Catholicism places much greater emphasis on the authority of the Bible than Protestantism?

Answer 1

Catholicism essentially locates the authority of God in three areas: Scripture, Tradition, and the Church. Protestantism by contrast locates the authority of God in one area: Scripture. Protestants would affirm that the Church possess authority, and they would affirm that Tradition possess authority, but for Protestants this authority is a human authority and thus falls in a position below that of the Scriptures. The Scriptures for the Protestants constitute the Supreme Norm and Rule of Faith. The above reflects Traditional Reformed Protestantism, but those of a more evangelical bent may disagree. Evangelical Protestants tend to view any Tradition with a hermeneutic of suspicion, and they may view the authority of the Church with a hermeneutic of suspicion.

For a fuller discussion on the Protestant Position see the following: Keith Maddison "The Shape of Sola Scriptura" R.C. Sproul "Scripture Alone" James White "Scripture Alone" Webster and King "Scripture, the Ground and Pillar of Faith" (3 volumes) Don Kistler ed. "The Protestant Position on Sola Scriptura" James White "The Roman Catholic Controversy"

For Catholics, because the authority of God is located in three areas: Scripture, Tradition, and the Church, to speak in categories as "Which has more authority, or which has Supreme Authority" is meaningless. All of them speak with the authority of God in some way. Scripture stands unique within the Catholic Tradition because it alone possess the charism of Inspiration, (God Breathed, Breathed out by God) and Scripture has a primacy in the life of the Church because of it's uniqueness. Scripture is Supreme with regard to it's function in the life of the Church as a testament to the workings of God in Salvation history. Tradition is supreme in the Church with regard to it's function of serving to illumine the Scriptures, and in serving to pass on the Faith (of which the Scriptures are a part) Finally the Church is Supreme with regard to it's function as teacher and judge. The Church judges what is and is not in conformity with the Scriptures and Tradition. It is important to note that there are many facets to Tradition.

Many times Protestants such as the above authors I referenced will complain that "Catholics can't figure out exactly what they mean by Tradition. One Catholic defines it one way, another Catholic defines it another way." This is not accurate. The reason for the discrepancy has to do with what aspect of Tradition one is trying to explain or debate. There is not simply one facet to Tradition, but many. In a general sense Tradition simply refers to the Paradosis- the handing on of the Faith. It refers to the sum total of the Faith of the Church. Seen in this sense Scripture constitutes the core of Tradition, and is Tradition crystallized. The same criticism, however, can be leveled against the above authors in reference to Sola Scriptura. Protestants are not in full agreement as to what exactly the doctrine means. One Protestant claims the doctrine allows for Tradition and does not deny the authority of the Church. Another Protestant will claim indeed, we can admit of no Traditions, and the authority of the Church is derivative from The Bible.

For a fuller discussion of the Catholic position on Scripture and Tradition see the following: Robert Sungenis "Not by Scripture Alone" Eves Congar "Tradition and Traditions" "George Tavard "Holy Writ or Holy Church: The Crisis of the Protestant Reformation" Louis Boyer "The Spirit and Forms of Protestantism" Avery Dulles "Models of Revelation" Avery Dulles "The Craft of Theology" Aiden Nicholes "The Shape of Catholic Theology"