why do Catholics use traditions and don't go by God's Word [The Holy Bible] alone?

Question

what does it say in the Bible about observing man-made-traditions?

Answer 1

Because they are not under the jurisdiction of Christ. The real Church is the one which is headed by Christ. Among the many churches today, how can we determine if that church is headed by Christ?

Christ, being the ruler of the Church, affects the lives of the people that He heads. First of all, the Church, which is headed by Christ, does not teach any wrong doctrine. Instead, it teaches indestructible and undefiled doctrines.

Luke 21:13-15 says, “And it shall turn to you for a testimony. Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.”

Christ gave an assurance to the Church He heads. He said, “It shall turn to you for a testimony.” You do not have to think of what answer to give when somebody asks you a question because He will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries cannot gainsay nor resist.

Therefore, one manifestation of a Church which is headed by Christ is, it cannot be readily destroyed; its doctrines are without flaws.

Catholic adds tradition which is against the bible they are like the early people in the bible "mar 7:7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Mar 7:8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
Mar 7:9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

But the bible gives us warning about this tradition made by man.
"Col 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."

Answer 2

The Sacred Word of God, the Holy Bible, IS PART of the Sacred Tradition of the Church. If you look at Christian history, you will find that is was the Church that came first, THEN the bible, not the other way around.

The first writing of the NT wasn't written until about 50 AD, some 20 or so years after Christ's death. Question: how was the Faith spread throughout the world if nothing had been written down yet?

Additionally, the canon of NT scripture that Protestants use CAME FROM the Catholic Church around the year 400 AD. But don't take my word for it; do the research and you'll find out.

God bless.

Answer 3

Much of "Catholic" tradition developed BEFORE the New Testament was put together. For early Christians, the "Bible" was the Jewish scriptures (as translated into the Greek Septuagint). There were no Christian "scriptures" because the Kingdom had begun and Jesus was expected back momentarily. Only when the first witnesses began dying did people start thinking about writing down what they remembered of Jesus and collecting the best letters of the apostles. By that time, there were several issues that the "Bible" of their time didn't address, such as Church organization, the status of Gentiles, how to deal with apostacy, or how to raise children under the threat of persecution. They had to make choices, prayerfully, invoking the guidance of the Holy Spirit. That became a model for solving problems: meet in council, pray for the Spirit, make a decision. It was this Traditional method that was used to determine the cannon of Christian scripture in the 4th Century.

In the 16th Century, Martin Luther was dealing with the problem of a Church hierarchy that was out of control, arrogating too much divine authority to human overseers. They were in fact breaking Tradition, but they had the power to ignore it. Luther's protests were rejected, so he was forced to find a new way to be Christian, without the Roman hierarchy. But they had the historical precedent. He had to undermine it, find a way to claim prior legitimacy.

His solution was the Bible. Even though they weren't canonized at the time, the works of the New Testament were acknowledged to have been written before Roman supremacy. Luther argued that anything that developed after the New Testament was merely "human" tradition.

There was also a problem with the Old Testament, the Apocrypha. The latest books had Greek-influenced ideas about the afterlife that implied the possibility of "intercession" for the dead. Fortunately for him, the Jews had not accepted them into their final canon, so Luther used that as justification to reject them himself. The sole purpose of the move was to delegitimate any notion that any creature other than Jesus could mediate between God and humans, a very reasonable assertion (even though its derivation ignores the process of the formation of scripture).

Consequently, Protestants are not able to create any legitimate "Tradition" of their own. When a new philosophical issue arises, something incomprehensible to the minds of the ancient world, they must find analogous Bible passages to address it, sometimes developing some very obscure reasoning. Denominations even split over some issues because the interpretation is ambivalent. Catholics use Scripture plus the Traditions of Scholastic reasoning and "Natural Law" to make their conclusions.

Which method is more Godly, if God refuses to say another word? Catholics say God does speak, through the Spirit. Protestants say God has already said all that needs saying. It is a matter of opinion who is right.

Protestants DO develop Traditions, Calvinism, Dispensationalism, Weslyanism, etc. It's a human thing. They just have to show the proof-texts and deny the legitimacy of another's interpretation. But it IS interpretation. There are issues that the Bible can't adequately address without some kind of adaptation of principles.

One can call an interpretation "Biblical" or one can call it a "Tradition". Either way, it is a human best guess about what Jesus would have to say on the matter.

Answer 4

The Catholic Church does not use Holy Scripture as the only basis of doctrine. It could not. The early Catholic church existed before and during the time that the New Testament was written (by Catholics).

There were hundreds of Christian writings during the first and second centuries. Which New Testament writings would become official was not fully decided until about 400 AD.

Catholics believe that the Holy Spirit was guiding the early church (and is guiding the church today) to make the correct choices about things like:
+ The Holy Trinity (which is also only hinted at in the Bible)
+ Going to church on Sunday instead of Saturday (which is actually directly against one of the Ten Commandments)
+ The Communion of Saints
+ Which writings include in the New Testament?

Things that are even more modern like
+ Slavery is bad. Slavery is never declared evil in the Bible. This was one of the justifications for slavery in the Confederate States.
+ Democracy is good. The Bible states that either God should be the leader of the nation like Israel before the kings or kings should be the leader, "Give to Caesar that which is Caesar's." This was talked about a lot during the American Revolution.

This second source of doctrine is called Apostolic Tradition.

Do Christians who do not allow the continuing guiding force of the Holy Spirit to make their beliefs more and more perfect, still endorse slavery as Colossians 3:22 commands, "Slaves, obey your human masters in everything"?

With love in Christ.

Answer 5

Scripture passages from St. Paul “The GREAT APOSTLE (seen as such in virtually all denominations of Christianity):

•1 Corinthians 11:2 I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I have delivered them to you.

•2 Thessalonians 2:15 . . . stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth, or by letter.

•2 Thessalonians 3:6 . . . keep away from any brother who is living in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.

I guess you should be praying for poor old Saint Paul because if ALL Tradition is condemned,the great apostle was sorely misguided.

There are two types of tradition- that of God and that of man. Tradition is ALL the Church had for a long time- including that is how the NT scriptures were handed down.

Remember, too...any time scripture is referred to in the NEW Testament, it refers to the OLD Testament. BECAUSE THE NEW TESTAMENT DIDN'T EXIST YET.

Answer 6

1 Timothy 3:15 says that the Church is the pillar and foundation of truth. Also during the time of the Apostles, there was no New Testament only Old Testament and oral tradition. These traditions are not man made they come from Christ the living word of God. Peace be with you

Answer 7

Without tradition, you wouldn't have a Bible.

How was the Bible formed? A bunch of bishops got together and agreed on what would be in it and what would not be in it.

Portions of the Old Testament reference scriptural books that did not make it into Tanakh. This alone proves that Sola Scripture is untenible as a position. Sola Scriptura cannot account for the formation of the Bible itself.

Answer 8

Because they have been blinded by the god of this age.

Actually, Catholics believe that the Bible's authority is based on the authority of the church since it was written by leaders of the apostolic church. The problem is that the Bible affirms only that the Scriptures as God's word. The Bible does not affirm the infallibility of a church. Thus, the Catholics have it backwards. The church exists by the authority of God's word, not the other way around.

Answer 9

They do go by the bible. Learn what Catholics believe - instead of just assuming that what you're told is true.

http://www.newadvent.com

Answer 10

Probably less than 1% of Catholics actually read the Bible. Thats why they follow tradition-they do not know any better.