Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!agate!shelby!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu (Chuck Hedrick) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: The Bible vs traditions of men Message-ID: Date: 29 Jan 91 08:16:56 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 37 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article , CONS.ELF@AIDA.CSD.UU.SE (Ake Eldberg) writes: > > On the other hand, there are dozens of sects and churches who > claim to follow the Bible alone, and they all disagree. We all > too often see people quoting the bible against each other. So > you may say, the bible is still sufficient if it is interpreted > correctly. But who is to do that? How can you *know* that your > interpretation is the right one, when there are thousands of > honest, intelligent, praying Christians out there who have so > > There is no need to put the Bible on one side and "the traditions > of men" on the other, as if they were the only alternatives. What > if there are traditions which were inspired by God, through His > word and His spirit, to help us understand? What if there are > things that indeed came directly from Jesus Christ himself, and > have been brought down to us through tradition, even though they > were never written down by the biblical authors? > The reasoning here seems to be faulty. Church tradition is needed because it is possible to interpret Scripture in more than one "correct" way. Since there are conflicting traditions among churches and denominations, one would also conclude that something more is needed in order to properly distinguish between the many traditions and the "correct" one. The percieved problem has merely been shifted from an interpretation of Scripture to an interpretation of tradition. No foundation can any man lay than that which is already layed, that is Christ Jesus. All scripture is a revelation of that foundation and it is each individual christians responsibility to carefully interpret what scripture teaches us concerning Christ. Sincerely, Kenny Hunt