faith, it is certain, or it is not at all; and who would not be
satisfied with the guarantee offered by the Word of God!

And the truths we believe are those revealed by God, received by us
through a double agency, the written and the oral word, known as
Scripture and Tradition. Scripture is contained in the two Testaments;
Tradition is found in the bosom, the life of the Church of Christ, in
the constant and universal teachings of that Church.

The Scripture being a dead letter cannot explain or interpret itself.
Yet, since it is applied to the ever-varying lives of men, it needs an
explanation and an interpretation; it is practically of no value
without it. And in order that the truth thus presented be accepted by
men, it is necessary, of prime necessity, that it have the guarantee of
infallibility. This infallibility the Church of Christ possesses, else
His mission were a failure.

This infallibility is to control the vagaries of Tradition, for
Tradition, of its very nature, tends to exaggeration, as we find in the
legends of ancient peoples. Exaggerated, they destroy themselves, but
in the bosom of God's Church these truths forever retain their
character unchanged and unchangeable.

If you accept the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth as
revealed by God and delivered to man by the infallible Church from the
Bible and Tradition, you have what is called ecclesiastical, Catholic
or true faith. There is no other true faith. It is even an open
question whether there is any faith at all outside of this; for outside
the Church there is no reasonable foundation for faith, and our faith
must be reasonable.