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Now for you thinkers, WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF TRUTH?

Obviously, God, and His material source is Scripture, which is the only substantive transcendent wholly inspired of God body of Truth.

God's means of preservation is writing:.

And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book.. (Exodus 17:14)

And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel. (Exodus 34:27)

And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing.. (Deuteronomy 10:4) And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: (Deuteronomy 17:18) And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law,..(Deuteronomy 27:3)

And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, (Deuteronomy 31:24) Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever: (Isaiah 30:8; cf. Job 19:23)

But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. (John 20:31)

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. (Revelation 20:12)

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15)

As is abundantly evidenced, the word of God/the Lord was normally written, even if sometimes first being spoken, and that as written, Scripture became the transcendent supreme standard for obedience and testing and establishing truth claims as the wholly Divinely inspired and assured, Word of God.

It was not oral tradition that preserved the word of God and resulted in national repentance, but,

And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the Lord given by Moses. And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan. (2 Chronicles 34:14-15)

Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes. (2 Chronicles 34:18-19)

Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the Lord. And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book. (2 Chronicles 34:29-31)

Nor was it oral tradition that the Lord rebuked the devil (Mt. 4) and religious leaders by (Mt. 22) and substantiated His mission by and opened the understanding of the disciples to. (Lk. 12:44,45)

In contrast, oral tradition by nature us supremely susceptible to undetectable corruption, with Scripture (what parts of the Word of God were not directly written) being the wheat of such among the chaff, and thus both Jewish and Catholic oral tradition contains teachings that are not the word of God, but which are claimed to be under the unwarranted premise of the veracity of leadership.

I have been very critical of oral traditions. Written scripture can also be corrupted. There are millions of books telling us what God says.

But, we are commanded to tell the stories of God to the next generation.. The problem is the mission creep over time. Pretty soon, Moses gave them manna in the wilderness, etc

Protestants are not exempt from this either. oral tradition, in and of itself is of God, but we can pervert it.

So how do we get to the truth if both oral and written can be corrupted?

Job 4:12) “This truth was given to me in secret, as though whispered in my ear.

The above scares Catholics, that there would be personal interpretation, Luther said, “so be it.” What does God say?

Ears to hear. The following provides some insite:

Joe_2:29 In those days I will pour out My Spirit even on servants—men and women alike.

Act_2:18 In those days I will pour out My Spirit even on My servants—men and women alike—and they will prophesy.

As an aside this morning. I am continually amazed that the NT is just God repeating the OT. Or maybe the OT repeats the NT?

Joe_2:28 “Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out My Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions.

Act_2:17 ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out My Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.

Now for you thinkers, WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF TRUTH?

Obviously, God, and His material source is Scripture, which is the only substantive transcendent wholly inspired of God body of Truth.

Now to add to your (and my) thinking this morning.

Pro_20:12 Ears to hear and eyes to see—both are gifts from the LORD.

Jesus used those words often:

Mar_4:9 Then He said, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”
Mar_4:23 Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”
Mar_7:16 [Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.]

Now, there is a subtle change in His use of those words when we get to the book of Revelation. I will let you do your own research and thinking.