Touché

What would you have said if you were debating this Catholic theologian?  I would appreciate anyone's comments, if you have one.

"Several years ago, I was engaged in a public debate with a Protestant minister.  The event was held at a Protestant church before a mixed audience of Catholics and Protestants.  At one point in the debate, during the cross-examination section, my Protestant opponent posed this question to me:

"Can you give me one example of a tradition that's outside the Bible and is necessary for Christians?" He sat back with a smile, confident that I would not be able to answer his question.

"Yes, I can," I said.  "It's right here." At that I dropped my Bible on the table in front of him with a thump.

No one in the audience moved.

My opponent blinked, apparently unsure what to say in response.

I explained: "The Canon of the New Testament is a tradition, a Catholic tradition, that you as a Protestant follow." I continued, "the books that belong in the Bible, and in particular the New Testament are part of Tradition.  And you accept that Tradition and follow it, otherwise you would have no bible - you simply would have no way of knowing what the Bible is unless you accepted the Tradition of the canon."

This quote was found in a book I picked up at McKay's: Why Is That in Tradition? by Patrick Madrid.  It has been interesting reading.