What the heck was I thinking? I was being accosted by the most rabid form of Bible fundamentalist the other day, you know, a former Catholic who is also divorced-and-remarried outside of the Church. I kept thinking of Mark Shea’s maxim “Heresy begins in the groin” as the fundy yabbered away about Sola Scriptura.
When I blurted out without thinking: “You can justify anything using the Bible alone, including same-sex marriage. This is why we need Tradition.”
He laughed. “The Bible has plenty to say on that topic,” he said.
To my disbelieving ears, I replied: “Show me.”
He couldn’t. He showed me many passages where Scripture condemns homosexual acts of sexual nature, as well as many passages where the Bible speaks of marriage between a man and a woman.
Nevertheless, his smug expression soon turned to frantic fluster as he was unable to find a single passage where the Bible condemns same-sex marriage.
“But you gotta be reasonable,” he said in a moment of frustration, “you just can’t take the Bible at its letter alone.” It then dawned on him what he had said.
But yes, this is why we need Tradition. This is also why the Church needs a teaching magisterium. I was stunned to discover that the Bible Alone does not condemn ssm, but rather we know ssm is wrong because of both Scripture and Tradition.