There is only one primary source of the catholic faith — scripture. The Roman Catholic Church used to list “tradition” as a second primary source. But that has changed. Even they now acknowledge that scripture is the only primary source, with tradition being a secondary source. But “tradition” is a rather vague concept, and one that has been abused over the years. It includes secular histories of the New Testament era, the writings of the church fathers, apocryphal (Definition) writings, and oral tradition. These can be valuable sources of insights regarding church doctrines, but they cannot be sources of new ones. Let us be specific about what parts of “tradition” are legitimate secondary sources of the catholic faith. They are the creeds and the seven ecumenical councils of the undivided church. Thus there are a total of three sources of our beliefs: Scripture, Creeds, and Councils. Let’s look at each of these in turn.
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