Non-catholics fault members of the Catholic Church because of this latter's adherence to "Tradition." Citing passages from the Gospels -- especially from Mark 7 and parallels -- these bible-touters accuse Catholics of the crime of the Pharisees who follow human teachings instead of the Lord's. They miss the point however when they claim that "tradition" is incompatible with teachings found in the gospels since the gospels themselves are products of tradition. The Lord condemns human teaching -- and all human teaching for that matter -- when these are used to invalidate the commands of God (cf. Mark 7). Besides, there is the Tradition of the apostles which continues to hand on the Word of God until the present. To better understand the following article, read this article on the meaning of "Word of God" first. Below is a brief essay on the word "paradosis" ("Tradition") as it is used in the Pauline epistles.
In 2 Tim. 1:13-14, Paul instructs Timothy to take care of the sound teaching received from him as a deposit that has been entrusted.
Keep as your pattern
the sound teaching you have heard from me
in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
Guard the good deposit
with the help of Holy Spirit
which dwells within us.
The sound words received from Paul have to be kept as a pattern for all teaching and have to be guarded as a deposit, i.e., something precious and given to Timothy as a trust.
In 2 Tim. 2:2, Paul continues
What you have heard from me
through many witnesses hand on to reliable men who, in turn, will teach them to others.
The correspondence between this verse and 1:13-14 (ekousas par emou [1:13;2:2]; paratheken [1:14] and parathou [2:2]) indicates that both verses should be taken together and that the "deposit" (paratheken) mentioned in 1:14 is that same that Timothy should hand on (parathou, imperative of paratithemi) to reliable men. In other words, what Timothy has received as a trust from Paul through many witnesses has to be handed on to reliable men who will in turn pass it on to others. This process of handing on (with the verb paratithemi) the deposit received from the apostles is tradition; in Greek "paradosis".
Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits it to the successors of the apostles so that enlightened by the Spirit of Truth, they may faithfully preserve, expand and spread it abroad by preaching (CCC, n. 81. See also n. 84)
The content of tradition -- the deposit Paul writes about -- has both a written and spoken form. In 2 Thess. 2:15, Paul tells the early christians
Stand firm, then, brothers
and keep the traditions we taught you
whether by word of mouth or by letter
Further, Paul tells them to shun those who refuse to live according to the traditions received from him (cf. 2 Thess. 3:6). Paul , finally, rejoices at the Corinthians for having kept the traditions just as he had handed it down to them (cf. 1 Cor. 11:2)
