C101-1. Church TRADITION Versus BIBLICAL Christianity! DOWNLOAD to SAVE as a PDF Doc to read OFFLINE. C101-1. Church TRADITION Versus Biblical Christianity!
Introduction to the FOUNDATION of how to correctly interpret Scripture.
Let me begin by explaining what I myself mean by church “tradition”. First of all, there are two types of church traditions. And by the word “tradition” I mean a teaching or a church doctrine. And thus, a church tradition can be a particular church teaching that is SPECIFIC to ONLY one particular church denomination. And then there is another type of church tradition that is widely accepted by many DIFFERENT church denominations. And concerning that ONE particular church “tradition” or church doctrine they are in AGREEMENT. However, concerning OTHER church traditions, they are in DISAGREEMENT with a particular TEACHING. Otherwise, they would be the SAME church denomination. So then, in simplicity, church “TRADITIONS” are individual teachings or individual church doctrines. And when a group of Christians DISAGREE concerning how a verse of Scripture should be INTERPRETED, then that causes a DIFFERENT teaching. And thus, most church denominations usually have what is called a “TENET” of faith. A tenet of faith is a BRIEF statement of a LIST of what a specific church denomination believes and teaches. I have a tenet of faith on my website AMatterOfTruth.com under the heading called B-1. My TENETS OF FAITH! Now, my tenets of faith are different from most other websites in that my statements of faith are NOT so BRIEF. In other words, I try to thoroughly explain what I believe so that I do NOT mislead my readers to wrongly believe something that I do NOT teach. For example, if a tenet of faith says, “We believe in God”, then HOW do you know WHICH God they believe in. So to me, many tenets of faith in some church denominations are too BRIEF. And thus, a person can start attending that church THINKING that what the church teaches is what the Bible ITSELF teaches. But in reality, that church does NOT teach what the Bible itself teaches. That brings us to what I mean by the term “BIBLICAL” Christianity. A Biblical Christian is a Christian who believes and teaches what the Bible ITSELF teaches us in SIMPLICITY. For example, the Bible itself states as a FACT that Jesus is the Son of God. But church TRADITION places their OWN individual INTERPRETATION on what the phrase, “the Son of God” means to THEM. And those DIFFERENT understandings of the meanings of words and phrases in the Bible are what separates and divides Christians into many different church denominations. And thus, each church denomination has its OWN set of church TRADITIONS. In other words, the members of a particular church denomination believe what they are taught BY their own church denomination. And thus, the teachings of their church have become a TRADITION to some Christians. They maintain that this is what the church they attend has “TRADITIONALLY” taught from the beginning of that church denomination, so it must be true. Now, simple logic teaches us that since ALL of the different church denominations make the SAME argument that their church is the only TRUE church, but yet they all teach things DIFFERENTLY, then they ALL cannot be teaching the truth. They all use verses of Scripture to support what they teach, but yet some teachings contradict what other church denominations teach. And that is why there are so many DIFFERENT church denominations. The simple definition for the word “denomination” is to CLASSIFY or identify what a specific church believes and teaches. For example, money or currency has different VALUES; a ten dollar bill is different in value from a five dollar bill. And thus, the word, “ten” classifies the DIFFERENCE between a dollar bill with a DIFFERENT number on them, a five dollar bill, a one dollar bill, a 20 dollar bill and so forth. And in the same way, a church denomination adopts or chooses a NAME that somewhat defines what they believe and teach. But even church “names” can be deceptive as well. In other words, just because the NAME of a church is called “The Church of Jesus Christ” that does NOT mean that that church denomination teaches the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. For you see, that church denomination is ALSO called the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, which is commonly known as the Mormons. I have several in-depth Bible studies explaining WHY the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints is NOT Biblical Christianity under the subject heading called >>>Y-0. Mormonism<<< But for now, let us continue learning other church TRADITIONS that are NOT what the Bible ITSELF teaches. There are basically TWO types of Christianity or two different CLASSIFICATIONS of Christians.
Classification #1.
Trinitarian Christians. All Trinitarian Christians believe that there is only ONE TRUE God and that the one true God is ONE being in THREE separate persons. And MOST Trinitarian Christians believe in the doctrine of the Trinity which states that all three persons of the Trinity Godhead are CO-ETERNAL and CO-EQUAL. They define co-eternal as always existing without ever having a beginning of any kind. They define co-equal as all three persons being equal with each other without any person being greater than or less than the other two persons of the Trinity. Now, SOME Christians still call themselves Trinitarian Christians, but they do NOT adhere to the terms co-equal and co-eternal.
Classification #2.
Non-Trinitarian Christians. All non-Trinitarian Christians believe that there is only ONE TRUE God and that the one true God is ONE being in ONE person.
And under classification #2, the non-Trinitarian Christians, there are basically THREE different classes of Christians who believe that the ONE true God is one God in ONE person.
#1. A non-Trinitarian Christian can be an Oneness Pentecostal Christian.
Oneness Pentecostal Christians believe that the ONE true God is ONE person, who ALONE is the Father. They believe that Almighty God the Father “manifested” Himself to become the Son while remaining as the Father up in heaven. In other words, they believe that Jesus is the Father Himself.
#2. A non-Trinitarian Christian can be a Jehovah’s Witness.
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Almighty God the Father is the only true God and that Jesus is the Son of God. They believe that Jesus had a BEGINNING and therefore the Son of God cannot be Almighty God Himself. They believe that the Son of God was born or brought into existence in the eternity past and they use Colossians 1:15 as their Scripture support. They believe that God created everything through the Son. Some say that God created the Son and then the Son created everything else.
#3. A non-Trinitarian Christian can be a Biblical Unitarian Christian.
All BIBLICAL Unitarian Christians believe that the ONE TRUE God is ONE God in ONE person who ALONE is the Father. They believe that the Father ALONE is the Creator of the Universe. All Biblical Unitarian Christians believe that Jesus is the word of PROPHECY manifested in the flesh or the spoken word of God made flesh, according to John 1:14. And thus, all Biblical Unitarian Christians believe that the Son of God did not come into existence UNTIL the virgin birth. Biblical Unitarian Christians believe that the Son of MAN, Jesus, was HIGHLY EXALTED after the cross and resurrection to be MADE Lord and given the name or title God, according to Acts 2:36, Philippians 2:8-11, Isaiah 9:6,7, and many other verses of Scripture. Now to ME, Biblical Unitarian Christians teach the BIBLICAL Jesus according to what the Bible ITSELF teaches and NOT according to church TRADITION. And in the chapters that follow, I will explain WHY the ONE TRUE God is ONE God in ONE person who ALONE is the Father and WHY Jesus is NOT the Father Himself. And I will explain WHY the Son of God was brought into existence at the Virgin birth and NOT in the eternity past as the Jehovah’s Witnesses wrongly teach. To continue reading chapter 2 please click on the link called C101-2 WHY the Father is the ONLY TRUE God! And to find the links to all of the chapters please click on the link C101-0 Church TRADITIONS Versus BIBLICAL Christianity! Thanks for reading, and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. And to me, the truth concerning who Jesus TRULY is, according to the Bible ITSELF, is the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus. So, for ALL of the studies on the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus, please click on the subject heading >>>D-0. THE BIBLICAL UNITARIAN VIEW of JESUS!<<< And for the SUBJECT on the true foundation of the church, please click on the subject heading >>>C-0. THE TRUE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH!<<< This way you can just send ONE link to those who you want to share the TRUE sound Biblical FOUNDATIONAL teachings of the church that Jesus and his Apostles taught in the first century church.
Your brother in our Lord Jesus Christ, Brother Mark.
My heartfelt prayer is that all Christians RETURN to the TRUE FOUNDATION of the church that is taught by the very Apostles of Jesus in the first century. So let us all come into the UNITY of the faith and return to what Jesus and his Apostles taught us in SIMPLICITY in the New Testament.
To learn more TRUTH, then please return to
VERSES USED TO TEACH THAT JESUS PREEXISTED!
To me, the best way to know the ONE true God in ONE person is to know who Jesus TRULY is according to the WHOLE word of Almighty God. So please read ALL of the studies under the heading >>>N-0. WHO is JESUS ACCORDING to the BIBLE?<<< and you will see that the Bible itself teaches us that Jesus was CREATED by his God and Father. And if you have any questions related to the correct meaning of certain verses of Scripture on this subject of who Jesus is please read all the studies under the two headings >>>U-0. VERSES used for THE TRINITY!<<< and >>>V-0. VERSES used to TEACH that Jesus PRE-EXISTED!<<< These two headings have ALL of the studies that I have on who Jesus truly is according to what the Bible itself teaches us in simplicity. I compiled these three headings to make it easy for my readers to send just one, two, or three links to those you desire to help understand what the Bible itself teaches concerning who Jesus is in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. If you have any questions, please feel free to write to me. My contact email is MarkatAMatterOfTruth@Gmail .com. Thanks again for reading and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the truth of the whole word of Almighty God.
Your Brother in our Lord Jesus Christ, Brother Mark.
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