Scripture only
v/s oral traditions?
The Old Paths Restoration Ministry believes that we should go by
scripture only. That being said though, we also believe that Yahweh
does speak revelation knowledge to people through His spirit. But……Whatsoever
the true Kodesh Ruach speaks or what men write under the unction of the spirit, will not contradict nor discredit nor supersede
the known stated scriptures.
There has been a television commercial running recently pointing
to a web site. www.catholicscomehome.org. Within
that website, they discuss their oral traditions and give their reasoning for
not accepting scripture only. Abiding by such reasoning has allowed
all kinds of false doctrines to be spread abroad throughout the world. If
we override the standard of scripture, then we no longer have a solid
foundation to base our beliefs upon. We are then left with an ever
changing foundation, which will of a surety one day fall.
Yahshua speaking: “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will
liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And
the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that
house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every
one that heareth these sayings of mine, and
doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon
the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds
blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”
Matthew 7:24-27KJV
Catholics then believe strongly in what they call the oral
traditions. They believe that we don’t just go by scripture alone,
but also by teachings that have been passed down by word of mouth. But
much of these oral traditions do contradict, discredit and supersede the known
stated scriptures. And thus we cannot accept most oral traditions as
scriptural truths. In actuality they cannot date these oral
scriptures with all certainty back to the Apostles anyhow, but only in the
writings of what they call the early Church fathers. Those early
Church fathers were those who began writing at the time the last Apostles were
either dead or exiled or sometime thereafter. For the most part
their writings began in the 2ndand 3rd centuries,
well after the death of the last Apostles. A study of their writings
one will find that even they were often in disagreement with one another over
their ever changing doctrines. (the foundation
was already being moved off of the Rock and onto the sand)
The Apostle Saul actually warned of those who would come after
him. Acts 20:29-31 “For I know this,
that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you,
not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking
perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore
watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn
every one night and day with tears.” Therefore, we should be
very leery of those who spoke and wrote after the death of the Apostles, if and
when the things they spoke and wrote stand in the face of the sure foundation
of the scriptures.
In our day, such oral traditions for the most part, would not hold
up in a court of law. Such oral traditions would be considered as
hearsay or unfounded information. They are words that cannot be
confirmed. The Protestants who are growing ever more closer to
coming home to their mother, the Catholic Church, have also embraced their own
versions of oral traditions, which makes most Protestants as hypocrites for
claiming that they adhere to scripture only.
Here is one example that I came across recently:
“This is what Christians believe: Did
you know that the chopping down of the Christmas tree represents the death of
Christ and putting it back up again represents the resurrection of Christ? Did
you know that the wreaths we hang are never ending circles,
that represents eternity? Candy canes were made to look like
shepherd hooks and the colors red , Jesus'
blood, white, purity. The gifts, represents the 3 gifts the wise men brought
for Jesus. So when you are running around trying to get the "perfect
gift", stop yourself, take a deep breath and remember we have been given
the perfect gift, Jesus Christ was given to us to remove all of our sins. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you, Jesus.”
Now we realize that not all “Christians” believe this, (we
certainly hope not) and some who do keep the pagan day of Christmas (not
based upon the sure foundation of scripture either) would even
consider the above comment ludicrous. But according to the comment, that is
what Christians believe. Really??? The
only items in that entire comment that even come close to being scriptural is
that Messiah’s blood was red, that He was a perfect gift from Yahweh and the
part about Messiah removing sin and even that is a misrepresentation of the
whole truth of the matter. At least they did get it right by not saying that
there were 3 wise men, for which there is no scripture for either! Other
than that, can you find anything in the above stated comment concerning the
Christmas tree, the wreaths and the candy canes found anywhere in the pages of
scripture? We will 100% guarantee you cannot. Building a
foundation of beliefs upon this kind of reasoning will also one day fall, for
it cannot be established upon the Rock hard foundation of the scriptures.
Many are making the attempt at justifying their non-scriptural
traditions by adding scriptural connotations to those same non-scriptural
traditions. One must admit that such faulty reasoning is a heap of
contradictions, it is Babel, and Yahweh says to come out of such religious
confusion. Rev. 18:4; 2nd Cor.6:14-16 The same can
be said of all the other the false doctrines being promulgated by many of the
Protestant Churches of today, specifically concerning the keeping of Sunday and
their religious holidays which are not founded upon a scriptural command or
exemplified true scriptural custom. But much of the oral traditions
that they adhere to, have been so long a part of their belief system that they
no longer question what they believe or why they believe it. Most
Protestant Churches have become what they originally protested against. The
Harlot daughters are coming home to the Mother Church.
Won’t get into it with this article, but Judaism also has its own
oral traditions. Those oral traditions have been written down in the pages of
the Talmud. These same like traditions and many other such like things that Christianity
is involved in were greatly reproved by Yahshua in the book of Mark and chapter
7.
And so we ask, do your beliefs come from oral traditions, from
words written or spoken that cannot be established in the scriptures? We
do not ask you to believe what we believe, but we do admonish you to prove what
it is that you believe in the light of the information we provide.
A close minded person
cannot learn Truth.
The Old Paths
Restoration Ministry
PO Box 247
Marengo, IN 47145