandam tantum doctrinam non scriptam. Sic Irenaeus : « Evenit » , inquit, « neque Scripturis, neque Traditioni consentire eos(2).»Tertullianuslib. De corona militis : « Si legem, inquit, expo¬ stules Scripturam nullam invenies, Traditio tibi praetendetur auctrix etc. (3). Cyprianus lib. II, ep. 3. « Admonitos autem, nos scias, ut in calice offerendo Dominica Traditio ser¬ vetur, ut calix, qui in commemorationem ejus offertur, mixtus vino offeratur. » Quem lo¬ cum falso Kemnitius exponit de Traditione scripta : nusquam enim in toto Evangelio aut epistolis Apostolorum scriptum est, ut calix mixtus vino, id est, vinum, et aqua offeran¬ tur. Ad eumdem modum fere omnes Vete¬ res nomen Traditionis pro non scripta doc¬ trina usurpant ; et hoc modo deinceps utemur hoc nomine. Vocatur autem doctrina non scripta, non ea quae nusquam scripta est, sed qua3 non est scripta a primo auctore : exemplo sit baptismus parvulorum. Parvulos baptizan¬ dos, vocatur Traditio apostolicanon scripta, quia non invenitur hoc scriptum in ullo apo- stolico libro, tametsi scriptum est in libris fere omnium veterum Patrum. Est autem duplex partitio Traditionum : prior sumitur penes auctores Traditionum : posterior penes materiam . Prior est , in Traditiones Divinas, Apostolicas, Ecclesia¬ sticas. Divinae dicuntur, quae acceptae sunt ab ipso Christo Apostolos docente, et nus¬ quam in divinis Litteris inveniuntur : talia sunt ea quae ad materiam et formam Sacra¬ mentorum pertinent, pauca enim de his habemus in divinis Litteris, et tamen certum est, Sacramentorum essentiam non potuisse nisi a Christo institui. Propterea enim Apo¬ stolus I. Corinth. XI, loquens de Sacramento Eucharistiae dicebat : Ego enim accepi a Do¬ mino , quod et tradidi vobis. Apostolicae Traditiones proprie dicuntur illae, quae ab Apostolis institutae sunt, non tamen sine assistentia Spiritus sancti, et ni¬ hilominus non exstant scriptae in eorum epi¬ stolis : quale est jejunium Quadragesimae, et quatuor temporum, et alia multa, de quibus postea. Solent tamen interdum etiam divinae Traditiones dici apostolicae , et apostolicae dicuntur divinae. Divinae Traditiones dicun¬ tur apostolicae, non quod ab illis sint, cum ipsi seorsim eas a Christo accepissent : et apostolicae dicuntur divinae, non quod eas Deus immediate instituerit, sed quod non sine spiritu Dei eas Apostoli instituerint. Quo modo omnes epistolae Apostolorum di¬ cuntur divina et apostolica scripta, etiamsi quaedam in eis sint praecepta divina, et quae¬ dam proprie apostolica, ut patet ex illo I. Corinth. VII : Praecipio non ego , sed Dominus, et postea : Dico ego , non Dominus (4). Ecclesiasticae Traditiones proprie dicuntur consuetudines quaedam antiquae, vel a Prae¬ latis, vel a populis inchoatae, quae paulatim tacito consensu populorum vim legis obti¬ nuerunt. Et quidem traditiones divinae eam- dem vim habent, quam divina praecepta, sive divina doctrina scripta in Evangeliis, et similiter apostolicae Traditiones non scriptae eamdem vim habent, quam apostolicae Tra¬ ditiones scriptae, ut in Concilio Trident. sess. IV, asseritur, et ratio est manifesta : nam verbum Dei non est tale, nec habet ullam auctoritatem, quia scriptum est in membra¬ nis, sed quia a Deo profectum est, vel im¬ mediate, ut sunt sermones Domini, vel me¬ diantibus Apostolis, ut est decretum Aposto¬ lorum,^ Actor. XV. Neque hoc negant, aut negare possunt haeretici : nam, ut postea dicemus, non est quaestio, quanta sit vis di¬ vinae aut apostolicae Traditionis, sed an sit aliqua Traditio vere divina , aut aposto¬ lica. Ecclesiasticae autem Traditiones eamdem vim habent, quam decreta, et constitutiones Ecclesiae scriptae : nam etiam in Republica civili eadem vis est consuetudinum adpro- batarum, et legum scriptarum, ut patet dis- tin. I. canon. Consuetudo, et 1. Diuturna, ff. de legibus, Altera partitio Traditionum est penes ma¬ teriam, in Traditiones de Fide , et Traditio¬ nes de moribus, quae rursum aut sunt perpe¬ tuae, aut temporales, et vel universales , vel particulares, vel necessariae, vel liberae. Tra¬ ditio de Fide est, quod B. Maria semper fue¬ rit virgo, quod quatuor sint tantam Evange- lia, etc. Traditio ad mores pertinens est, quod signum Crucis in fronte pingendum sit, (1) I. Cor. XI, 23. ; II. Thessal. II, 14. — (2) Lib. III, Cap. 11.— (3)Cap. IV.— (4) I. Cor. VII, TO, 12. CAPUT III. 197 quod certis diebus jejunia , aut festa cele¬ branda, etc. Traditio perpetua est, quse instituitur, ut semper servetur usque ad Mundi consumma¬ tionem, ut in exemplis positis. Temporalis est, quae instituitur ad certum tempus, ut ob¬ servatio legalium quarumdam caeremonia¬ rum quae servandae erant usque ad plenam Evangelii promulgationem, ut facilius Eccle¬ sia ex Judaeis et Gentibus coalesceret. Traditio universalis est, quae toti Ecclesiae servanda traditur, qualis est Paschatis, Pen¬ tecostes, et similium magnorum festorum observatio, ut B. Augustinus docet epist. 118. Particularis est , quae traditur uni tan¬ tum, aut pluribus Ecclesiis, qualis erat tem¬ pore Augustini jejunium Sabbati, quod Petrus Romanae Ecclesiae tradiderat , et ab ea sola, et quibusdam aliis servabatur, ut Augustinus docet epist. 86. ad Casulanum. Traditio necessaria est, quae traditur in forma praecepti, ut celebratio Paschae die Dominico post decimamquartam Lunam Martii. Libera est, quae traditur in forma consilii, ut aspersio aquae lustralis , et simi¬ lia.