2 Thessalonians 2:15
2 Thessalonians 2:15 - LSB
15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.
2 Thessalonians 2:15 Interlinear
Roman Catholic Interpretation
Roman Catholic apologists, such as Gerry Matatix and Karlo Broussard, use this text to argue that the Apostle Paul gives equal status or value to paradosis (traditions), whether delivered by word of mouth (referred to as sacred tradition) or by letter (Scripture)
They contend that Protestants, by not holding to oral tradition, are not obeying this explicit biblical command.
This oral tradition is understood to encompass everything later defined as dogma by Rome, including teachings about the papacy, Mary (Immaculate Conception, bodily assumption), the sacramental priesthood, purgatory, and indulgences.
Exegesis
This is a gross misreading and a misrepresentation of what Sola Scriptura teaches. Sola Scriptura does not deny that the Word of God was spoken during periods of revelation.
The tradition (paradosis) in 2 Thessalonians 2:15 refers to one body of truth, the gospel, which was delivered to the Thessalonians in two ways: orally through Paul’s preaching and in written form through his first letter to them (1 Thessalonians).
The phrase “by word of mouth or by letter” describes the modes of transmission for this one message, not two distinct bodies of content.
Because the word ἐδιδάχθητε is past tense (you were taught), the Thessalonians receiving the letter would have known precisely what traditions Paul was referring to, implying they were the fundamental, known truths of the gospel they had already been taught.
The Roman Catholic interpretation smuggles in later developed doctrines by arguing that the oral tradition included content different from and beyond what is found in Scripture.
For the Roman Catholic argument from this text to be valid, they would need to historically demonstrate that the specific dogmas they attribute to sacred tradition (like Marian dogmas or papal infallibility) were actually taught to the Thessalonians by the apostles. Read more here.
There is a distinction between the unique period of revelation when apostles spoke the Word of God (as in 1 Thessalonians 2:13 where Paul’s preaching is called “the word of God”) from the current period when revelation has ceased. The issue for Sola Scriptura is the sole infallible rule of faith today, not during the apostolic era when Scripture was being given. Using texts from the apostolic era to establish a normative equal authority for tradition today is as a “bait and switch.”