[Frumanchu]

Scripture explicitly says NO SUCH THING. The passages in 2 Thess. to which you refer tell the churches to hold fast to the teachings that have been passed to them by Paul and company. Likewise with 1 Cor. Nowhere does that say explicitly that sacred tradition is to be followed in the manner which we're discussing.

John 21:25 does not say anything against sola scriptura which maintains that everything necessary unto salvation is contained in Scripture. The position of sola scriptura is not to eliminate the importance of tradition in the church, but to keep the church from appealing to tradition as authoritative OVER Scripture. Again, this is what creates problems when we try to debate certain doctrines because when one argues that a certain doctrine is unscriptural, the response is to point to tradition as an authoritative proof that the doctrine is correct. When I challenge the position of tradition as being authoritative to that extent, you point to Scripture!

I think that tradition is something that a lot of the Protestant world has cast aside to its detriment. But I maintain that if Scripture and tradition are at odds, Scripture must necessarily win out EVERY SINGLE TIME.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Scripture explicitly says NO SUCH THING. The passages in 2 Thess. to which you refer tell the churches to hold fast to the teachings that have been passed to them by Paul and company. Likewise with 1 Cor. Nowhere does that say explicitly that sacred tradition is to be followed in the manner which we're discussing.

Sorry but that's not the way Scripture is written. Perhaps you are relying on a corrupted text. Peter warned against incorrect interpretation of Scripture in 2 Peter 3:16-17. In 2 Thessalonians Paul explicitly writes of traditions which we have learned by either word or epistle and to distance ourselves from those not adhering to Tradition. He also exhorts us to keep his ordinances as he has delivered them in 1 Corinthians. John 21:25 reminds us that not everything Jesus did is recorded.

Can you point to that passage in Scripture which states Scripture alone? Can you point to where Scripture and Tradition are at odds over the Assumption of the Blessed Mother? Can you point to that passage in Scripture that speaks of the death of the Blessed Virgin Mary or the deaths of any of the Apostles save Judas? I'll rely on uncorrupted Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic authority of the Church which Christ left to teach, govern and sanctify in His name until the end of time and the Fathers of the Church rather than a group of malcontents inventing their own doctrine(s) to suit their own agenda(s) 14+ centuries after the fact. You are free to do as you will.