The problem is that there is ZERO indication that ‘Sacred Tradition’ involves some oral teaching passed down from Pope to Pope. How can we know which traditions are apostolic and which are merely human? The answer is the same as how we know which scriptures are apostolic and which are merely human—by listening to the magisterium or teaching authority of Christ’s Church. Without the Catholic Church’s teaching authority, we would not know with certainty which purported of Scripture are authentic. If the Church revealed to us the canon of Scripture, it can also reveal to us the "canon of Tradition" by establishing which traditions have been passed down from the apostles. After all, Christ promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against the Church (Matt. 16:18) and the New Testament itself declares the Church to be "the pillar and foundation of the truth" 1 Tim 3:15
But as both Paul and Peter revealed, after them would come wolves to attack the flock and “draw away the disciples after them...”
The Catholic Church traces its origin to Jesus Christ and the Apostles through a documented line of successors.
What is the History of Your Church?
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|
 |
| Church |
Year Established |
Founder |
Where Established |
| |
| Catholic |
33 |
Jesus Christ |
Jerusalem |
| |
| Orthodox |
1054 |
Schismatic Catholic
Bishops |
Constantinople |
| |
| Lutheran |
1517 |
Martin Luther |
Germany |
| |
| Anabaptist |
1521 |
Nicholas Storch &
Thomas Munzer |
Germany |
| |
| Anglican |
1534 |
Henry VIII |
England |
| |
| Mennonites |
1536 |
Menno Simons |
Switzerland |
| |
| Calvinist |
1555 |
John Calvin |
Switzerland |
| |
| Presbyterian |
1560 |
John Knox |
Scotland |
| |
| Congregational |
1582 |
Robert Brown |
Holland |
| |
| Baptist |
1609 |
John Smyth |
Amsterdam |
| |
| Dutch Reformed |
1628 |
Michaelis Jones |
New York |
| |
| Congregationalist |
1648 |
Pilgrims and Puritans |
Massachusetts |
| |
| Quakers |
1649 |
George Fox |
England |
| |
| Amish |
1693 |
Jacob Amman |
France |
| |
| Freemasons |
1717 |
Masons from four lodges |
London |
| |
| Methodist |
1739 |
John & Charles
Wesley |
England |
| |
| Unitarian |
1774 |
Theophilus Lindey |
London |
| |
| Methodist Episcopal |
1784 |
60 Preachers |
Baltimore, MD |
| |
| Episcopalian |
1789 |
Samuel Seabury |
American Colonies |
| |
| United Brethren |
1800 |
Philip Otterbein &
Martin Boehn |
Maryland |
| |
| Disciples of Christ |
1827 |
Thomas & Alexander
Campbell |
Kentucky |
| |
| Mormon |
1830 |
Joseph Smith |
New York |
| |
| Methodist Protestant |
1830 |
Methodist |
United States |
| |
| Church of Christ |
1836 |
Warren Stone &
Alexander Campbell |
Kentucky |
| |
| Seventh Day Adventist |
1844 |
Ellen White |
Washington, NH |
| |
Christadelphian (Brethren
of Christ |
1844 |
John Thomas |
Richmond, VA |
| |
| Salvation Army |
1865 |
William Booth |
London |
| |
| Holiness |
1867 |
Methodist |
United States |
| |
| Jehovah's Witnesses |
1874 |
Charles Taze Russell |
Pennsylvania |
| |
| Christian Science |
1879 |
Mary Baker Eddy |
Boston |
| |
| Church of God in Christ |
1895 |
Various churches of God |
Arkansas |
| |
| Church of Nazarene |
c. 1850-1900 |
Various religious bodies |
Pilot Point, TX |
| |
| Pentecstal |
1901 |
Charles F. Parkham |
Topeka, KS |
| |
| Aglipayan |
1902 |
Gregorio Aglipay |
Philippines |
| |
| Assemblies of God |
1914 |
Pentecostalism |
Hot Springs, AZ |
| |
| Iglesia ni Christo |
1914 |
Felix Manalo |
Philippines |
| |
| Four-square Gospel |
1917 |
Aimee Semple
McPherson |
Los Angeles, CA |
| |
| United Church of Christ |
1961 |
Reformed and
Congregationalist |
Philadelphia, PA |
| |
| Calvary Chapel |
1965 |
Chuck Smith |
Costa Mesa, CA |
| |
| United Methodist |
1968 |
Methodist and United
Brethren |
Dallas, TX |
| |
| Born-again |
c. 1970s |
Various religious bodies |
United States |
| |
| Harvest Christian |
1972 |
Greg Laurie |
Riverside, CA |
| |
| Saddleback |
1982 |
Rick Warren |
California |
| |
| Non-denominational |
c. 1990s |
various |
United States |
|
“How can we know which traditions are apostolic and which are merely human? The answer is the same as how we know which scriptures are apostolic and which are merely human—by listening to the magisterium or teaching authority of Christ’s Church. Without the Catholic Church’s teaching authority, we would not know with certainty which purported of Scripture are authentic. If the Church revealed to us the canon of Scripture, it can also reveal to us the “canon of Tradition”...”
The most obvious problem with this theory is that non-Catholics REJECT the Roman Catholic Canon. Indeed, the Roman Catholics did not have an authoritative canon until the Council of Trent in the 1500s, which then managed to screw up the list of books, forcing the invention of the word “deuterocanonical” to describe the shortened Apocrypha.
The canon was largely in place by 150-200 AD, long before any council discussed it.
And even today, there has never been a decision by the Roman Catholic Church on the question of the deuterocanon’s value in determining doctrine - Trent left the dispute between Jerome and Augustine in place.
The second major problem is in this sentence:
“If the Church revealed to us the canon of Scripture, it can also reveal to us the “canon of Tradition” by establishing which traditions have been passed down from the apostles.”
Even the Catholic Church admits its teachings include many things which were NOT passed down from the Apostles - IOW, that the Catholic Church is teaching doctrines developed AFTER the Apostles.
As the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, Henry Edward Manning (1808-1892) put it:
“But the appeal to antiquity is both a treason and a heresy. It is a treason because it rejects the Divine voice of the Church at this hour, and a heresy because it denies that voice to be Divine. How can we know what antiquity was except through the Church?...I may say in strict truth that the Church has no antiquity. It rests upon its own supernatural and perpetual consciousness. . . . The only Divine evidence to us of what was primitive is the witness and voice of the Church at this hour.”
http://www.the-highway.com/tradition_Webster.html
There is no secret decoder ring passed down from Pope to Pope. There is no whisper in the ear, passing on secret truths to be revealed a thousand years later. The Roman Catholic Church makes up its tradition as it goes along, often pretending what no scholar would say, that there was unanimity among the “Church Fathers”.
What is the history of the Roman Catholic Church? Which one? The one that asserted papal primacy and broke away from the Orthodox? The one that rejected the clear teaching of God’s Word and started having priests offering a perpetual sacrifice of Jesus, ignoring Christ’s command to “Do this in remembrance of me”? Is it the Roman Catholic Church that believes in Papal Infallibility, a concept not taught for nearly 2000 years?
The Roman Catholic Church is constantly evolving its doctrine, adding new doctrines to meet the desires of its cardinals, rather than adhering to the truth taught by the Apostles. As Paul said, “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.”
So it happened, and those wolves created the Roman Catholic Church.
