A small exposition on one of the most important Bible verses of all!!! 2 Thessalonians 2:14 (15 in newer versions)- Therefore, brethren, stand fast; and hold the traditions which you have learned, whether by word, or by our epistle. Here St.Paul mentions the people of Thessalonia to stand fast in the TRADITIONS which St.Paul had preached from his epistles as well as from his word, many make the archetype mistake of representing this term word to the Bible, since many make the archetype connection of the term to the Bible alone without even thinking!! But unfortunately for them, the real case isnt so!! Since the term word does not mean to the Bible (which is written), but rather to the Word of Mouth or in other words (Oral Tradtion)!! Lets see these in detail!!! Here is the Greek text of the same verse: as Thessaloniscensses II: 15 ara oun adelfoi sthkete kai krateite tau paradoseis aw edidacqhte eite dia logou eite di epistolhoi hmwn The Greek term paradoseis means TRADITION and not teaching as some protestant Bibles translate it to be!! The term logou means WORD OF MOUTH, meaning Words spoken out of mouth, taken in context, the Words spoken by the Apostles to preach them!! The term Epistolhoi means letters or in other words, taken in context, the letters written by the Apostles to preach the people!! From this verse, it is VERY clear that the Apostles had preached both by writing letters to the people and also by preaching them directly!! And one thing to be noticed here is, if the Fullness of the Gospel truth is found entirely in the written epistles alone, then why would St.Paul ask the people of Thessalonia to stand fast to both Word of Mouth and Word from the Epistles?? I call upon all the protestants to meditate and think about this prayerfully!! The epistolhoi or the Written traditions are what we know now to be the Bible!! And if that *alone* is sufficient, like many here think and follow, and that all Christian truths should be found in the Bible *alone*, then why does St.Paul write to the Thessalonians to stand fast to something in addition to the written traditions?? I believe thats a question to be pondered upon!!! And this logou or the *unwritten tradition* of the Apostles, is what we Catholic Christians call as the *Sacred Tradition*!!! And thats the reason we dont believe in the Bible alone doctrine which is against this verse and also which is purely man-made!!! And thats why we have Sacred Tradition on-par with the Sacred Scriptures! Take on out of the equation, and you would total chaos, as proven by the protestant deformation of the 16th century which lead to 40000 different denominations against the will of Christ (St.John 17:21, Ephesians 4:5) So, the next time you ask a Catholic the Where in the Bible...? question, think twice whether you know for sure if the Bible *alone* is the complete deposit of the early Christian Faith!! And this verse obviously makes it clear that it is NOT!!! But of course, i do not expect you to believe me in this for my say-so!! And i do not expect that you will even agree with this exposition!! And so, for the unbelievers, i would like to pose a couple of questions, 1) Where in the Bible does it state that, Every Christian belief must explicitly be found in the books of the Bible to be believed?? Book, chapter and verses?? 2) What is the pillar and bulwark of the Truth, according to the Bible? Is it the Bible itself? If yes, then book, chapter and verses!!! And if you cannot answer these questions, dont you ever ask the rhetorical where in the Bible question to a Catholic ever again, for then you are only being dishonest in your approach of the Truth!!!
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 08:06:30 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015