“How do we know that that Oral Tradition which emerged after John’s death has any veracity or authority at all? If we say “We know that it is truthful and authoritative because it was passed from Bishop to Bishop and because it was passed from Bishop to Bishop we know that it is true,” isn’t that circualr reasoning?”
Indeed, that would seem to be the case to me. Of course, Catholics may say that the Holy Spirit guides their magisterium, much like the Holy Spirit guided the apostles. However, I don’t think that is such an easy matter to establish.
“If so, doesn’t that hold true for Jewish Oral Tradition that is outside of the canon (Torah) or the canon (Genesis to Malachi) - whichever one of the two one accepts as being authoritative?”
Similar to the apostles being around to vouchsafe the New Testament, the Jews had prophets who could attest to the verity of their scriptures. At some point, the prophets departed from Israel, so I think at that point, any of their additional traditions become unreliable.
The Jews had prophets who could vouchsafe...
I agree.
But what after the time of the Jewish Prophets had passed - from a Jewish POV?
Did any interpretation of the scriptures from anyone other than one of the Jewish Prophets carry equal veracity to that of the Jewish Prophets?
How could any Jew today (or even from Malachi until now) have any authority that could match a Jewish Prophet?
It should be pretty easy. The Apostles were directly led by the Holy Spirit and it not only showed in their lives but also it manifested itself in their acts of healing (lame could walk and blind could see). So any claims they have of direct succession would be readily apparent.
Your post’s logic would deny the Church as the pillar and foundation of all truth against which the gates of hell will not prevail.
Very true! We see Jesus confronting the Jewish religious leaders of His day who nullified the word of God by their oral traditions. (Mark 7:13) The sacred Scriptures remain the only objective and reliable authority for the rule of faith we have because we can separate the traditions of men from what God revealed as the truth for the faith.