Sola Scriptura vs. Catholic Tradition

[rojoloco]

On my other forum we started discussing tradition. A Catholic member said Catholics view Sacred Tradition as being equal to Scripture. I fully believe this to be a lie. I am a supporter of Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone). I believe Scripture to be the final source of authority. Below is part of what I posted in the other thread mixed with some new stuff.

As for the Word being the final source of authority, it does not say this specifically in the Bible. This does not mean it isn't so. We have to look at examples in the Bible.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." But He answered and said, "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'" Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written,
'HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU';
and
'ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP,
SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'"
Jesus said to him, "On the other hand, it is written, 'YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.'" Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, "All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Go, Satan! For it is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'" Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.

What was it that Jesus used to overcome Satan himself? Did he use the traditions of the Church? Not at all! He used straight up Scripture. Scripture was the final source of authority for Jesus when he was battling Satan. If it was the final source for Jesus, why is it not the final source for us. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3, Deuteronomy 6:16, Deuteronomy 6:13, and Deuteronomy 10:20.

There are also plenty of places where the Bible teaches that Scripture is enough.

Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures,...

So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,

So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.

Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

The Bible does not tell us to turn to tradition. It tells us to turn to Scripture. It not only tells us to turn to Scripture but gives many examples of it being lived out and practiced. It tells us Scripture will make us adequate and will equip us for every good work.

Catholics say Sola Scriptura is dangerous because it is a doctrine not found in the Bible. The only thing I have to say to that is the Trinity, 2 natures of Jesus, & the rapture are topics not found in the Bible either. They are all doctrines extracted from the Bible as a whole. Catholics accept the Trinity as a sound doctrine even though it does nto specifically say it in Scripture. It does show it to be true if you look at it as a whole but it does not speak on that doctrine by itself. If that can be accepted as Truth, why is Sola Scriptura so difficult to accept? Scripture points to it just as much, if not more, than the Trinity, rapture, or 2 natures of Jesus.

When something is not specifically taught in Scripture, Catholicism teaches that Church authority is what they are to follow. It is placed on equal grounds with Scripture. If the Bible said to not practice tradition, would the Catholic Church do it anyway? Of course not! They would listen to what the Bible said. Now that we have established this, we can see that the Bible supercedes any sort of tradition. Catholics believe all practiced tradition is approved by the Bible. They believe it is biblical. Notice the Bible is acting as the final source of authority here? They are not placing tradition above the Bible when being compared to the Bible. In a direct comparison, Catholicism teaches the Bible is superior. How then can it be equal when not being directly compared? Nowhere in the Bible does it claim Sacred Tradition is inspired by God or from God. The only thing to make a claim like that is Scripture itself. Catholics claim Sacred Tradition to be equal but we can see, by the examples listed above, it certainly is not. So many religions claim to have some sort of exclusive revelation from God. Mormons claim the Book of Mormon to be high authority than the Bible. JW's claim they are the only true Christians and everyone else is deceived (Mormons claim this too BTW). Catholics teach their traditions are on equal par to the Scriptures. Christianity (and the Bible itself) teaches that only the Word of God is to act as the final authority on these matters. Even when Scripture speaks of the Holy Spirit, it does not say the Spirit will give extra truth. It says the Spirit will help us understand the Scriptures.

Not all Sacred Tradition is bad. The Trinity is dead on. It is when these traditions stray from the Bible and rely on Church teachings (not Bible teachings) that problems arise. The Church does not have the authority to make calls unless they are based on Scripture. This alone makes the Church lesser than Scripture.

the lesser is blessed by the greater.

As long as Sacred Tradition is Biblical founded, it is wrong. As long as the Bible fully supports it, it will be blessed. Tradition is less than Scripture either way. If the Church claims they are receiving Truth from God which is not found in the Bible, they are placing the Church not only equal to Scripture, but above it. This too is wrong.

So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.

Tradition is good when it coincides with Scripture & the teachings of the apostles (which is found in Scripture oddly enough )

3And He answered and said to them, "Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?

If Tradition is not found in the Bible, it is not to be followed. We are not to turn to Church authority as an approval. Jesus very plainly told us to not follow tradition that transgresses the commandments of God. Church authority plays no role here. Again, this supports Sola Scriptura.

Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us you may learn not to exceed what is written, so that no one of you will become arrogant in behalf of one against the other.

What is written is what we are to follow. It is not to be "advanced" into the wisdom of the Church through tradition when it goes against the wisdom of the Word.

For it is written,
"I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE,
AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE."

Remember that in the end, ALL tradition is subject to Scripture's approval. It is not equal by any means.

SOLA SCRIPTURA!

 

[Christ4Ever]

Being thought provoking, I thought I'd add this post to this thread in order to bring it to the front. Might allow newer members the opportunity to comment since this was originally posted in 2009.

YBIC
Nick
<><

 

[B-A-C]

It's been my experience that Roman Catholic tradition and Dogma are not "equal" to scripture, but actually placed above the Bible.
Especially in the area of the doctrine of Mary.

A somewhat similar area is the authority of the church. For example, in the Bible, it was up to Jesus to forgive people. In the R.C.
church it's up to the "church" to decide who is forgiven.

 

[Christ4Ever]

A somewhat similar area is the authority of the church. For example, in the Bible, it was up to Jesus to forgive people. In the R.C.

Agreed. Why do you think this is?

Why is it also so difficult for them that adhere to Catholic traditions, to see the truth in Scripture that would tell them otherwise?

Is it possible that the RCC controls them, using fear of damnation or even excommunication for going against Church dogma?

 

[B-A-C]

A difficult question to answer...

I think multiple reasons (which in reality may all be the same reason - how is that for vagueness

2 Cor 4:4; in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

The "god of this world" is still busy blinding people. Even those who think they are Christians.

But the other reason is our own stubbornness and resistance to change. One thing I have found about people over the years, they hate to give up
anything they have invested in.

A guy I used to know has a very old car he is fixing up to put in car shows.... it's far from perfect, it needs a lot of work to get it where he wants it be.
But he has put a lot of blood sweat and tears (and money) into that old car over the years trying to fix it up. I guess you could say it's his hobby.

A few years back he won the exact same kind of car in a raffle. Same model, same make, same year, (different color). But it is immaculate.
It is in perfect car-show condition. Which of those two cars do you think is more valuable to him?

Some people answer.. "why the one that is perfect, of course". But they are wrong. He likes that car, but he didn't really invest very much into it.
The other "not so perfect" car is his real love, his baby so to speak. He says if he ever sells one, it will be the "perfect one". Because he has too
much invested in the other one.

If I've spent the last ten or twenty years listening to a specific doctrine or theology (in this case dogma or traditions) and got up early to
listen to this, and gave money to this church, and made friends with the people of that church, and even invested my time to do things
for the church, contributed time, money and effort into the ministries of this church over the years.... How dare you tell me that church is
wrong. (even if they really are). I've invested waaaaaaaay too much into this for you to tell me it's all been a mistake.

(It's much the same way with some "protestant" denominations which are kind of .. "out there").

The other thing I've seen.. is "that's the way it's always been".
My grand-daddy was a Ford man, my daddy was a Ford man, I'm a Ford man, and by George my son and his son's will drive Ford's!!
(apologies if you drive a Ford, there is nothing wrong with that) but the point here is... Not only have I invested in this.. but my family
for (however many) generations has invested in this. "My momma taught me these traditions when was very young."
(Momma couldn't possibly ever be wrong about anything could she?)

Whatever you're familiar with seems easier (even if it really isn't). This is the way my daddy did it, and this is the way I've always done it
for the last 15 years, no need to change now. Your way might be better... but why take a chance?

 

[Lanolin]

I got in trouble in another forum for talking about catholicism so...not sure I should say anything.

But christ 4 ever...its true that if you look in catholic catechisms or handbooks they do curse people for not being catholics or going against their rules.I mean I cant give you page number and reference, but its plain as day if you go to the trouble to look it up.

 

[Admon Mikha'el]

Do you want to find a verse in the Bible that says the Sola Scriptura is enough for salvation? Its there...Here's one verse to start you off....

John 14:6

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.