Traditions are good unless they are the chronic practicing of heretical behaviors or beliefs that stand in direct opposition of God’s Word.
Traditions are good unless they are the chronic practicing of heretical behaviors or beliefs that stand in direct opposition of God’s Word.
It is sad to hear that you believe that which Jesus and the apostles taught is tradition, for if the very words from the mouth of Jesus Christ, God in human form, are not God inspired, I am speechless.Originally Posted by fishinFamily
This is the very reason why unity cannot ever come until Christ returns to unite us.
It is of course the Sacred Tradition:It is sad to hear that you believe that which Jesus and the apostles taught is tradition, for if the very words from the mouth of Jesus Christ, God in human form, are not God inspired, I am speechless.
This is the very reason why unity cannot ever come until Christ returns to unite us.
Sacred tradition is the deposit of faith given by Jesus to the Apostles and passed on in the Church from one generation to the next ...
The original question was should we be united , not can we be united. But for those that want to know what Unity could look like I hope you will take the time to read about Brother Roger Schutz - he was a Protestant and founded the ecumenical community of Taizé in France. This is from an article on him:
”He never left the Protestantism into which he was born. But, says the German cardinal, Brother Roger gradually "enriched" his faith with the pillars of the Catholic faith, particularly the role of Mary in salvation history, the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and the "the ministry of unity exercised by the bishop of Rome." In 1980, Brother Roger told a meeting of young adult Christians that “I have found my own Christian identity by reconciling within myself the faith of my origins with the Mystery of the Catholic faith, without breaking fellowship with anyone".
I had the honor to go to Taizé and meet Brother Roger nearly 30 years ago when I was in high school. I think it was then that the seeds of desire for Christian Unity were planted in my soul.
Just for some trivia-
List of converts to Catholicism - Wikipedia
List of former Catholics - Wikipedia
Interesting trivia. Though I’m dubious of the source and not sure I understand the point being made….
Your post about Scbutz intrigue me to Google those that converted or left the church. It is just trivia, no other point. Though it could be used to show unity or division if a person wanted to.
Gotcha. Brother Roger didn’t convert - he and his fellow brothers were adamant about that.
Brother Roger told a meeting of young adult Christians that “I have found my own Christian identity by reconciling within myself the faith of my origins with the Mystery of the Catholic faith, without breaking fellowship with anyone"
Since brother Roger was a Protestant, it is understandable that he would reconcile with the origins of his faith, which would be the catholic church. All of the Protestant faiths have roots in the Catholic faith, so his statement make sense in finding more about his faith's origin.
I hope you don't mind my curiosity, but where did you derive the above statement?
Of course I don’t mind. And to be honest I googled it (to make sure I got it right) and can’t find it again to cite it.
Here is the definition from the Catechism:
Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits it to the successors of the apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound and spread it abroad by their preaching.
Thank you for your explanation of what the catechism says
No problem - In that context does it make sense to you that I would call the Bible part (maybe even the most important part) of Tradition?
It gives me pause when a religious structure points to its own literature to define beliefs, theology and "traditions." Through speaking with many Catholics I have seen the same pattern repeated. Scripture is presented to refute an area of Catholic dogma and in rebutall the catechism is sited or unsubstantiated claims are made. NOT that it is anywhere the same type of religion (Catholics are Christians with great love for Christ) but I get the same pattern of argument from my close Mormon friends. Scripture is met with church literature that was written by man when you question the areas outside of the Bible. Are any of the extraneous practices and beliefs needed? No. Christ is more than enough and the Bible is more than sufficient. Moreover, we risk delving into practices that are contrary to the Word of God.
Who should get to define the Catholic Churches beliefs if not the Catholic Church?
Sacred Tradition - to Catholics - is the Word of God - see my definition above.
Why would we let anyone else define our religion? Just because it goes contrary to what you have always been taught about Catholics?
If you go back through my posts, I’ve cited scripture far more than anything else.
Tradition= based on a way of thinking, behaving, or doing something that has been used by the people in a particular group, family, society, etc., for a long time : following the traditions of a certain group or culture.
In the context of the catholic church, I guess it makes sense.
tradition is different than Tradition (capital T - also known as Sacred Tradition or Apostolic Tradition.). Your definition Would make sense for tradition, but not Tradition.
I’m glad I can share a little about the Catholic faith. I know there is a lot of misinformation out there.
Fishinfamily,
Forgive me, as I was not singling you out with my comment about citing the literature vs scripture. As to the catechism definition of "tradition" within the Catholic church, it has been my experience the view of tradition within the church closer aligns to the definition provided by Digthemup. Those traditions get us back to the original topic of why does the Catholic church engage in things that are not Biblical - because they are traditional to the church. Again, these are my observations, other's mileage may vary. In reference to "defining our religion" I am not sure how that sits with me at this time. I will have to give that some thought, as I never thought I ever needed to define my religion as it is simply within God's Word. Maybe the struggle I am having is the unbiblical dogma within portions of the catechism that has led to unbiblical beliefs and practices. As I have stated before, I do not wish to throw the baby out with the bathwater - the Catholic church gets a lot of things right, but the things it gets wrong are not small.
Bill
I suppose one could believe that about tradition, which would make those that believe that there is different types of truths that apply in various situations correct, though we know otherwise.
God teaches us that there is but ONE truth in His word and commandments, and we are to obey Him by observing them.
May the love of Christ by the Holy Spirit be your guide,
Frank
Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God…
The one and only source of truth, because God is truth itself.
Accepting other “types of truth” would be dangerous. But equally dangerous might be ignoring part of that truth. That could lead to the word of God being taken out of context and used for evil (think Satan tempting Christ).
May the Lord bless each of you on this, His day!!
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