This is a thread about Apostolic Tradition as it is portrayed in Sacred Scripture, as opposed to the heretical Protestant doctrine of Sola Scriptura. To begin, we must recognise that nowhere does the Bible claim to be the only authority for the Christian life. Now, the evidence.

Jude makes use of two extra biblical traditions that the Jews knew of, in verse 9 and 14-16. The former tells of the devil disputing with the Archangel Michael over the body of Moses. You won’t find this anywhere in scripture. This derives from ancient Jewish oral tradition...

...that was eventually written in the Assumption of Moses and the Apocalypse of Moses in the first century. Jude relates the story as historical, and thus affirms it has inspired authority. In verses 14-16 Jude relates a story about Enoch derived from tradition which has...

...as its written source the Book of Enoch. Another example is Hebrews 11:36-37; if you go through the OT there is no recording of anyone being sawn in half. What the verse is referring to is the tradition of how the Prophet Isaiah died, which was only written down...

...after the time of Christ, in the Ascension of Isaiah. Hebrews records it. The end of the Gospel of John tells us that most of what Jesus said and did is not written down, and if it were to be, all the books in the world couldn’t contain it. Was none of that stuff worthwhile?

Is Jesus’ life just a highlight reel? In 2 Thessalonians 2:15 and 1 Corinthians 11:2 Paul tells us to hold fast to traditions, whether by word of mouth or Epistle. In Acts 20:35 Paul relates a teaching of Jesus, “it is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Jesus never said that in the Gospels. It is an oral tradition. Likewise, in Matthew 23 when Jesus denounced the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy and abuse of power with regards to binding burdens etc, he nevertheless says that they sit in Moses’ seat.

This is not a concept found in the Old Testament. It represents the office of teaching authority and interpretation of the Law. We know from Rabbinic literature and archaeology that there was a literal chair in the synagogues that the teachers of the law would sit in.

When they exercised that teaching office, they had the authority of Moses to settle disputes, render judgements, interpret scripture etc. They were the spiritual descendants of Moses, and Jesus told his followers to observe/obey their teaching just not their hypocritical actions.

As I said, this concept of Rabbis having the authority of Moses and sitting in Moses’ seat is not found in the Hebrew Scriptures. It was part of the ancient Jewish oral traditions which were ultimately disfigured by the emerging Rabbinic religion after the birth of Christianity.

The closest we get to the idea of Moses’ seat in the OT is Exodus 18:23 where he sat to judge the people, which reflects the common ancient idea of one in authority sitting as a symbol of said authority. However this isn’t describing his office, and certainly no successors.

In the Church this office is translated and preserved in the office of the Bishops who are the spiritual descendants of the Apostles via apostolic succession. See Matthew 16:17-19; 18:18, Acts 1:15-26; 6:1-6; 14:23; 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 3:1-13; 4:6-16, 2 Timothy 1:6; 2:2, 1 John 4:6.

Many more scriptures from both Testaments could be given to demonstrate that offices and the authority thereof are passed down through the generations, but that would take me beyond the scope of this thread. In conclusion, the NT upholds the authority of apostolic tradition.