The Traditions of Men

5. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?

6. He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

7. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

8. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.

9. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

—Mark 7

Passages such as these often invite Christian smugness, or even outright anti-Semitism. Jesus was critical of many of the Jews of his day, and many of those critiques still hold for modern Jews. But these critiques are not just for Judaism, per se, but for the practice of piling traditions of earthly authorities between people and the word of God. These words of criticism to the Pharisees were also warnings to future Christians. There are some passages that point to very specific future Christian practices. Consider:

27. And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.

28. But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

—Luke 11

Here, we have a specific warning against the Cult of the Virgin Mary. Or consider:

7. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

8. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

—Matthew 6

So much for praying a rosary, or even having a prayer book. Or finally:

17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

—Matthew 5

in combination with:

15. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

16. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

17. Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

18. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

19. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

20. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

21. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

22. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

—Matthew 7

How many preachers teach that the Law has been done away with?

Errors happen. People are fallible. The Bible is not an easy read. But when a leader is elevated on the pulpit week after week, without time for debate afterwards, the same errors get hammered in and magnified. Even worse, when a denomination rests its authority on the writings and rulings of its previous leaders, then more layers of human authority get in between the Bible and the laity. Errors accumulate over the centuries.

An analogous process has happened to the U.S. Constitution. Today’s federal government far exceeds the bounds written in the Constitution. To have the modern welfare state should have required many amendments. However, the defense of the Constitution, and its interpretation, has been left to a small group of authorities, the Supreme Court, and these authorities are tasked with building on precedent instead of looking at the actual words of the Constitution with fresh eyes. Thus, errors accumulate.

If each church were to allow multiple speakers, and questioned each, then each church would look at the word of God with fresh eyes. Mistakes would be made, but different churches would make different mistakes at different times. These mistakes would not be blessed as coming from great authorities, so future discussion could allow correction.

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