Why is Catholicism steeped in tradition and ritual?
At the Council of Trent in 1545, the Roman Catholic Church declared that tradition was equal in authority with the Bible. In the Second Vatican Councils document on divine revelation, Dei Verbum (Latin, “The Word of God”), it is written, “Hence there exists a close connection and communication between sacred Tradition and sacred Scripture. For both of them, flowing from the same divine wellspring, in a certain way merge into a unity and tend toward the same end.” The Catholic Church’s definition of tradition is simply the teachings of the Apostles passed on orally through their preaching, which is not to be confused with the erroneous customs of man, such as those of the Pharisees which Jesus refuted (Matthew 15:2-6, Mark 7:1-13). Scriptural support for this comes from 1 Corinthians 11:2, “I praise you… for holding to the traditions, just as I passed them on to you,” and 2 Thessalonians 2:15, wherin the Apostle Paul admonishes the brothers to “stand firm and hold to the traditions we
