Did St. Paul encourage us to follow Sacred Traditions coming from Christ's Church?

Question

One must be very careful in pronouncing that practices are “man-made” without a careful study of the Church in the first few centuries. Since the Church is the Church established by Christ with himself as the cornerstone and the disciples as the 12 foundation stones the Church and practices were established and the teaching passed on from disciple to disciple through apostolic succession. Therefore, one cannot say that because the Bible does not state specifically the practices that they were not established by the disciples. After all, the Scriptures are not a guidebook for Christian practice but a guidebook for faith. The Church referred to the authority of .......

http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-S6YMuFYyaa9ESBoW5DFwEjL_HhqA?p=12

Answer 1

Of course he encouraged us to follow Sacred Traditions. True apostolic traditions are also positively endorsed. In the sense of finding which traditions are corrupt or apostolic, Scripture is the “final Judge” of Tradition, but not in the sense that it rules out all binding Tradition and Church authority. Here are a few relevant verses (RSV):

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


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


2 Tim 1:13-4Follow the pattern of the sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus; guard the truth that has been entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.


2 Tim 2:2and what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.


But Jesus and Paul BOTH accepted tradition. We need to remember that Jesus and Paul both accepted Non-Biblical oral and written traditions. Protestants defending sola scriptura will claim that Jesus and Paul accepted the authority of the Old Testament. This is true, but they also appealed to other authority, outside of written revelation. For example:

A)Matt 2:23: the reference to “…He shall be called a Nazarene” cannot be found in the Old Testament, yet it was passed down “by the prophets.” Thus, a prophecy, which is considered to be “God’s Word” was passed down orally, rather than through Scripture.

B)Matt 23:2-3: Jesus teaches that the scribes and Pharisees have a legitimate, binding authority, based on Moses’ seat, which phrase (or idea) cannot be found anywhere in the Old Testament. It is found in the (originally oral) Mishna, where a sort of “teaching succession” from Moses on down is taught.


And now two examples from the Apostle Paul:

C)In 1 Cor 10:4, St Paul refers to a rock which ‘followed’ the Jews through the Sinai wilderness. The Old Testament says nothing about such miraculous movement, in the related passages about Moses striking the rock to produce water (Exo 17:1-7; Num 20:2-13). But rabbinic tradition does.

D)2 Tim 3:8: “As Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses…” These two men cannot be found in the related Old Testament passage (Exo 7:8 ff), or anywhere else in the Old Testament.

God Bless
Robin

Answer 2

A tradition is anything that is "handed on." There are traditions of men and Traditions from God.

Jesus encountered a Judaism laden with human traditions. Through the centuries, Jewish teachers and scholars concocted a crushing load of legal interpretations that imposed a heavy burden on those who would love and honor God. In contrast, Jesus' yoke was easy and his burden light.

Jesus taught by word of mouth and example. Not everything he taught is written in the New Testament. In fact: "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written" (John 21:25).

Included among the vast body of teachings not recorded in the New Testament are critical help in interpreting his teachings. All this was eventually written down, mostly by the Fathers of the Church in the early centuries. These disciples of the disciples provide invaluable help in understanding Jesus' Sacred Traditions.

For the best available interpretive guide to original Christianity beyond the New Testament, see the writings from the Fathers of the Church, such as these:
http://www.catholic.com/library/fathers_know_best.asp

Cheers,
Bruce

Answer 3

Yes, St. Paul definitely taught that we are to follow the traditions that he and the other disciples gave us:

Phillipians 4:9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

-- and --

2 Thessalonians 3:6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.

These are only two of the references to traditions received from St. Paul but not necessarily written down in the Bible. In the light of those verses, the doctrine of "Sola Scriptura" is itself unscriptural.

Answer 4

I respect your point of view. Beautifully written.

Answer 5

There are many Traditions of the RCC that have no basis in history or apostolic teaching at all, but rather are based on the authority of the RCC itself.