In T 0.1 Introduction to Tradition in the Church, we discussed that a tradition is a set of beliefs and customs that gets passed from one generation to another. We also looked at the verses that charged believers to follow the tradition that was handed down by the Apostles:
So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter. (2Th 2:15 ESV)
Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.
(2Th 3:6 ESV)
From the above verses we know:
- There is a tradition, a set of belief(s) and practice(s), that was set up in original Christianity.
- Believers were expected to follow these traditions.
- Believers were charged to avoid brothers who walked in idleness or didn’t do the things talked about in this letter, including following the tradition handed down by the Apostles.
To see the tradition talked about in the above verses in more detail we really need to look at the beliefs and practices that the Apostles held forth. We don’t have any recordings of their words spoken, but we do have what was in their letters and the book of Acts:
That set of beliefs and practices is what this website is all about. There is no way to cover the entire tradition in a single post so I will give a sketch of some key points along with references to original Christian beliefs and practices in other posts.
There are already some points about the tradition that started in Original Christianity in the introduction, Welcome to Original Christianity.Net, to this website. Here are some of those points about original Christianity with links to posts on the subject.
- Jesus walked in great power and wisdom on this earth.
- Believers held the words of Jesus close to their hearts. (Luke 24:32, Acts 2:42)
- After his death and resurrection, Jesus was followed as the risen Savior.
- The receiving and leading of the holy spirit, including the manifestations, was paramount. Many displayed the manifestations of the Spirit including prophecy, however, false prophecy was to be recognized and rejected. (Matt 7:15-19,2Pet 2:1)
- Believers did more than go to church together, they often worked, ate and lived together, bonded together in fellowship by faith.
- Followers were thrilled by the growth of the word of God (Jesus Christ) as signs, miracles and wonders followed the preaching by the disciples.(Acts 2:43,4:30, 5:12,8:6,14:3,15:12)
- Any kind of sin including sexual sin (any kind of sex outside of the marriage of a man and a woman) was taken as following the flesh instead of the spirit, therefore, there was no acceptance of adultery, fornication, and homosexuality.
- Ministers were allowed to be married as raising a family was considered valuable training in learning to lead a flock of believers.(1 Tim 3:2-4)
- People with the gift ministries (apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists) were the spiritual leaders of the Church (as opposed to Bishops.) (Acts 13:1, 15:32). See The Leading of Original Christianity Was Done By Apostles and Other Gift Ministries through the Spirit, Not by Bishops As We Have Now.)
Also in T 0.1 Introduction to Tradition in the Church, I discuss that Jesus taught against the practice of establishing any tradition that negated the word of God. In fact, Original Christianity was devoted to rightly dividing scripture to keep the Word of God to full effect.
Listen to this story about something I experienced at a church not too long ago. At a service that I was attending the pastor geared the service around an exercise. Instead of chairs lined up in rows or circles even, he had the auditorium set up with tables and chairs like for dining. People gathered together in groups, and they were assigned a passage of Scripture, to be used as a starting point for discussion as to what that Scripture meant to them.
The exercise certainly had a good motive for it. The point was to set up a meal like setting and show how easy it was to talk about things around the table. The pastor was encouraging the congregation to evangelize; no problem with the motive.
There were about half a dozen people around the table where I was sitting, and I waited to hear what each would say. Now, to be sure, people took the exercise seriously and endeavored to communicate the impact of the Scripture to them. They each interpreted the verse as best they could,
However, when it came to my turn, I decided to talk about what the words meant in the context and where it had been used before. Immediately, some of the people’s heads picked up, and said, “that’s right I’m going to change what the verse means to me to that.” But not all. One person especially kept promoting a viewpoint that was full of Christianese but was not what was being taught in the verse, and maybe not true at all. Evidently, in that church, it was perfectly acceptable for people to get different meanings and people were allowed to let loose with their ideas in what scriptures meant.
There are verses in the bible that speak directly to how scriptures are to be handled, Here’s one:
Study earnestly to present yourself approved to God, a workman that does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth. (2Ti 2:15 MKJV)
Rightly dividing in the verse above is the Greek word orthotomeo, literally “straight cutting”. Second Timothy 2:15 sets up a pair of opposites. On one side is the unashamed workmen of God’s word who “cuts the words” straight. That means he derives the correct meaning. On the other hand, then, is the workmen of the word who should be ashamed because he derives meanings that aren’t there.
Another verse that talks about how Scripture is to be handled is in second Peter:
knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2Pe 1:20-21 ESV)
The words that I want to focus on here are “someone’s own interpretation”. The Greek here is very interesting. Idios epilusis are the words here and they are very interesting. Idios, meaning “one’s own”. is used elsewhere in the Bible. But epilusis is the single occurrence of this Greek word in the New Testament. “Interpretation” is an okay translation, but my interlinear translates it as “explanation”. I’ve seen it also translated as “letting loose”, as in letting loose with one’s own thoughts.
Now, to be sure, those words relate directly to how the prophet gives the words as he gives them. When a prophet is giving a message from God he gives the message that God says to give. He doesn’t let loose on his own with his own thoughts, meanings, or anything else other than the message that God directed him or her to give. The prophet is charged not to explain the message with his own understanding. (If you look at some prophecies like Jonah’s, you will see that he didn’t really agree with the message and want to give it.)
Let me ask you a question. If God is saying that the prophet is not allowed to put his own meaning on the message, what makes you think that you can?
The point of this verse is that it is the utmost importance that the message contains God’s meaning, not the prophet’s, and certainly not yours or mine.
Jesus and the religious leaders of his time conflicted over tradition. Jewish tradition contains the idea that every word that the Lord God revealed has 70 possible meanings. And the end result of that huge realm of possibility of what all the Scriptures mean with all the various meanings of words that are available is that it is impossible just to read something and know what it says. So there must be more than Scripture to help understand Scripture. Thus is the Jewish justification for the Talmud or oral law.
As we will see, the (Roman) Catholic tradition includes the same concept. Scripture by itself, according to Catholic tradition is insufficient. And thus there is the requirement of the church to go beyond Scripture and define what needs to be defined for people to live righteously.
There are not 70 meanings for every word in every verse in the Bible. To be a true workman of the word we need to find the true meaning of the words we are given.
Again, remember what Jesus said what he thought about the Jew’s need for tradition. He said it made the Word of God of no effect. Yet that is what happened to the Jews and in the Catholic tradition which started right after the gospel of John as we shall see.
Original Christianity was concerned about stopping the use of tradition to interpret scripture and make the word of God of no effect.
This is a huge part of the Apostolic tradition that was handed down by the Apostles.
We will handle more of what was handed down in future articles.
last revised 1/8/2022