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26 • Part I. The Creed: The Faith Professed
mate foundation in Jesus Christ helps a person of faith to respond to
Tradition with trust. The theological, liturgical, disciplinary, and devo-
tional traditions of the local churches both contain and can be distin-
guished from this Apostolic Tradition (cf. CCC, Glossary, “Tradition”).
SACRED SCRIPTURE
Sacred Scripture is inspired by God and is the Word of God. Therefore,
God is the author of Sacred Scripture, which means he inspired the
The four Gospels and the rest of the New Testament were written
down over time by those Apostles and others associated with
them who worked under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (see
CCC, no. 76, citing DV, no. 7). Among all the books of Scripture, the
Gospels hold a special place of honor because they tell us about
Jesus Christ, his person and message. The Gospels were formed in
three stages:
1.
The life and teachings of Jesus
: The Church affirms that the
Gospels faithfully hand on what Jesus did and taught for our
salvation (cf. CCC, no. 126, citing DV, no. 19).
2.
The oral tradition
: What Jesus said and did, the Apostles
preached to others. They brought to their preaching a deeper
understanding of what they had experienced, having been
instructed by the events of Christ’s life and enlightened by
the Holy Spirit (cf. CCC, no. 126, citing DV, no. 19).
3.
The written Gospels
: “The sacred authors, in writing the four
Gospels, selected certain of the many elements which had
been handed on, either orally or already in written form;
others they synthesized or explained with an eye to the situ-
ation of the churches, while sustaining the form of preaching,
but always in such a fashion that they have told us the truth
about Jesus” (CCC, no. 126, citing DV, no. 19).
THE GOSPELS