Posted on 08/04/2012 1:55:40 PM PDT by NYer
When you say that tradition is at the same level as scripture, you either elevate tradition ... or lower scripture.
Jesus clearly taught that tradition is secondary to the scriptures, the scriptures are above tradition, not coequal with it. He condemned the Pharisees for holding to the tradition of the elders above the Word of God (Matthew 15:1-14)
His condemnation is a quote from Isaiah ...
‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
‘But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’”
When you elevate tradition to the same status as the scriptures it leads to vain worship ... you are worshipping God in vain. What does the word vain mean? It means "lacking substance or worth." When you worship God in vain there is no substance or worth to the worship, it is meaningless and He receives no honor from it ... it is not true worship.
John 4:24 ... "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Truth is not found in elevating tradition to be coequal with scripture, "Thy Word is truth." True worship is dependent on having a Biblical understanding of the living God. What is the outcome of worshipping God in vain?
Matt 7:21-25
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’
23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
Does He know you as one of His? Are you sure of that? Do you have absolute assurance that when you pass into eternity ... that He knows you? Or do you cling without full assurance to a hope that when you die you have done enough to get you there?
In Matt 7 above Jesus never denied that those who vainly call Him Lord weren't sincere in their service ... look at everything they did do in His name ... but the heresy is they were counting on that service making them acceptable to Him ...
It is my sincere prayer that you will repent so that you will not hear the words ... "I never knew you ... depart from Me ..."
John 5:24
24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
What is biblical belief? This text, and many others, assures us that we can know that we have (present tense) eternal life.
You aren't going to get anywhere or prove anything arguing the primacy of Sola Scriptura with anyone knowledgeable in Church history and Catholic doctrine. Nor will I accept any premise that tradition is the same as Sacred Tradition.
For the first 350 years of Christianity there was no Bible, there was only Sacred Tradition. It was from the Sacred Tradition, the Holy Spirit guided consensus of the Faithful that first the Creeds and then the Canon of Scripture were produced. The application of a human technology,l the writing down of the Revealed Word did not elevate it.
Protestantism teaches that Scripture and Tradition are antithetical or at least that one must be subordinate to the other, that one must follow either Scripture or Tradition. That was a necessity of those who sought to differentiate themselves from the Church and assume unto themselves the authority for interpretation of Scripture, not in the context of Tradition, but in the context of the Reformation.
Catholicism teaches that both Scripture AND Tradition are divine and synergistic. After studying both extensively I completely agree.
Peace be with you
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