Pope Francis has designated this Sunday as the Sunday of the Word of God. What an intriguing gift to us, but we must be very sure of what we mean when we say: ‘the Word of God.’ It might surprise you to learn that it is not interchangeable with the word, ‘Bible’, or, ‘Sacred Scripture’ – indeed, today is not Bible Sunday or Scripture Sunday. The ‘Word of God’ is a much broader concept – as Vatican II teaches in the Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum:

Sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture form one sacred deposit of the Word of God, committed to the Church (DV 10)

Sacred Scripture is the Word of God inasmuch as it is consigned to writing under the inspiration of the divine Spirit, while sacred tradition takes the Word of God entrusted by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, and hands it on to their successors in its full purity… (DV 9)

We can see from this teaching that we are not talking about a book, or text, but about Revelation itself: the Word of God is what God wishes to communicate about Himself to us. God’s very nature is communicability, and you and I are designed to receive what He desires to give. He is Word, not as strokes of a pen, or letters on a page, but as life to be shared.

Now we have understood that the Word of God means more than just the Bible, we immediately encounter another challenge: there is no ‘Book of Tradition’ to go with the Book of Scripture. Although often contained in writings, Tradition is not committed to writing like Sacred Scripture is. So we need a third thing to tell us what is, and what is not, the Word of God. That ‘thing’ is the teaching authority of the Church – the Magisterium, entrusted to the bishops as direct successors to the Apostles.

How does the Bible fit into this picture? Well, the Bible is that part of the Word of God that God desired to be committed to writing. Whilst the Bible contains the Word of God – without admixture or error – it does not exhaust the Word of God: it is a portion of it, which explains why Protestants are (with respect) incorrect when they say the Scriptures contain everything necessary for Salvation. This leads to two irreconcilable problems – (1.) how could people have been saved before the Scriptures were complete, and (2.) who gets to say what is or is not Sacred Scripture in the first place?

In truth, it was the Catholic bishops who affirmed what is, or is not Sacred Scripture – and they have also taught that it does not contain everything necessary for Salvation – and indeed, the texts themselves makes no such claim. Put simply, if everything necessary for Salvation was contained in the Bible; the Bible itself would tell us that. Instead, the Church teaches us that the Word of God is ‘Scripture + Tradition’ as interpreted by the Magisterium. It’s a truly compelling system, and one whereby we can be sure of what God desires to reveal of Himself to us. Let us thank God for this inestimable treasure He so lovingly bestows on us.