Friday, April 25, 2014

WHICH TRADITION DOES YOUR RELIGION FOLLOW?


When I was a Baptist preacher I preached against those who followed tradition and taught that we didn't need creeds or confessions, only the Bible.  Eventually I came to realize I was blinded by my own tradition.  The fact is that every denomination has its own tradition.  The Baptists follow the Baptist tradition.  The Methodists follow the Methodist tradition.  The Pentecostals/Charismatics follow their tradition.  That's why when you go to a Baptist church, it's not Methodist or Episcopalian.  It's the Baptist tradition.  The part about the Bible isn't true either.  No one follows the Bible alone.  Everyone follows certain interpretations, commentaries and teachings - each according to their own tradition.  

Once I came to see this I then had to ask which tradition and which interpretation is correct?  They can't all be true or else truth is a contradition and relative and thus, not truth at all.  From here I worked my way back through church history to discover the very first and oldest tradition and interpretations from the time of the apostles and those whom they taught.  I found that these had remained unchanged in the Holy Orthodox Church for some 2,000 years and here I found the one true faith, once and for all delivered to the saints that does not change with the times and whims of society.  


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