We shall designate the first sip from the cup of Roman Babylon as "Tradition." The following quotations clearly set before us the position of the Roman Catholic Church concerning the Holy Bible:
"A rule of faith, or a competent guide to heaven, must be able to instruct in all the truths necessary for salvation. Now the Scriptures alone do not contain all the truths which a Christian is bound to believe, nor do they explicitly enjoin all the duties which he is obliged to practice."[1]
Has an all wise God failed to give us a complete guide, so that we are obliged to resort to man-made doctrines? The great apostle Paul, writing under inspiration, is very explicit on this question: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." (2 Timothy 3:16,17) But we read in Cardinal Gibbon's popular work:
"We must, therefore, conclude that the Scriptures alone cannot be a sufficient guide and rule of faith. ... because they are not of themselves clear and intelligible even in matters of the highest importance, and because they do not contain all the truths necessary for salvation."[2]
This is an insult to the intelligence of God, charging Him with giving us a book that is an unintelligible and incompetent guide. One text from the Sacred Scriptures will be sufficient to set forth Heaven's position on this matter. The apostle Paul, in writing to Timothy, said: "From a child thou has known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." (2 Timothy 3:15) If the Holy Scriptures are such an unintelligible book, how could Timothy from a child grasp the plan of salvation from their study?
The importance and value of Bible study is repeatedly emphasized in the Sacred Scriptures. David declared that young people ought to study the Sacred Word. "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy word," (Psalm 119:9) writes he. And he adds: "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee. (Psalm 119:11) Thus the study of the Bible is an aid to overcoming evil in a person's life. "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. "Moreover," the psalmist says: "The entrance of Thy words gives light; it gives understanding unto the simple." (Psalm 119:105,130)
The apostle Paul commended the brethren of Berea because they tested all his teaching by the Holy Scriptures. "These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so." (Acts 17:11)
It is true, as Roman Catholics sometimes allege, that all that Christ did and said has not been recorded in the Good Book. John says that- in these words: "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. (John 21:2,5) Nevertheless, the apostle makes it very clear and definite that what has been written is sufficient for our salvation if we will believe it: "And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you might have life through His name." (John 20:30,31)
In stating what constitutes the armor of the Christian for fighting the battle of life against the powers of darkness, Paul says to him: "Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." (Ephesians 6:17) And we are assured that "the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword." (Hebrews 4:12)
Isaiah was inspired by the Holy Spirit to say: "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." (Isaiah 8:20) Thus the Sacred Word is the touchstone by which all doctrine is to be tested.
The Roman Catholic Church claims that the Holy Bible is not a competent guide. What have her leaders given to supply what they claim the Holy Scriptures lack? The following statement says it is oral tradition.
"Some of the truths which God has revealed and which have always been taught by the [Roman] Catholic Church, are not contained in the Bible. These truths have come down to us by what is called oral tradition; that is, -they have been handed down by word of mouth."[3]
Back in the days of Christ there were religious teachers who extolled the oral traditions of the elders above the written word of God. The battle was waged then between the commandments of God and the precepts of men (or oral tradition), just as the Roman Catholic Church minimizes Holy Writ and extols the traditions of the so-called "fathers of the church" today. The Great Master Teacher protested strongly against oral tradition that is contrary to the Sacred Scriptures, and stated that those who teach and accept man-made doctrines, as the foundation for their belief, will find that their worship has been in vain.
"He answered and said unto them, Why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honor thy father and mother: and, He that curses father or mother, let him die the death. But you say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou might be profited by Me; and honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have you made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. ... But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." (Matthew 15:3-6,9)
If the papacy's position that we need oral tradition as an appendix to the Bible is correct, then the Son of God failed in teaching a complete truth, for His only textbook was the Old Testament. To vindicate the Savior's position on this important matter, the following texts are sufficient: "And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. ... And He said unto them, These are the words which I spoke unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning Me." (Luke 24:27,44)
We do not find that Jesus has changed His teaching on this important matter. In the Epistle to the Hebrews we are told that "Jesus Christ [is] the same yesterday, and today, and forever." (Hebrews 13:8)
The Sacred Scriptures are God's communication to man, and it is through this medium that the great principles underlying His kingdom are revealed. One would never know what truth is were it not for the Inspired Word. Its precepts and statutes should be as frontlets between our eyes, and as signs upon our hands. "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in your heart. And thou shall teach them diligently unto thy children, and shall talk of them when thou sits in your house, and when thou walks by the way, and when thou lies down, and when thou rises up. And thou shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. And thou shall write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates." (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)
The condition of the religious world today is alarming. The undermining of faith in the Sacred Bible by religious teachers, and the insidious remarks made about God's Ten Commandments, have resulted in a lack of reverence, in an appalling increase of infidelity, and in a growing disregard of law and order which results in criminality. Current events testify to the outcome of such teaching, and the world is rapidly ripening for the judgments of God to be poured out. All of this is because of the modern attitude toward the Divine Writings.
The true knowledge of Jesus Christ and of the plan of redemption can be obtained only through the study Of the Holy Scriptures. Without this knowledge man s education avails nothing. It is character building that ought to absorb our time and attention in this life. The life is transformed by beholding the beauty of the character of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Sacred Tome. The solidity of Christ's character, and the principles which He enunciated and practiced, were the result of His adherence to the Inspired Word.
When assailed by the enemy, although weak and emaciated by hunger, the Son of God clung with a tenacity stronger than death to Holy Writ. "And Jesus . . . was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days He did eat nothing: and when they were ended, He afterward hungered. And the devil said unto Him, If Thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." (Luke 4:1-4)
How can weak man today meet the enemy without the Written Word? The devil knows the limitation of his power and his strength in his work in overcoming man. He knows that it is " the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God," (Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12) which alone can defeat him. Therefore, he has left nothing undone either to banish from the earth God's written word or to destroy faith in it.
When the devil presented the world in its most attractive and alluring aspect to the Son of God, he met with defeat when Christ gave him an answer from what was written centuries before. "And the devil said unto Him, All this power will I give Thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If Thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be Yours. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind Me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shall worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shall thou serve." (Luke 4:6-8)
Satan, seeing that Christ adhered strictly to Holy Writ's "Thus says the Lord," then digressed from his ordinary procedure of attack. After placing Jesus on a pinnacle of the temple, he met Him with His own weapon by quoting a promise of Psalm 91:11,12, thus showing that he, too, was familiar with the Holy Bible. When Satan repeated the promise, "Cast Thyself down from hence. For it is written, He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone," (Luke 4:9,10,11) he omitted the very words expressing the purpose for which the promise was made. Christ, being a student of the Scriptures, surely detected the omission of the important words," To keep thee in all thy ways. (Psalm 91:11)
Satan has succeeded in dividing apostate Christendom into two main classes: (1) those who deny the inspiration of the Written Word and prohibit its study; and (2) those who accept the Holy Book as the foundation of all true doctrine, but misapply and misconstrue its plainest teachings. This is one of the most dangerous and insidious snares the devil has ever set for the complete loss of souls. Peter mentions a class of people who wrested the Holy Scriptures to their own destruction." Paul also admonishes us not to handle the word of God deceitfully."
The fiercest temptations came to Christ at the time of His greatest weakness, and so it will be with us. It is when human strength is diminished and everything looks dark before our vision that we must cling to the Holy Writings and repose in their promises. In man's own strength it is impossible to withstand the onslaught of the devil, but God has given to us the most effective weapon ever used in this spiritual warfare, and by it we can overcome the enemy. "For the weapons of our warfare are . . . mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." (2 Peter 3:16-24)
Thus it was by the use of the Holy Scriptures that Christ met the three great temptations which so easily overcome men today-appetite, love of the world, and presumption. How thankful we should be to have the help of the Holy Word against the enemy! (2 Corinthians 4:2; 2 Corinthians 10:4,5)
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