What traditions do you know of that are not Scriptural, yet practiced by the Church?

Answer 1

The Catholic Church relies on what it calls the pillars of Tradition and Revelation. The non-scriptural practices of the Church are often found in areas where it draws on Tradition. For example, the process of canonisation is non-scriptural, as is the teaching of Purgatory, the dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the veneration of saints and the use of relics, the belief in the Holy Trinity (although most Christian churches are in the same category here), the dogma of Papal Infallibility, most of the liturgical rituals that have developed around the ordination of priests, confirmation, Mass and so forth. (These rituals may draw on scripture, but they are not scriptural in themselves.)

Many of the practices and teaching surrounding the Virgin Mary are not, strictly speaking, scriptural. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception (Mary being born without stain of original sin) is derived from Tradition, not Scripture.

Other things, some of which have almost faded out completely now, are:

- wearing of scapulars or holy medals
- the rosary
- novenas and litanies such as the Litany to the Sacred Heart
- the Sacred Heart of Jesus or the Immaculate Heart of Mary
- confession
- the Last Rites (Annointing of the Sick as it is now called)
- baptism of infants (again, practiced by most Christian churches)
- the dedication of particular countries to a certain saint or patron - eg Australia is dedicated to Our Lady Help of Christians
- having patron saints - eg St Jude is patron saint of hopeless causes

Answer 2

You may find some Traditions not found in Scripture and yet none of them are actually ANTI-Scriptural. They never go against Scripture although Scripture may be silent on the issue.

Issues such as the hypostatic union (Jesus being both 100% human AND 100% God) is nowhere explained explicitly in Scripture. The Trinity is nowhere directly explained in Scripture either and both these ideas are accepted by the great majority of Christians.

To receive all of God's truth that was revealed to us, we must access everything that God handed on to us...Sacred Scripture AND Sacred Tradition. Both are crucial if we are to know the whole Truth that is Jesus Christ (John 14:6) which the church defends and upholds (1 Tim 3:15).

God Bless
Robin

Answer 3

There are two ambiguous terms here: tradition and Church.

When I capitalize Church, I am talking about the original Church begun by Jesus, not one of the 30,000 rival organizations begun by man.

A tradition is anything "handed down" from the past. Some of these are Sacred Traditions that come from the Apostles, such as the idea of the Trinity. All Sacred Traditions are rooted in scripture, but sometimes the evidence in scripture is ambiguous or incomplete. Scripture shows that Jesus started the Church to "bind and loose" in matters of interpretation (Matt 16:18).

There are also man-made traditions, such as celebrating Christmas on Dec. 25. These grow out of the rich faith tradition of God's happy Christian people.

Cheers,
Bruce

Answer 4

What came first?

Scripture or the Church?




Christ sent His Apostles with authority to teach all nations, and never gave them any command of writing the Bible. And the Apostles went forth and preached everywhere, and planted the Church of God throughout the earth, but never thought of writing.






Our Lord founded a Church (Matthew 16:18-19), not a book, which was to be the pillar and ground of Truth (1 Timothy 3:15). We can know what this Church teaches by looking not only at Sacred Scripture, but into History and by reading what the earliest Christians have written, what those who've sat on the Chair of Peter have spoken consistently with Scripture and Tradition, and what they've solemnly defined. To believe that the Bible is our only source of Christian Truth is unbiblical and illogical.

Answer 5

Your question is obviously for "sola scriptura" faiths.........not Catholic.


The authority of the Church rests on three pillars:


Scripture: The Bible is the inerrant word of God and is to be read as the earliest Christians read it: in the light of Tradition and under the guidance of those ordained to teach. The Books of the Old Testament were put together by the Hebrews in the Septuagint (ca 300 B.C.), which includes the seven Books called "Deuterocanonical" by Catholics and "Apocryphal" by Protestants, and was the Old Testament used by the Apostles. The Books of the New Testament were made canonical over time and were first listed over 300 years after the Resurrection. [see more on the Canon of the Bible and the Septuagint and on Sola Scriptura: The Fallacy of the Bible alone as the Rule of Faith]


Tradition: the teachings which the Church has preserved and passed down from Christ, His Apostles, and the unanimous teachings of the early Church Fathers (1 Corinthians 11:2, 2 Thessalonians 2:15, 2 Thessalonians 3:6).




Magisterium: the teaching authority of the Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The teachings of Catholic hierarchs have three different levels of fallibility:

Extraordinary Magisterium:
Extraordinary infallible teaching given in the very rare exercise of the Pope alone, only when, in his capacity as Pastor and Doctor of all Christians and by virtue of his supreme Apostolic authority, he defines a dogma concerning faith and morals so as to be held by the whole Church and does so ex cathedra -- i.e., "from the chair" of Peter. Also called the "Solemn Magisterium."


Ordinary Magisterium:
Ordinary infallible teaching by Pope, Bishop, or anyone with the proper authority to teach which illumines doctrine that has always been believed and accepted by the universal Church. Also called the "Universal Magisterium" or the "Constant Magisterium" and its exercise can be recognized when a teaching is one that is has been held "always and everywhere" by the Church. [Note: some Catholics forget this category of teaching and believe that only if a teaching is solemnly defined ex cathedra is it infallible. These "Catholics," forgetting Tradition, are the "liberals" and "modernists" one always sees on TV]


Authentic Magisterium:
Teaching by Pope, Bishop, or anyone with the proper authority to teach, that does not fit into the above two categories. All authorized teaching is owed proper, intelligent, prayerful religious assent, but must be resisted if it leads to sin, compromises the Faith and the salvation of souls, or contradicts the above two levels of Magisterium, the Sacred Deposit of Faith, Scripture, and Tradition. [Note: some otherwise wonderful Catholics forget this category of teaching and think everything the Pope does and says is "infallible," an attitude that borders on papolatry. These Catholics are the "neo-conservatives" or "neo-Catholics" who defend the novelties since Vatican II and some of the scandalous behaviors of Bishops and the Holy Father -- e.g., Qu'ran-kissing, ecumenism that leads to indifferentism, etc. -- but while still truly trying to be orthodox.]

Answer 6

As others have pointed out, the doctrine of "Sola Scriptura" is the biggest man-made deception and is absolutely unbiblical:

2 Timothy 2:2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

-- and --

2 Thessalonians 2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

Another serious unscriptural Protestant doctrine is teaching that the Eucharist is "symbolic" and not the actual Presence of Christ in the elements of the Host:

Luk 22:19-20 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

In the original language, there is no verb between "this" and "body." Christ clearly meant a direct correlation between the bread and His own flesh. Not "This is sort of like My Body" or "This is symbolic of My Body," but rather, "This Bread is identical to my Body."

There are many more errors and unscriptural teachings in Protestantism, but the two that I listed are the most dangerous fallacies. They have deceived many people over the centuries and prevented them from having the peace and joy of belonging to Christ's true Church on earth.

P.S.

Incidentally, for those who haven't gotten the message that Catholics DO NOT worship Mary or put her above God, you might be interested to know that Martin Luther retained a deep devotion to the Blessed Mother, even after he broke away from the Catholic Church. Check this site for more information:

http://www.davidmacd.com/catholic/martin_luther_on_mary.htm

Edit:

Anybody want to take bets that Best Answer goes to some Catholic basher who doesn't have a clue about the so-called "errors" s/he is convinced are true?

Answer 7

a million John 4:15; Whoever makes the the confession that Jesus Christ is the Son of God(Psalms eighty 3:18 KJ Jehovah), God maintains to be in union with such one and he in union with God. John 14:6; Jesus pronounced to him: "i'm the way & the reality & the existence. no person includes the daddy different than via me. Matt 6:9; Lord's prayer, Jesus pronounced, OUR Father interior the heaven, enable your call (Psalms eighty 3:18 KJ Jehovah) be sanctified(set on severe). a million Tim 2:5; For there is one God, & one mediator between God & adult adult males, a guy Christ Jesus. Matt 24:36; on the subject of that day & hour, no person is easily-known with, neither the angles of the heaven nor the SON, yet in basic terms the daddy. in case you declare to be a christian, then you would desire to take what the Bible says, or you are the single suggested at 2 Corinthians 4:4.

Answer 8

There are no beliefs that are in conflict with Holy Scripture, absolutely none.

There are some concepts that are not within Scripture, but that does not put them in conflict.

You have to remember the the Catholic Church pre-dates scripture by 300 years.

Peace be with you.

Answer 9

I find all the Catholic Tradition compatible with Scripture

Answer 10

Sola Scripture and Sola Fide.