Why is it some Protestants seem to hold no liking for Tradition? Indeed they even condemn others for it.?

Question

13 Whereunto also he hath called you by our gospel, unto the purchasing of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 14 Therefore, brethren, stand fast; and hold the traditions which you have learned, whether by word, or by our epistle. 15 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God and our Father, who hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation, and good hope in grace,

14 "Traditions"... See here that the unwritten traditions are no less to be received than their epistles.

16 Exhort your hearts, and confirm you in every good work and word

Are you unaware that the Bible was once mostly an oral tradition?

Answer 1

St. Augustine said "I should not believe the gospel except as moved by the authority of the Catholic Church." (354–430 ad)

You make a good point. The Bible as we know it was not assembled until the 4th century so what did all the early Christians do without their King James?

They relied upon oral tradition and submitted to the authority of the Apostles. Just because we have a bible now does not mean that Apostolic Authority and oral tradition are defunct.

In fact, since the Church assembled the canon of scripture that would mean the Church's authority exists apart from the canon.

In the 3rd century Origen wrote "The Church's preaching has been handed down through an orderly succession from the Apostles and remains in the Church until the present. That alone is to be believed as the truth which in no way departs from ecclesiastical and apostolic tradition."

Jesus Christ promised that His Church (not the Bible) would be the pillar and foundation of the Truth (1 Tim 3:15)

Answer 2

The traditions that are talked about here are the teachings of Jesus and the apostles. Notice where it says whether by word or our epistle. These traditions were written down in the form of the various letters to the Churches which are part of the New Testament. The christians in the first century had the Old Testament and were in the process of writing the Books and letters that would make up the New Testament.

The important point to remember is the traditions spoken of here were inspired by God and not totally man-made.

The traditions which many churches today follow and have no basis in the Bible are the traditions that we are NOT supposed to follow. They are traditions of men, including infant baptism, forbidding to marry, not eating certain food, etc. If it is not written in the Bible, it is not inspired and it becomes a man-made traditiion.

These verses warn us about traditions of men (versus traditions of Jesus and the apostles)

" 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. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition." Mark 7:8-9

"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." Colossians 2:8

If the tradition does not come from Christ and is not in the Bible, then it is a man-made tradition and we are not to follow it.

Answer 3

"Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle."

The context indicates that the traditions are those which were given by the inspired apostles, through their speaking or their written words. These are not man-made traditions. Now that is not to say there is anything wrong with man-made traditions (outside the worship and government of the church) , as long as they are understood as man-made and that they can not rise to the level of the inspired word. The Bible repeatedly condemns any tradition which adds to the Word of God.

Mt 15:2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.

Mt 15:3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?

Mt 15:6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.

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.
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One of the main ways that the church violates God's Word is through the traditions that are added to worship. They add the making of the cross during prayer, the addition of rituals of washing, by the adding of holy days, and the like. This is a violation of the Word of God. Whether you look in the Old Testament or in the New this is condemned. Jesus condemns the added religion observance of washings, in the Old Testament we read in Dt. 12:32 "What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shall not add thereto, nor diminish from it." Read the story of Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10:1ff where they are condemned for "offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not."

It should be mentioned that sadly many Protestant churches have set up their own traditions. This does not make it right. If you can't defend the elements of your worship with scripture you have a problem.

Answer 4

wow

Okay let me get this straight, Christians can ignore large portions of the written word because they think it was nailed to the cross but they must follow oral traditions that Yahshua critisized. Do you see the fallicy in this arguement?

Matt 15:1-9 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!" Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, 'Honor your father and mother' and 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,' he is not to 'honor his father' with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: "'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'

Titus1:10-14 For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach--and that for the sake of dishonest gain. Even one of their own prophets has said, "Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons." This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth.

Could it be since the New Testiment was not in print yet and that the Gospel stories were the traditions that they had been taught by word of mouth or their epistles.

The protestants have many unbiblical traditons by the way, Christmas, Easter, Sunday Worship.

If your going to keep the whole oral law make sure you put your right shoe on first then your left then you can tie you right one. Thats part of the Jewish oral law. Oh and you must do everything that the rabbi's say because interpretation of scripture is their sole responsibility and even if God himself should speak from heaven and tell them differant the rabbis decision would hold because the Law is not In heaven but on earth and they have authority over it. Part of the oral law sister. This is what Paul was talking about in Galations and Ephesians when he was talking about a legalistic keeping of the law and he called it a perversion of torah.

Answer 5

I think it's because they are confused by tradition and Tradition. Two different things.

I see one poster has used the same passage they always use, but when when taken in context, the proper meaning of these verses merely condemn erroneous human traditions, not truths which were handed down orally and entrusted to the Church by the apostles. These latter truths are part of what is known as apostolic tradition, which is to be distinguished from human traditions or customs.

Consider Matthew 15:6–9, which some 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 some 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.

Answer 6

It depends on what traditions you are following. Jesus rebuked the Pharaisees for following traditions of men.
Matthew 15:2-3
Mark 7:5-9, 13
Col. 2:8

Answer 7

Tradition is fine, but I can't see walking around in robes and sandals all the time.

However, tradition had to start somewhere by a person or group of people, and it doesn't necessarily mean that the way they did it applies to contemporary times or be correct. It's OK to change tradition to update one thoughts and belief.

I will even go so far as to say that the passage writer you quote above may not be be necessarily correct in his thought.
You can still change tradition so long as you keep the main essence of the dogma intact.

Answer 8

The Word of God is the only authority for the Christian faith. Traditions are valid only when they are based on Scripture and are in full agreement with Scripture. Traditions that are in contradiction with the Bible are not of God and are not a valid aspect of the Christian faith. Sola scriptura is the only way to avoid subjectivity and personal opinion from taking priority over the teachings of the Bible. The essence of Sola scriptura is basing your spiritual life on the Bible alone, and rejecting any tradition or teaching that is not in full agreement with the Bible. 2 Timothy 2:15 declares, "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the Word of truth."

Sola scriptura does not nullify the concept of church traditions. Rather, sola scriptura gives us a solid foundation on which to base church traditions. There are many practices, in both Catholic and Protestant churches, that are the result of traditions, not the explicit teaching of Scripture. It is good, and even necessary, for the church to have traditions. Traditions play an important role in clarifying Christian doctrine, and organizing Christian practice. At the same time, in order for these traditions to be valid, they must not be in disagreement with God’s Word. The must be based on the solid foundation of the teaching of Scripture. The problem with the Roman Catholic Church (and many other Christian churches) is that it basis traditions on traditions on traditions on traditions – often with the initial tradition not being in full harmony with the Scriptures. That is why Christians must always go back to sola scriptura, the authoritative Word of God, as the only solid basis for faith and practice.

Answer 9

-When members of a body splinter and leave the parent body they usually have to dwell in a state of denial in order to be seen as the legitimate authority and not just an usurper.
This rebellion of the new formed body(Protestantism) then has to re-define it`s boundaries and this cannot include the traditons of the parent body as this would make their protest seem ridiculous and without foundation, so the baby has to be thrown out with the bathwater.
For Protestantism to admit to the Apostolic tradition would mean that they then admit to being wrong and actually a rebellious sect of the Catholic church.

Answer 10

I think many Protestants end up condemning tradition becuse they have seen it become the extent of other religions.

Tradition is great if it serves the same purpose as it did when it was first started.

Going to church just to say you went to church is stupid.

Do what you do because it is a personal conviction, not because everyone around you is doing it.

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