Jesus spoke against the traditions of the Pharisees but did He also condemn the traditions of His Church?

Question

Jesus was speaking of the Traditions of the Pharisees. Let us actually look at the Scriptures that apply to our discussion which are about Sacred Tradition.

St. Paul speaking of oral Tradition: (1Co 11:2 DRB) Now I praise you, brethren, that in all things you are mindful of me and keep my ordinances as I have delivered them to you.

This is St. Paul speaking about both oral and written Sacred Traditions. In his teaching notice he makes no distinction between the oral and the written Sacred Traditions. 2Th 2:15 DRB) (2:14) Therefore, brethren, stand fast: and hold the traditions, which you have learned, whether by word or by our epistle.

Here St. Paul is also speaking of both the written and the oral Traditions without distinction as to which is more authoritative (Phi 4:9 DRB) The things which you have both learned and received and heard and seen in me, these do ye: and the God of peace shall be with you.

Here St. Paul is teaching that we should not associate with people like yourself who denies the authority of Sacred Tradition (2Th 3:6 DRB) And we charge you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother walking disorderly and not according to the tradition which they have received of us.

Here St. Peter supports what St. Paul has been teaching about (1Pe 1:25 DRB) But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel hath been preached unto you.

Answer 1

The "traditions of men" are those that replace or attack the Apostolic Tradition of Christ through His Church (which St Paul in 1 Cor11:2 and 2 Thess2:15 and 3:6 demands be followed) and they are not the traditions of Christians that incarnate or channel this Apostolic Tradition ,without which and the Church Christ founded the Bible can be made to say anything the interpreter wants

IMHO I see heaps of "traditions of men" uncritically taught as God's Word by many Scripura Solists, the common rejection of Jesus clear teaching of the Eucharistic Real Presence in John 6 as just one example.

God has given us His Word

( His Eternal Word and Son Incarnate, His Oral Word-the Tradition from which the Written Word,the Bible, is crystalized and in which the Bible in contexted and illumined and His Living Word-the authoritative Church and the graced Body of Christ and reason or Natural Law and His law written in the Universe,His Created Natural Word)

by which Verbum Dei Solum(Sole Word of God or Word of God Alone) we know God and His teachings and not by the Bible alone unmediated by Tradition,the Church, the Grace of God and Reason/Natural Law since the thousands of conflicting teachings from the thousands of Bible Alone groups show.

Answer 2

Actually in the NIV Bible which is an awesome translation overall the translators carefully avoided the use of the word tradition in a positive light and only used it in the negative passages.

But if you look at especially the letters of Paul it is there in other words, all the things that Paul said would be Passed on to us are traditions.

Also, if you look at the life of Jesus he kept many traditions, from passover, to His own Bar Mitzvah.

For us today, the Bible is a tradition, the wedding ceremony is a tradition, the keeping of the sabbath day is a tradition, singing songs is a tradition. Anything that your church or group keeps from week to week the same is a tradition.

At what point do you draw the line? If your church has the same kind of worship service for a hundred years, is that too much tradition? If your congregation or group has any rules, about tithing, baptism, marriage, communion, the appointing of pastors and deacons any of the above it is tradition.

If your leaders, teachers etc, preach or teach you how they think that a Christian should live, aren't they starting a tradition?

Answer 3

Cristoiglesia,

Many words have multiple meanings--including the word "tradition." Literally, it means "that which is handed down."

What Jesus criticized were traditions of men that occasioned unjust attacks upon Jesus and his disciples. John 7 describes such an attack:

The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were "unclean," that is, unwashed. (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)

So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with 'unclean' hands?"

He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
" '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.' You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."

Jesus went on to teach about what REALLY makes a man unclean: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.'"

In other words, the human traditions celebrated by the liberals and humanists who dominate the media and higher education.

In contrast to human tradition is the sacred tradition passed along by oral teaching, and written down by the Fathers of the Church. These divine teachings constitute important parts of Jesus' message and cannot be discarded: Sacred traditions are from God, not from men.

Cheers,
Bruce

Answer 4

The traditions that Paul was speaking about (the things that people saw him doing) was loving others, preaching the gospel, working with his own hands. and taking of the Lord's supper, etc...........stop trying to add to what he is saying.

Grace to you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Philemon 1:3

Answer 5

you fail to give examples of where Jesus spoke of the traditions of the pharasees. withouit that your question is incomplete. Furthermore, you misuse the word "tradition" by incopmplete cites, or failing to incorporate alternative usage such as "teachings" instead of the word "traditions" as it is translated in other versions.

Answer 6

"tradition" can be the worst thing that can happen to the church

pharasees held to the faith during the babylonian captivity so tight that when the Messiah finally came, their "tradition" blinded them to the truth.

Answer 7

.....and here endeth the lesson..