It is generally accepted that Moses wrote the first few (5) books of the Old Testament. His time was many hundreds of years later than the time of Adam and Eve, and others in these first books. He had no ‘Bible’ with which to refer while writing Genesis, but he was inspired by GOD, and he did have ‘Tradition’, handed down to him from generation to generation.
Jesus Christ taught orally, the ‘spoken word’. He did not write a book. The only record that He wrote anything at all is in Jn 8:6-8: “Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground.” We do not even know what He wrote.
The first book of the New Testament was written many years after His death. Where did the New Testament writers get their source, Sola Scriptura? There was no Scriptura to draw from at that time, so ‘Tradition’ had to have played a big role in the writing of these books.
If you had no Tradition, you would have no Bible.
There were many books written before and after the New Testament. The Bible does not say that it is the only book to be believed. Many say Peter was not the first Pope, because the Bible does not say he was ever in Rome. It does not say he wasn’t there either. Many other writings of the same era (Eusebius Pamphilius, for example), say he was indeed in Rome, and he died there. This was shown to be true, as his tomb was found under St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
In Matthew 1:1-17, we have the ‘begats’, the genealogy of Jesus Christ (v1,17). It is interesting to note that the genealogy is for Jesus’ foster father, St. Joseph, who was not His real Father and not a blood relation.
(The term “as supposed”, found in some Bible translations, refers to what we would call “in-laws”.)
The genealogy of Mary, His real mother, a blood relation, who gave Him birth is not stated in Matthew’s begats. After all, the substance of the blood that flowed through the veins of Jesus came from Mary. It was ‘TRADITIONAL’ for the Jews to show the genealogy of the males and not the females. This clearly shows that ‘Tradition’ played a big role in the written Word of the Holy Bible.
- Note! The Bible does show Mary to be of the house of David. If you will compare: Gen 3:15, “I will put enmity between thy seed and her ‘SEED’ (Jesus)…” Rom 1:3, “Concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the ‘SEED’ of David according to the flesh.” Lk 1:32, “…and the Lord GOD will give Him the throne of David His father, and He shall be King over the house of Jacob forever.” Also see, Isa 7:13-14, Jn 7:42, Acts 2:29-30, 13:22-23, 2Tim 2:8, Rev 5:5.
Some other words, with a similar meaning to the word, ‘Tradition’, are used throughout the Bible.
Some examples are: Mt 28:20, “TEACHING them to OBSERVE ALL THINGS WHATSOEVER I HAVE COMMANDED YOU.”
Jn 15:20, “REMEMBER the Word that I have spoken to you.”
Jn 15:27, “And you also shall BEAR WITNESS, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”
1Cor 11:2, ‘Now I praise you brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ORDINANCES (the Greek text says, ‘keep the TRADITIONS’), as I delivered them to you’.
1Cor 15:2, ‘By which ye are saved, if ye keep in MEMORY what I preached to you, unless ye have believed in vain’.
Isa 59:21, ‘…My words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and forever’.
Isaiah said it all… See also, 2Tim 1:13, 2Tim 2:2, 2Tim 3:14, 1Pet 1:25, 1Jn 2:24, 2Jn 1:12
Another verse using the word, ‘tradition’ (human tradition) is Gal 1:14: “And I made progress in the Jew’s religion above many of my equals in my own nation, being more abundantly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.”
Go To Bob Stanley’s “The Catholic Treasure Chest”
Editor’s note: “Small t tradition” is the Thanksgiving turkey/Christmas ham, kind of tradition. “Big T (Sacred and/or Apostolic) Tradition” is the Holy Spirit actively, powerfully and infallibly working in the life of the Church, kind of Tradition.
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