Does the Bible support Catholic tradition like they say it does?

Question

Where does it say, "Listen to Catholic Tradition?"

Where does it say this was passed down by oral tradition?

Relevance please?

Carnac, Do you think God will accept worship base on lies? Tell me?

sansfear, The New Testament was written by Jewish-Christian apostles.
None of them are Catholics because there was no Roman Catholic Religion at the time.

The fact is that the Catholic Religion did not exist at the time of Jesus so Peter had nothing to do with something which did not exist.

J.P.,

F.Y.I., Our beliefs must rest solidly on the teachings of the Holy Bible.

Jesus said, " word is truth" (John 17:17).

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 2 Timothy 3:16

Mantazma,

Most of us know how carefully the written word was kept by God's chosen people, Israel not Catholics.

Pastor Billy,

Here we go again. The Bible itself prohibit lying pastors.

This is for you,

‘Be not carried about with every wind of doctrine"phesians 4:14

Pastor Billy, Dover,

Show me in scripture that Jesus command to search the "Catechism"?



Show me please and I'll believe you.

Answer 1

No, not at all. Catholics reject the doctrine of “Sola Scriptura” and do not believe that the Bible alone is sufficient. They believe that both the Bible and sacred Roman Catholic tradition are equally binding upon the Christian. Many Roman Catholics doctrines, such as purgatory, praying to the saints, worship or veneration of Mary, etc. have little or no basis at all in Scripture, but are based solely on Roman Catholic traditions. Essentially the Roman Catholic Church’s denial of “Sola Scriptura” and their insistence that both the Bible and their “Sacred Tradition” are equal in authority undermines the sufficiency, authority and completeness of the Bible. While there are many verses in the Bible that establish it’s authority and it’s sufficiency for all matters of faith and practice, one of the clearest is 2 Timothy 3:16 where we see that “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

Answer 2

all Rcc beliefs can be found in the bible, some plainly others indirectly indicated. Scripture itself points out an authoritative church & tradition. St Paul points out in his second letter to the Thess – stand firm & hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or letter. Here are some scriptures to check out 2 Thess 2:15, 1 Cor 11:2, 2 Thess 3:6, 2 Tim 1:13-14 & 2:2. When the first Christians had disagreements they didn’t open their bibles – they didn’t exist – they held councils and held binding decrees – these councils were those who knew more then the others and they came to an agreement/understanding and thus made a binding decree (acts 15:1-29). The very books of the bible were determined by the Church (Rcc) and didn’t even happen until the 4th century – centuries of oral tradition. Without their determination and will to listen to the Holy Spirit, sent by God to inspire them there would be no bible.
If the traditions and leaders of the Rcc did not hold to the scriptures (while some held violently or savagely) the majority shared and taught. Had the hierarchy of the Rcc not established the foundations where would Christianity be today? Would there even be a bible in print – I really don’t think so. Because people would not have shared their traditions. Most people century’s back never owned a bible like we do, gracious they couldn’t even read.

Answer 3

The Catholic Church was in existence from the beginning. We can trace our history back to Peter. It was not called "Catholic" at that time...but it was no less the Church. We know that the "mass" was definitely being celebrated in 150AD...a scant 150 years after the crucifixion. There were reports of Christians eating flesh and drinking blood. So, we know the Eucharist was already instituted. When the Romans investigated these claims, they found that Christians were eating unlevened bread and wine...no cannibalism. But that fact that they were being accused of it that early, tells us that they were celebrating the Eucharist as we do today. 150AD is before some of the scriptures were written and before the Bible had been compiled. So we KNOW the Catholic Mass was practiced by the early Christians.
http://www.fisheaters.com/fathersoneucharist.html

Also, in 2 Thessalonians 2:15 Paul says:So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.

Another thing...wouldn't you think that if the Catholic's were dangerous and wrong...that someone would have written...scripture is the ONLY authority? But no where in the Bible does the Bible say it's the only authority.

Also, the Catholic church compiled the New Testament. She selected the inspired texts. So, the very Bible you are trying to use to discredit...is the scripture that the Church knows to be the Word of God and therefore we know that our traditions do not go against the scripture.

Consider Matthew 15:6–9, which Fundamentalists and Evangelicals often use to defend their position: "So by these traditions of yours you have made God’s laws ineffectual. You hypocrites, it was a true prophecy that Isaiah made of you, when he said, ‘This people does me honor with its lips, but its heart is far from me. Their worship is in vain, for the doctrines they teach are the commandments of men.’" Look closely at what Jesus said.

He was not condemning all traditions. He condemned only those that made God’s word void. In this case, it was a matter of the Pharisees feigning the dedication of their goods to the Temple so they could avoid using them to support their aged parents. By doing this, they dodged the commandment to "Honor your father and your mother" (Ex. 20:12).

Elsewhere, Jesus instructed his followers to abide by traditions that are not contrary to God’s commandments. "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice" (Matt. 23:2–3).

What Fundamentalists and Evangelicals often do, unfortunately, is see the word "tradition" in Matthew 15:3 or Colossians 2:8 or elsewhere and conclude that anything termed a "tradition" is to be rejected. They forget that the term is used in a different sense, as in 1 Corinthians 11:2 and 2 Thessalonians 2:15, to describe what should be believed. Jesus did not condemn all traditions; he condemned only erroneous traditions, whether doctrines or practices, that undermined Christian truths. The rest, as the apostles taught, were to be obeyed. Paul commanded the Thessalonians to adhere to all the traditions he had given them, whether oral or written.

There is just so much, it's impossible to write it all...but if you truly would like to know, then do some research. I've included links...check them out.

Answer 4

You run into serious problems when you rely on the Bible alone for guidance. Was the "Field of Blood" so named because of Judas' organs falling out or due to the coins being "blood money"? Both were oral traditions.

Tradition also says that Moses wrote the Pentateuch. How could he write about his own death?

The Gospels were written a generation after Christ and his disciples, and redacted centuries later. How did they get passed along for decades before being written down?

Further, post-crucifixion there were many traditions. Some said Jesus was merely a man, some that he was only God. Some said he danced before execution, while some said he grieved and feared.

The "Christ" that all Christian believe in was settled on in early Catholic councils, such as Trent. Discordant beliefs were deemed heresy and books that were thrown out were not accepted as canon. If you doubt the Catholic Church on Christian issues, you would need to gather up many books (such as the Gospels of Thomas or Mary Magdalene). Then read them and determine for yourself what is accepted Christianity.

However, I suspect that this question is deliberately leading. Is it really just thinly veiled anti-Catholic bigotry hiding behind a question?

Answer 5

In Exodus God explains how to live your life rightly but thats about as far as the Bible goes. I think that the Catholic church has the tradition for more the feeling. I am not a Catholic or even a Christian but I just took a class on the Church. The traditions evolved from small prayer times into what we have today in the Dark Ages.
In the Bible look at the Second Commandment. Yet we still have crosses at every church. It just goes to show that what is said in the Bible doesn't mean the Catholic Church will follow it.

Answer 6

If you "stepped outside the situation" for a moment, and viewed both Catholicism & the thousands of versions of Protestanism objectively, you would see that Catholicism was being passed down as a tradition for 1500 years before Protestantism was even invented. Add to that the fact the "the written Word" in the form of the bible can easily be shown to be at least as unreliable as the spoken traditions, and it becomes clear that they are both probably nonsense.

The books chosen to be included in the "canon" of Christian literature were chosen for political, not religious reasons. It's a fascinating history.

It really says nothing about "God" and a whole lot about mankind!

Assuming you are a Protestant Christian, do you know why you use the particular bible you probably do? (hint: it has NOTHING to do with the "original biblical texts" or, in fact, with Christianity!)

You should read some of this fellow's books (with your bible open too, so you can check his facts & details...). It's an eye-opening experience!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bart_D._Ehrman

Answer 7

The issue concerning any church and its practices should be “Is this Biblical?” If a teaching is Biblical (taken in context), it should be embraced. If it is not, it should be rejected. God is more interested in whether a church is doing His will and obeying His Word than whether it can trace a line of succession back to Jesus’ apostles. Jesus was very concerned about abandoning the Word of God to follow the traditions of men (Mark 7:7). Traditions are not inherently invalid…there are some good and valuable traditions. Again, the issue must be whether a doctrine, practice, or tradition is Biblical. How then does the Roman Catholic Church compare with the teachings of the Word of God?



Salvation: The Roman Catholic Church teaches that salvation is by baptismal regeneration and is maintained through the Catholic sacraments unless a willful act of sin is committed that breaks the state of sanctifying grace. The Bible teaches that we are saved by grace which is received through simple faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), and that good works are the result of a change of the heart wrought in salvation (Ephesians 2:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17) and the fruit of that new life in Christ (John 15).



Assurance of salvation: The Roman Catholic Church teaches that salvation cannot be guaranteed or assured. 1 John 5:13 states that the letter of 1 John was written for the purpose of assuring believers of the CERTAINTY of their salvation.



Good Works: The Roman Catholic Church states that Christians are saved by meritorious works (beginning with baptism) and that salvation is maintained by good works (receiving the sacraments, confession of sin to a priest, etc.) The Bible states that Christians are saved by grace through faith, totally apart from works (Titus 3:5; Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 3:10-11; Romans 3:19-24).



Baptism: In the New Testament baptism is ALWAYS practiced AFTER saving faith in Christ. Baptism is not the means of salvation; it is faith in the Gospel that saves (1 Corinthians 1:14-18; Romans 10:13-17). The Roman Catholic Church teaches baptismal regeneration of infants, a practice never found in Scripture. The only possible hint of infant baptism in the Bible that the Roman Catholic Church can point to is that the whole household of the Philippian jailer was baptized in Acts 16:33. However, the context nowhere mentions infants. Acts 16:31 declares that salvation is by faith. Paul spoke to all of the household in verse 32, and the whole household believed (verse 34). This passage only supports the baptism of those who have already believed, not of infants.



Prayer: The Roman Catholic Church teaches Catholics to not only pray to God, but also to petition Mary and the saints for their prayers. Contrary to this, we are taught in Scripture to only pray to God (Matthew 6:9; Luke 18:1-7).



Priesthood: The Roman Catholic Church teaches that there is a distinction between the clergy and the “lay people,” whereas the New Testament teaches the priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:9).



Sacraments: The Roman Catholic Church teaches that a believer is infused with grace upon reception of the sacraments. Such teaching is nowhere found in Scripture.



Confession: The Roman Catholic Church teaches that unless a believer is hindered, the only way to receive the forgiveness of sins is by confessing them to a priest. Contrary to this, Scripture teaches that confession of sins is to be made to God (1 John 1:9).



Mary: The Roman Catholic Church teaches, among other things, that Mary is the Queen of Heaven, a perpetual virgin, and the co-redemptress who ascended into heaven. In Scripture, she is portrayed as an obedient, believing servant of God, who became the mother of Jesus. None of the other attributes mentioned by the Roman Catholic Church have any basis in the Bible. The idea of Mary being the co-redemptress and another mediator between God and man is not only extra-biblical (found only outside of Scripture), but is also unbiblical (contrary to Scripture). Acts 4:12 declares that Jesus is the only redeemer. 1 Timothy 2:5 proclaims that Jesus is the only mediator between God and men.



Many other examples could be given. These issues alone clearly identify the Catholic Church as being unbiblical. Every Christian denomination has traditions and practices that are not explicitly based on Scripture. That is why Scripture must be the standard of Christian faith and practice. The Word of God is always true and reliable. The same cannot be said of church tradition. Our guideline is to be: “What does Scripture say?” (Romans 4:3; Galatians 4:30; Acts 17:10). 2 Timothy 3:16-17 declares, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Answer 8

Pastor Billy says: here we go again.

The Christian bible is in fact a Catholic book. There is nothing in scripture or holy Christian tradition which contradict.
Fact is the bible itself is a "tradition" and half of the Protestant bible today contains Catholic tradition in the form of the New Testament canon which was decided upon by early Catholic councils, which books to include and which books to exclude.

In reality all Christians have tradition whether they are Catholic or not the difference is Catholics at least admit to it.
For example

where do I find alter call in the bible?
where do I find the sinners prayer in the bible?
where do I find Reformed Church. Lutheran Church, Methodist Church, Baptist Church, Calvinism, Adventist Church etc etc etc .... in the bible?
where do I "personal relationship" in the bible?
where do I find believers baptism ...... in the bible?
where do I find rapture tradition in the bible?
where do I find christian zionism..... in the bible? (zionism is a political movement)

I could list many more non-Catholic traditions which non-Catholics hold to and yet you do not find them....... in the bible.

Tradition is something associated with all the high point of our life for example, birth, graduation, marriage. Why do Christians exchange rings at marriage that is a tradition ritual.
Why do Christians go to a graduation party and dressup for it to receive awards that is a ....tradition ritual. Why do Christian mothers have baby showers as this is a traditional ritual.

The real question should be : Doesn't God deserve the traditional worship he has given us to use in worship of him?


Edit: Dear K try reading the verses before 2Tim3:16 you'll discover Paul explaining to Timothy the importance of oral tradition. 2Tim3:16 is often taken way out of context to support the falsehood of sola scriptura, a creation some 1600 years after Jesus Christ. The verse explains scripture is "profitable" meaning helpful but it never explains scripture as singularly authority or final. If you do intend to make it say this you would have to rip your bible asunder as Paul mentions in the verses prior that Timothy is to be knowledgeable on the scriptures from his youth. Paul in essense is writing about Old Testament scripture here in 2Tim and not scriptures to come or the any of New Testament being writen at the time.

Basically you can't have your cake and eat it too K if you want to believe sola scriptura and claim St. Paul is supporting that view in 2Tim well you'll have to get rid of your Roman Catholic New Testament canon :)

Answer 9

Heh,

I love when protestants talk down to Catholics as though they are non biblical in their beliefs.

Have you considdered that the Holy Roman Empire ie Catholic Church, were the ones who cannonized the bible you use today.

Catholics decided which books were inspired, and which books were not. Catholics chose to define Christian doctrine during that process. Protestantism didn't come around for a thousand years, the bible and NT as you know and love it was crafted by Catholics. It is a bit presumptuous for protestants to say that the Catholics are unbiblical when they were the ones who created it?

Silly.

Oh and I am not a Catholic and have no Catholic upbrining, I believe the whole thing is a bit of Malarky.

Answer 10

The Bible does not support Catholic tradition.
Catholicism is a tradition that teaches from the Bible. Religions are created from the teachings. Logically, in order for the Bible to cite the tradition of Catholicism, the religion would have had to been around before the Bible.

The Catholic Church shares a large number of Biblical beliefs with evangelical Christianity: the inerrancy of the Bible, the Trinitarian nature of God, the virgin birth and deity of Jesus Christ, as well as His crucifixion and resurrection.

Many of the official doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church are either un-Biblical or extra-Biblical. The Catholics actually use a different Bible than Protestants. Their Bible has more books within it, which accounts for some of the differences in Catholic doctrines. The Catholic Church has traditionally held that salvation can be attained only through observance of their sacraments. Because of this... they have set themselves apart as the only true church.... not endorsed by the Christian Bible.