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The Catholic Church’s view on Bible doctrine seems to be subservient to or at
least equal to tradition and philosophy.
(80) “Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together
and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine
well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing and move towards the same
goal.” Each of them makes present and fruitful in the Church the mystery of Christ,
who promised to remain with his own “always, to the close of the age.” (Page
31)
Time and time again, we are warned in Scripture to be cautious of philosophies and
traditions. When one starts following tradition and philosophies, and puts them above the
Word of God, then they are wrong. Somewhere in the world there has to be a standard, a
measuring stick, and it is the Word of God.
Colossians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain
deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not
after Christ.
1 Peter 1:18-19 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible
things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition
from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot:
Notice that it is not through tradition, which is called a corruptible thing, that men
are redeemed, but it is through the precious blood of Christ. Tradition and philosophy
tend to corrupt and spoil men. When Jesus walked the earth in those days He ran into such
a crowd. This crowd was more concerned about tradition and religion than righteousness.
These people were called Pharisees, and Jesus used the strongest language against them. He
called them hypocrites and vipers. He was not at all impressed by their tradition and
philosophies or their self righteousness.
Matthew 15:2-4 Why do thy disciples transgress the TRADITION of the elders?
for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he (Jesus) answered and said unto
them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your TRADITION? For God
commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother,
let him die the death.
(82) As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of
Revelation is entrusted, “does not derive her certainty about all revealed
truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted
and honored with EQUAL sentiments of devotion and reverence. (Page 31)
If the church does not derive certainty about truth from the Holy Scriptures, and man
being full of sin as he is, where does that leave us? Who is to determine what is truth?
How is he to determine it? If we cannot rely on God’s Word alone then we are all most
miserable. We would do well to discard the Bible, eat drink and be merry. I say, that all
men are fallible, and there is only one truth in this world, the Word of God! From it
alone, must we receive instructions and truth from God. From it, we can know what men tell
us is truth or not.
Psalm 118:8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
John 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked:
who can know it?
Romans 3:10-12 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are
all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that
doeth good, no, not one.
Nowhere in Scripture are we told that tradition is equal to Scripture.
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Copyright © 1996 Robert T. Weaver
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