WHICH TRUTHS ARE CATHOLIC TRUTHS? A Second Opinion: There Are Catholic Truths Not Found In The Bible ~ WILLIAM OF OCKHAM BOOK 2 CHAPTER 2

Pope Francis Receives Communion And Liberation Members

WHICH TRUTHS ARE CATHOLIC TRUTHS?

A second opinion: There are Catholic truths not found in the Bible

Chapter 2

Master But others do not agree with that opinion, saying that there are many catholic truths and some smacking of catholic faith which neither are found explicitly in the divine scriptures nor can be inferred solely from what is contained in them, towards which it is nevertheless necessary for salvation to exercise undoubting faith, either explicit or implicit.

To make this clear they say that it ought to be known that besides the truths about which it is permissible to hold opinions one way or the other, the truths which any catholic at all is bound to hold explicitly or implicitly with sure belief can be found in threefold diversity.

[1] For some, on which our salvation principally depends, concern God and Christ in his humanity, such as that there is one God and three persons, that Christ is true God and true man, [that] he suffered and died, that he rose and ascended, etc.

[2] There are other truths on which human salvation does not principally depend in this way, yet which it is necessary to hold with sure faith because by the revelation or approval of God, from whom no catholic ought to dissent, they came to the knowledge of the orthodox, through whose mediation later believers received them. There are very many truths of this kind contained within the established canon, in which there are also many found about creatures, and even about unbelieving people, which are known to pertain to some extent, not directly but indirectly, to the salvation of human kind, such as that Pharaoh, the Medes, the Canaanites and very many other unbelievers occupied many lands and afflicted the children of Israel in many ways.

[3] Some truths of this kind are also preserved outside the canon and yet have become known to catholics by divine revelation or approval through the mediation of the apostles, because while he was living with the apostles in mortal flesh Christ taught them many things and did many things in their presence which are nevertheless not found in the bible. By the revelation of the Holy Spirit, who according to Christ's promise was going to teach them all truth, the apostles also learnt many things not found in the sacred scriptures and afterwards they taught them to catholics. They say that all the above truths and those that can be inferred from them by an inference having necessity at every time should be held to be catholic.

Now in addition to the above truths they say that there are certain other truths which can not be inferred solely from what is contained in divine scripture and from the truths which have come to us through the apostles, yet which clearly follow from the above truths or from any one of them and certain other truths of fact which can not truly be denied. And they try to cite an example of such truths, saying that the following is such a truth: the rules established by the holy fathers, that is Basil, Benedict, Augustine, and Francis, are licit, meritorious, and perfect, because, although that truth can not be inferred solely from what is contained in holy scripture and from the truths which the universal church received from the apostles, since those saints and their deeds and the rules instituted by them are not mentioned among the aforesaid truths, yet that truth is inferred manifestly from the divine scriptures together with the deeds and acts of the aforesaid saints, deeds and acts in which trust can be established adequately for a reasonable christian. The following are also truths of this kind: the faith which Augustine held should be regarded as catholic; the Athanasian creed is catholic and sure; the four holy general councils properly celebrated defined catholic truth; and many [truths] of this kind which can not be inferred solely from what is contained in divine scripture and from apostolic teaching, since Augustine and Athanasius were not at that time among living creatures and those councils had not been celebrated then, yet they can be clearly inferred from things contained in them and other truths. They say that there are very many such truths, some of which have been inserted into authentic teachings, while some are not found in writing. They do not say that those truths are catholic, taking the word "catholic" strictly, but they say that they smack of catholic truth, because, that is, they are inferred from catholic truth, taking "catholic truth" strictly, and from other truths. And therefore they say that they can be called catholic truths, taking "catholic truths" liberally. And they believe that those truths which they say smack of catholic truth should be held, at least implicitly, by every believer.

There are still other truths which they say exist only in fact. Truths about the deeds of the church and of the saints, which are found in accounts of deeds, in chronicles, and in histories worthy of trust, are of this kind, and they say that these too should not be rejected by the faithful.

From all of this they conclude that there are many catholic truths which are not explicitly contained in sacred scripture and can not be inferred solely from what is contained in it. There are also many other truths [besides catholic truths] which it is proper to hold with sure belief.

William of Ockham, Dialogus,
part 1, book 2, chapters 1-17

Text and translation by John Scott.
Copyright © 1999, The British Academy