i Since Holy Scripture is inspired by God it is unique. Although Sacred Apostolic Tradition (oral) and the Magisterium (teaching office) of the Church share in the charism of infallibility with Sacred Scripture, only Scripture is inspired, God-breathed. Therefore, it can be said that the authors of Sacred Scripture (human ones) are the normative theologians and Scripture has the primacy in theology.
All three, Sacred Scripture, Apostolic Tradition and the Magisterium are inter-dependent as explained by the Second Vatican Council in their dogmatic constitution on the Word of God known as Dei Verbum, and are equally necessary, because like the analogy of the three-legged stool, one cannot stand without the others. As St. Paul assures us, "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16). Sacred Tradition is the faithful "handing on" (paradosis, Gr.) of what Christ and the Apostles through the Holy Spirit taught. It was from Tradition (capital T, not human tradition, small t) and with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, that the canon of Scripture was defined for the first time at the synod of Rome in 382 A.D. and subsequently at synods in Hippo (393, 397) and finally by the Council of Trent after the Protestant revolution.
The Magisterium is tasked with authentically interpreting both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. Yves Cardinal Congar once described Tradition as the interpretation of Scripture. Thus, the teaching office of the Church infallibly carries out authentic interpretation of the Word of God in the deposit of faith (i.e. Scripture and Tradition), but as the Second Vatican Council stressed it is not above the Word of God, but rather it is the servant of the Word. So all three (Scripture, Tradition, Magisterium) are mutually interdependent and equally necessary. St. Paul notes that "the household of God which is the Church of the living God" is "the pillar and bulkwark [foundation] of truth" (1 Timothy 3: 15). The Church faithfully preserved the Tradition and produced the Scriptures. The Magisterium was created by Christ himself when He made St. Peter the rock, assuring him, "I will build my Church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven . . . (Matthew 16:18-19).
The theological principle of divine accommodation (synkatabsis Gr.) can be seen in both the Old and the New Testaments. It functions mostly "negatively" in the Old Testament as deuterosis (literally second law) wherein God stoops down to our level (synkatabsis) to lift us up to his. So, for example, St. John Chrysostom, an Early Church Father who is considered the "father of divine accommodation," speaks of the Law (Torah) as deuterosis, an accommodation to raise sinful Israel up from her sins. All those who wrote on this, from Chrysostom to St. Irenaeus, St. Augustine and later the rabbi Maimonides, all saw animal sacrifice which Israel practiced as an accommodation or condescension to get Israel to give up false gods. The paternal purpose is what we look for to see how God stoops down as a Father to get Israel to give up their secretly practiced polytheism and prepare for their redemption in Christ.
St. John Chrysostom defined synkatabsis in his work on The Incomprehensible Nature of God. He considered marriage a divine accommodation, believing that virginity was too great a burden for sinful humanity to bear. In the New Testament the Incarnation of Christ is the ultimate synkatasis wherein God becomes man without ceasing to be God. St. Augustine wrote of God's plan of salvation (okonomia Gr.) in seven stages (dipensatio). Here was the "Divine Physican" at work in salvation history always acting in a paternal manner to give the patient (humanity) what is needed in the way of an accommodation to aid us achieving our eternal destiny to be with God. An example from the Old Testament is the appearance of God to Moses and Isaiah. Chrysostom said there were synkatasis and indeed, St. Paul said the Law was given to Moses by an angel. In the New Testament the prayer of Christ before raising Lazarus from the dead was also seen as a condescension or accommodation to Martha and the crowd of bystanders--as well as for the readers of Scripture.
m So in understanding salvation history and why God orders animal sacrifice, circumcision, or even Sabbath law, we look to his paternal purpose always and then come to understand what at first glance seems difficult to grasp. Likewise, in bringing greater understanding to dogmatic theology we must look to the wisdom and paternal love of the Divine Physician to better understand God's dogma. Like Augustine our attitude should be humble as we say, "Credo ut intelligam"(I believe so that I may understand). God's blesses our faith, our belief and with it comes increased understanding. The mysteries of God and the challenges of His Word are best understood by those who place all of their trust in Him and His Word. That takes great humility and is the road to sainthood.
All three, Sacred Scripture, Apostolic Tradition and the Magisterium are inter-dependent as explained by the Second Vatican Council in their dogmatic constitution on the Word of God known as Dei Verbum, and are equally necessary, because like the analogy of the three-legged stool, one cannot stand without the others. As St. Paul assures us, "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16). Sacred Tradition is the faithful "handing on" (paradosis, Gr.) of what Christ and the Apostles through the Holy Spirit taught. It was from Tradition (capital T, not human tradition, small t) and with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, that the canon of Scripture was defined for the first time at the synod of Rome in 382 A.D. and subsequently at synods in Hippo (393, 397) and finally by the Council of Trent after the Protestant revolution.
The Magisterium is tasked with authentically interpreting both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. Yves Cardinal Congar once described Tradition as the interpretation of Scripture. Thus, the teaching office of the Church infallibly carries out authentic interpretation of the Word of God in the deposit of faith (i.e. Scripture and Tradition), but as the Second Vatican Council stressed it is not above the Word of God, but rather it is the servant of the Word. So all three (Scripture, Tradition, Magisterium) are mutually interdependent and equally necessary. St. Paul notes that "the household of God which is the Church of the living God" is "the pillar and bulkwark [foundation] of truth" (1 Timothy 3: 15). The Church faithfully preserved the Tradition and produced the Scriptures. The Magisterium was created by Christ himself when He made St. Peter the rock, assuring him, "I will build my Church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven . . . (Matthew 16:18-19).
The theological principle of divine accommodation (synkatabsis Gr.) can be seen in both the Old and the New Testaments. It functions mostly "negatively" in the Old Testament as deuterosis (literally second law) wherein God stoops down to our level (synkatabsis) to lift us up to his. So, for example, St. John Chrysostom, an Early Church Father who is considered the "father of divine accommodation," speaks of the Law (Torah) as deuterosis, an accommodation to raise sinful Israel up from her sins. All those who wrote on this, from Chrysostom to St. Irenaeus, St. Augustine and later the rabbi Maimonides, all saw animal sacrifice which Israel practiced as an accommodation or condescension to get Israel to give up false gods. The paternal purpose is what we look for to see how God stoops down as a Father to get Israel to give up their secretly practiced polytheism and prepare for their redemption in Christ.
St. John Chrysostom defined synkatabsis in his work on The Incomprehensible Nature of God. He considered marriage a divine accommodation, believing that virginity was too great a burden for sinful humanity to bear. In the New Testament the Incarnation of Christ is the ultimate synkatasis wherein God becomes man without ceasing to be God. St. Augustine wrote of God's plan of salvation (okonomia Gr.) in seven stages (dipensatio). Here was the "Divine Physican" at work in salvation history always acting in a paternal manner to give the patient (humanity) what is needed in the way of an accommodation to aid us achieving our eternal destiny to be with God. An example from the Old Testament is the appearance of God to Moses and Isaiah. Chrysostom said there were synkatasis and indeed, St. Paul said the Law was given to Moses by an angel. In the New Testament the prayer of Christ before raising Lazarus from the dead was also seen as a condescension or accommodation to Martha and the crowd of bystanders--as well as for the readers of Scripture.
m So in understanding salvation history and why God orders animal sacrifice, circumcision, or even Sabbath law, we look to his paternal purpose always and then come to understand what at first glance seems difficult to grasp. Likewise, in bringing greater understanding to dogmatic theology we must look to the wisdom and paternal love of the Divine Physician to better understand God's dogma. Like Augustine our attitude should be humble as we say, "Credo ut intelligam"(I believe so that I may understand). God's blesses our faith, our belief and with it comes increased understanding. The mysteries of God and the challenges of His Word are best understood by those who place all of their trust in Him and His Word. That takes great humility and is the road to sainthood.