Participants: Stephen Bohr
Series Code: BOT
Program Code: BOT000002
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00:30 Well, welcome once again to Session 2 of
00:33 The Bible Or Tradition. 00:35 Now lets review briefly what we studied last time. 00:38 We were talking about the little horn of Daniel 7, 00:41 and we noticed that one of the characteristics which is often 00:46 ignored when the little horn is studied, is the fact that it has 00:50 the eyes of a man. 00:52 We also noticed in our last study that this system is 00:57 called the man of sin, and the system also has 01:02 the number of a man. 01:04 In other words this is a system that depends upon man. 01:07 Now what do eyes represent in Bible prophecy symbolically? 01:12 As we studied we noticed that eyes represent wisdom. 01:16 But because this little horn has the eyes of a man, 01:20 It means that it does not depend on divine wisdom. 01:22 It depends on human wisdom. 01:25 Now I'm going to begin our study today by asking 01:29 a very important question. 01:31 How can the Roman Catholic Church justify teachings from 01:38 their belief system commanding things that are not mentioned 01:43 explicitly, or even implicitly in Scripture? 01:48 Doctrines such as the following: the immaculate conception 01:52 of Mary, the Assumption of Mary bodily to heaven supposedly, 01:58 Mary as the mediatrix between human beings and God, 02:03 the celibacy of the priesthood, the sacrifice of the Mass, 02:08 Lent, infant baptism, baptism by sprinkling, the confessional, 02:15 indulgences, praying for the dead and to the dead, 02:19 reciting the Rosary, abstaining from eating meat on Fridays, 02:24 bowing before idols, and keeping Sunday as the day of rest. 02:29 How can the Roman Catholic Church justify all of these 02:32 observances and beliefs that are not found implicitly, 02:37 or explicitly in holy Scripture? 02:40 The answer is simple. 02:42 It is because of the Roman Catholic view of tradition. 02:46 You see the Roman Catholic Church does not go exclusively 02:50 by what we find in Scripture. 02:53 Their standard is not Sola Scriptura. 02:57 Their standard is the Bible plus tradition. 03:01 And many times tradition stands over and above Scripture. 03:06 Now in order to better understand how the 03:09 Roman Catholic Church justifies this type of belief system, 03:13 and bases many of its practices and doctrines on human 03:17 traditions instead of on the word of God, we need to go back 03:21 and understand the Jewish view of tradition 03:25 in the days of Christ. 03:27 You see the view that the Jews had on divine revelation in the 03:31 days of Christ, the view that was held by the scribes 03:35 and the Pharisees in the days of Jesus, has been replicated 03:40 by the Roman Catholic Papacy, believe it or not. 03:42 And as the Jewish view of tradition led to the rejection 03:47 of Jesus Christ, in the same way Roman Catholicism, 03:51 which has embraced this identical view as the Jews, 03:55 has led to a rejection of the Jesus Christ that we find 04:00 in holy Scripture. 04:01 Now we need to realize that in the days of Christ the view that 04:08 the Jews had of divine revelation consisted in three 04:14 elements, three interconnected elements. 04:17 And what we're going to get into is somewhat technical. 04:20 I'm going to try and explain it as simply as possible, 04:24 but you're going to find that even though it's complex, 04:27 it is fundamental to understand the Roman Catholic view 04:31 of tradition and of Scripture. 04:33 And it's going to help us as we study along in this series. 04:36 The first element of the belief system of the Jews of the days 04:41 of Christ was that there was a deposit of tradition, 04:46 which was composed of two things: 1. The writings of Moses 04:52 2. Unwritten oral traditions that were given to Moses, 04:58 but were never committed to writing. 05:01 This is what they believed to be the deposit of tradition 05:05 with a large T. In other words, it was composed of the writings 05:10 of Moses, and then God supposedly gave Moses many 05:14 oral instructions that were never committed to writing. 05:18 So the first element of the Jewish concept of tradition 05:21 is the idea that there was a deposit of tradition composed 05:25 of the writings of Moses, and oral traditions that were given 05:29 to Moses, which were never committed to writing. 05:32 The second element of the view of tradition that was held 05:35 by the Jews is that there was needed a transmitting mechanism 05:40 to make sure that the oral traditions, 05:43 and that the Scriptures that Moses wrote were passed 05:47 from one generation to another in a trustworthy way. 05:51 You see it's one thing for God to have given Moses the writings 05:56 and all these moral traditions, supposedly, but somehow this 06:00 deposit of tradition had to be transferred from one generation 06:04 to the next. There had to be a succession to make sure 06:07 that these traditions, particularly the oral 06:09 traditions, would be transmitted in a trustworthy way 06:13 from one generation to another. 06:15 The third element of the Jewish view of tradition is that at 06:19 each stage, or each generation, there had to be a living, 06:24 teaching office, or a magisterium that could 06:29 infallibly explain, apply, amplify, and bring forth from 06:37 the deposit of tradition truths that were found in the writings 06:42 of Moses, and also in the oral tradition that God had 06:46 supposedly given to Moses, which was never written down. 06:49 And so basically the Jewish view of tradition was composed 06:53 of three things: 1. The deposit of tradition 06:57 composed of the writings of Moses, and of the oral 07:00 traditions that God gave Moses, which were never written down. 07:03 The second element is there needed to be a mechanism 07:06 to pass this on from generation to generation 07:10 in a trustworthy way. 07:11 There had to be a succession of teachers that could keep 07:15 the tradition pure. 07:16 And then in each generation there had to be a living 07:19 teaching office that could infallibly, according to the 07:23 Jewish view, explain, apply, amplify, and bring forth from 07:28 the deposit of tradition the truths that were found in the 07:32 writings of Moses, as well as in the oral traditions 07:36 that God imparted to Moses. 07:38 Now lets amplify these three different types of views that 07:44 the Jews had. These three successive steps, you might say, 07:49 of the Jewish view of tradition. 07:51 The scribes and the Pharisees believed that when God spoke 07:55 to Moses on Mount Sinai, He not only gave Moses 08:00 what Moses actually wrote. 08:01 They believed that God gave Moses many other oral traditions 08:07 which Moses did not commit to writing. 08:10 In their view there was an original deposit of truth that 08:16 God revealed to Moses, which was composed of two sources. 08:20 One was the writings of Moses that we have in the Pentateuch, 08:25 the five books of Moses, and the book of Job, and also many oral 08:29 traditions that God gave to Moses on the Mount, 08:32 but Moses never actually committed them to writing. 08:36 And so basically that was the idea of the deposit of tradition 08:40 that the Jews had. 08:41 Now at first the written word and the oral traditions were not 08:50 on the same level. 08:51 Scripture was always higher at the beginning than the oral 08:57 traditions that were handed on, supposedly, to Moses. 09:00 But as time passed Scripture and the oral traditions came 09:05 to be on the same level. 09:06 And in the days of Christ things had degenerated in a way that 09:11 the oral traditions, which supposedly God gave to Moses, 09:15 occupied a higher position than the writings of Moses. 09:20 In other words, they were no longer of equal value and equal 09:26 authority as the written Scriptures. 09:28 They were placed above the written Scriptures. 09:31 Now I'd like to read a statement from the International Standard 09:35 Bible and Encyclopedia that explains this idea 09:39 that the Jews had concerning tradition. 09:42 This is in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 09:46 and it reads like this: 10:16 So that is the Jewish view of tradition as it began 10:22 to be passed on from generation to generation. 10:25 Now, of course, if you have a deposit of tradition, 10:28 the passing on of the written Scriptures is not as complicated 10:33 as passing on oral traditions. 10:36 Because you know that in the process of time traditions 10:40 or ideas that are transmitted orally have a tendency 10:45 to degenerate with the passing of time. 10:47 And so the Jews believed that there needed to be some reliable 10:51 way for these oral traditions to be passed along from generation 10:56 to generation in a trustworthy way. 10:59 And, of course, they believed that the written Scriptures 11:03 could be passed along quite simply because they had 11:06 been written by Moses. 11:07 But the oral traditions; it was more complex. 11:11 Because oral traditions have a tendency, as I mentioned before, 11:15 to degenerate in the course of time. 11:17 So the idea was, how can we keep the transfer of these oral 11:22 traditions pure from degenerating? 11:26 Now, after all, we know that with the passing of time, 11:30 things that are passed on orally are distorted 11:32 and they become unreliable. 11:34 So the rabbi's affirmed that there needed to be an accurate 11:40 and a faithful transmitting agent. 11:43 And so they believed that there was a teaching office 11:49 that passed on these oral traditions from generation 11:53 to generation in a trustworthy way. 11:56 And so the Pharisees believed and taught that the written 11:59 Scriptures, as well as the unwritten traditions, 12:03 were passed on from generation to generation in an unbroken 12:08 succession of spiritual leaders who were aided by God's Spirit 12:12 to keep the written Scriptures, and the oral traditions pure 12:16 in the process of transmission. 12:18 Now I want to read a statement that we find in the Interpreters 12:23 Bible Dictionary that explains this process of transmission. 12:28 I'm going to mention the word Talmud. 12:32 Now the Talmud is a book that contains all of the traditions 12:37 that was codified after the times of Christ. 12:40 All of these oral traditions were placed down in written form 12:43 that had been transferred from generation to generation orally. 12:47 So this statement says: 12:51 Which is a compilation of the oral laws. 13:01 In other words besides the five books of Moses, 13:29 Remember these words are very important, handed down. 13:33 And now it says: 14:02 And therefore they were written in what is known as the Talmud. 14:07 Interesting, the process of transmission, isn't it? 14:12 Now Flavius Josephus, who was himself a Pharisee, 14:15 had something interesting to say about this process as well. 14:20 In the book, Antiquities of the Jews, he says the following: 14:33 Now I want you to remember this terminology, because we're going 14:35 to come back to this terminology later on in this series. 14:39 Notice once again: 14:52 Are you understanding what's happening here? 14:53 In other words, there's an oral tradition that according 14:56 to this, is handed down and passed on. 14:58 Incidentally, Flavius Josephus was born in the year 37 A.D. 15:02 He was born shortly after the death of Christ on the cross. 15:06 And he was a Pharisee, who he knew very well how the scribes 15:09 and the Pharisees passed on this information. 15:12 Now Marcel Simon wrote a very captivating book called, 15:17 Jewish Sects, and he explains that the Pharisees would go 15:22 beyond the written text. 15:23 Now I want to read this statement. 15:25 It's found in his book, Jewish Sects, pages 34 and 35. 15:29 This is what he says about what the Pharisees did 15:33 with the written texts of Scripture. 15:34 They didn't stick to the written text. 15:36 They went beyond it and they expanded upon it. 15:38 And they actually believed that they were drawing out truths 15:41 that were under the surface of the writings. 15:44 Now this is what Simon says: 15:47 That is in the eyes of the Pharisees. 15:54 In other words in qualifying and expanding upon the text. 16:00 That is far from opposing the writings of Moses. 16:11 According to the Jews of Christ's day. 16:19 In other words these oral traditions, they said that all 16:22 this goes back to Moses just like the writings of Moses. 16:24 He continues saying: 16:36 That's a key word. 16:41 Are you understanding the mechanism? the deposit of truth, 16:44 the writings of Moses, and then the oral things that God 16:48 revealed to Moses. 16:49 And then you have this mechanism of handing it from generation 16:53 to generation; handing it down, or passing it on 16:55 to succeeding generations. 16:57 Now the process of transmission was very, very interesting. 17:02 It was believed that it was passed on from one generation 17:07 to another in unbroken succession. 17:10 In other words, one generation of leaders passed it on to 17:14 the next, and the next, to the next in unbroken succession 17:17 all of these oral traditions. 17:19 I want to read from the Talmud, Avoth, which means the fathers, 17:24 chapter 1, verses 1, 2. 17:27 This is the way that the Talmud, which is the Jewish codification 17:32 of all of these oral laws, explains it. 17:52 The Great Synagogue, according to Jewish tradition, 17:55 had its origin after the Babylonian captivity with Ezra. 17:58 They believed Ezra was the founder of what is known as 18:01 the Great Synagogue. 18:02 Now it's interesting to notice that according to Marcel Simon 18:06 these words from the Talmud in chapter 1, and verses 2-13, 18:12 are followed by a list of pairs of scholars through which this 18:19 process of transmission was made. 18:21 I want to read what he has to say on page 35 of his book. 18:25 He says, after mentioning several of these pairs 18:28 of leaders that lived in different generations, 18:31 in succeeding generations. 18:32 He says after these: 18:52 And I would add, in the days of Jesus Christ. 18:55 So, in other words, there's this idea that there were pairs 18:59 of leaders in succeeding generations, 19:02 and each pair passed on these oral traditions in a 19:07 reliable way to the next pair, and the next pair 19:10 to the next pair, all the way from the days of Moses 19:14 to the days of Jesus Christ. 19:16 Now in order to make sure that these traditions were kept pure, 19:23 you not only need the transmission mechanism, 19:25 but you also needed a living teaching office at each 19:29 generation that could certify that these oral traditions 19:34 were really the ones that had been passed on by Moses. 19:37 In other words, there needed to be a living voice, or a teaching 19:39 office in each generation that could identify a genuine 19:44 tradition that could authoritatively interpret that 19:48 tradition, explain it, and apply it to contemporary life. 19:53 And so according to Marcel Simon, and I read once again 19:58 from his book, Jewish Sects, pages 35, 36. 20:02 He said that this idea... 20:25 So, in other words, this idea that in each generation 20:28 there was a living teaching office composed of theological 20:32 experts that could certify that this was a genuine tradition. 20:36 And they could explain it, and they could apply it to the lives 20:39 of the people in that generation. 20:40 They believed that that was a living teaching office in that 20:45 period that kept the tradition pure. 20:47 Now George Foot Moore, who wrote a monumental 20:52 word called Judaism. 20:53 It comes in two volumes, and it has a lot of interesting details 20:57 about Judaism in the days of Christ, 20:59 and also contemporary Judaism, had this to say. 21:02 This is in Volume 1 of his book, Judaism, page 30. He says: 21:15 In other words, the writings of Moses were final law, 21:19 but they were not a finished law. Then he explains: 21:32 In other words, many of the binding things that the Jews 21:34 celebrated were not contained in the writings of Moses. 21:36 He continues saying: 21:56 And so many of these traditions they would say, 21:58 No, these traditions come from Moses, and they come through 22:01 Ezra, and they come through the prophets, and they come through 22:05 the men of the Great Synagogue, and they come through 22:07 the latter elders. 22:08 You see, it's the idea of succession, unbroken succession, 22:13 in the transmission of these oral traditions. 22:16 Now George Foot Moore also has this to say in Volume 1, page 31 22:22 of his monumental work. He says: 22:32 Shammai and Hillel were two rabbi's in the days of Christ. 22:36 So in the process of transmitting this from Moses to 22:38 Shammai and Hillel then he innumerate's: 23:21 Are you following the argument here? 23:24 In other words, the idea is that you have the writings of Moses, 23:28 and you have the oral traditions that God supposedly gave 23:31 to Moses, and then you have this transmitting mechanism from one 23:35 generation to the next; unbroken succession from one group 23:39 of leaders to another group of leaders, all the way from the 23:42 days of Moses to the days of Christ. 23:45 And in each generation you have this living, teaching office 23:48 that makes sure that at each stage 23:51 the oral tradition is kept pure. 23:54 That's very important to realize. 23:57 Now the question is how were these practices, 24:03 and these doctrines passed on from the times of 24:06 the Great Synagogue after the captivity to the days of Christ. 24:10 Well, George Foot Moore explains: 24:26 That is the successors of the men of the Great Synagogue, 24:28 after the captivity. 24:36 And so you have the men of the Great Synagogue transferring 24:40 this to the seforim, or the elders, and then they transfer 24:44 it to the rabbi's of the days of Christ. 24:47 Thus in the minds of the compilers of the Talmud, 24:52 which is the compilation of all of the oral law of Judaism, 24:55 there was an unbroken succession from Moses to Joshua, 25:00 to the elders, to the earlier prophets, to Haggai, Zachariah, 25:04 and Malachi, to the men of the Great Synagogue, of which Ezra 25:08 supposedly was the originator, to the seforim, 25:11 or the later elders, and finally, to the rabbi's 25:15 of Christ's day in unbroken succession. 25:18 In fact Moore underlines the fact that to be of any use 25:25 such a chain of tradition most possess unbroken continuity. 25:32 Now you say, Well, what does this have to do with the Bible 25:35 or tradition today? 25:36 You're going to find that Roman Catholicism has the identical 25:41 view of tradition as the Jews had in the days of Christ. 25:45 They used the identical terminology, and they justify 25:49 all of the practices that are not mentioned implicitly 25:52 or explicitly in Scripture on the basis of 25:55 their view of tradition. 25:56 They have the same three identical elements as the Jews 26:00 in the days of Christ. 26:01 The idea of a deposit of tradition, which they believed 26:04 is the written Scriptures, as well as oral information 26:08 that was given to Peter and to the apostles, 26:10 and they believed that there is an unbroken process 26:14 of transferring this information from one generation to the next. 26:18 It's known as apostolic succession. 26:20 And that in each stage there is a living teaching office, 26:24 or magisterium that keeps the traditions pure. 26:29 It is virtually an identical copy of the view of tradition 26:34 that existed in the days of Christ. 26:36 Now it's interesting, Moore points out, (and by the way, 26:41 he's an expert in Judaism), that oral law came to be 26:46 venerated even more than the written revelation, 26:50 than the writings of Moses. 26:51 And I'm reading now from his book, Volume 1, 26:53 pages 33 and 34. He says: 27:03 That is the oral tradition. 27:32 So says George Foot Moore in his monumental work. 27:35 In other words, the oral traditions in the days of Christ 27:40 were considered not only of equal authority as the 27:42 Scriptures, but they were also, in many cases, considered to be 27:46 higher than the authority of Scripture. 27:49 Now in our next study together we're going to 27:51 take a look at Mark 7. 27:53 And we're going to see how this idea, Jesus had to battle 27:58 against it in the issue having to do with the 28:01 washing of the hands. 28:02 So you won't want to miss the living example of this concept 28:06 in our next study together. 28:07 Now the Jews of Christ's day believed that there rabbi's 28:13 spoke with the voice of God. 28:16 Dr. John Cunningham Geikie, in his very good book, 28:21 which is an old book from over a hundred years ago, 28:26 it's called The Life and Words Of Christ, had this to say 28:30 about the veneration that the rabbi's were held 28:34 in the eyes of the Jews in the days of Christ. He says there: 28:53 Interesting! And then he continues saying: 29:18 In other words, the interpretations of the rabbi's, 29:21 and their passing on these oral traditions, 29:24 was considered to be infallible. 29:27 Does that sound familiar? 29:29 Now in the teachings of the rabbi's, 29:33 they were considered practically infallible. 29:36 And I want to read from Geikie, once again, where he states 29:42 this very fact. He says in his book, once again, 29:46 The Life and Words of Christ, 29:57 And the word law, it's not talking about the 29:59 ten commandments; it's talking about the writings 30:00 of Moses, the Torah. 30:02 He continues explaining: 30:05 Notice the key word, transmission. 30:26 Unchangeable and infallible, in other words. So: 30:44 So in other words people would give the impression 30:46 that they were following them, but there were all kinds of 30:49 ways in which they could escape obeying them, 30:52 while at the same time saying that they were obeying them. 30:54 And we're going to notice this in our next lectures. 30:56 It's very interesting. 30:58 Now the role of the teaching office went far beyond 31:02 explaining and applying the writings of Moses, 31:05 even the oral revelations that had been passed along. 31:10 The rabbi's frequently brought forth religious practices 31:13 and beliefs which were not implicitly, and much less 31:17 explicitly, contained in the written revelation. 31:20 When the rabbi's did this were they claiming that they were 31:25 bringing a new truth that had not been previously revealed? 31:28 Not at all! They taught that these truths were part of the 31:33 deposit of unwritten traditions which God had given to Moses. 31:38 They believe that though these traditions had not previously 31:42 been brought to light or written, they had been preserved 31:45 in the process of oral transmission. 31:47 And they were merely discovering these gems of truth from 31:52 the oral traditions that had been passed along from 31:55 generation to generation. 31:56 You start to catch the view that in Roman Catholicism the way 32:02 that all of these practices that are anti-Biblical, 32:06 and contrary to the Bible, are justified. 32:09 It's because of the Roman Catholic's view of tradition. 32:13 Now this brings us to the issue of authority. 32:17 The Pharisees believed that only an elite cadre of carefully 32:22 trained theological experts, guided by God, 32:27 could bring to light, explain, interpret, an apply the written 32:34 Scriptures, as well as the unwritten traditions. 32:38 In other words, the common populous could not really 32:40 understand the Scriptures or the oral traditions. 32:43 They had to have theological experts. 32:45 They had to have theologians that could tell them, 32:48 this is the meaning of the written text, 32:50 and this is an oral tradition that was passed along, 32:53 which wasn't written, but we're taking it out of the deposit 32:57 of oral tradition. 32:58 Now the Jerome Bible Commentary, which is a Roman Catholic Bible 33:01 Commentary, interestingly enough, had this to say about 33:06 the word cathedra in Matthew 23:2. 33:11 You know, there Jesus said that the Scribes and the Pharisees 33:14 sit on Moses' seat. 33:15 Have you ever read that statement there? 33:18 The scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses' seat? 33:20 Now what does that mean that they sit on Moses' seat? 33:23 Well, we need to know what the word is. 33:25 The word seat there is the word cathedra. 33:28 That's an interesting word. 33:32 In other words, the scribes and the Pharisees 33:35 sat on Moses' cathedra. 33:37 And you say, Why is that significant? 33:40 Well, it's significant because Roman Catholicism has 33:45 an interesting way of describing the teachings of the 33:49 Pope when he speaks with absolute and complete authority. 33:52 Do you know how they say that he speaks? 33:54 He speaks excathedra. 33:57 In other words the word cathedra means throne. 34:00 So when he speaks from the throne, his teachings are 34:04 absolutely infallible is the idea. 34:06 And that's the very word that is used here for the scribes and 34:10 Pharisees sitting on the cathedra of Moses; 34:13 on Moses seat. Now notice how the Jerome Bible Commentary 34:16 which is a Roman Catholic Commentary, 34:18 explains the idea of the cathedra. 34:31 In other words, because they sat... 34:33 It wasn't, by the way, it wasn't a literal seat. 34:35 You know, like in the Roman Catholic church. 34:38 You know the Pope, it's not... 34:39 Cathedra doesn't mean that he's sitting on a throne. 34:42 What it means is that he has authority to teach because 34:45 he's the king of the church. 34:47 In other words he rules the church. And so it says: 35:11 And then the Roman Catholic Commentary says: 35:19 So it's unhistorical when it applies to the Jews. 35:22 But it's not unhistorical when it applies to the 35:26 Roman Catholic Church. 35:27 Now when the Pharisees and the scribes spoke excathedra, 35:31 that is from the throne, their word was to be 35:35 accepted as final. 35:37 The general populous was required to accept these 35:41 rabbinical views and interpretations, and obey them 35:45 without any question. 35:46 Thus the genuine meaning of both the written word, 35:52 as well as the unwritten traditions, were only to be 35:56 determined by the rabbi's. 35:58 And the general populous had nothing to say about the matter. 36:02 George Foot Moore, once again, in Volume I of his work, 36:06 pages 40 and 41, explains how the theological experts had a 36:12 stranglehold on the information that the people were required 36:16 to accept and to believe. 36:18 This is what he says: 37:33 Do you remember our study last night? Interesting! 37:37 In other words, the experts are the ones that can 37:39 understand Scripture. 37:41 They are the interpreters, the theologians are. 37:45 The common people, you know, they have their jobs. 37:46 They're not able to understand Scripture for themselves, 37:49 and so they must accept the interpretations that are given 37:52 by the theologians who quote other theologians. 37:55 In this way the religious leaders had absolute control 38:00 over every person and sphere of private and public life. 38:05 Whoever questioned the opinion or authority of the rabbi's 38:09 was in danger of being cast out of the synagogue, 38:13 as we can see from the story of the man that was born blind. 38:16 Do you remember that his parents said, Ask him, 38:21 because they were afraid that they were going to be thrown 38:23 out of the synagogue. 38:24 Now Jesus, in Matthew 23:13, had something to say about 38:30 the scribes and the Pharisees. He said: 38:48 Now how did they do this? 38:50 How did the scribes and the Pharisees shut the heavens 38:53 so that people could not go in? 38:55 They wouldn't go in themselves, and so that other 38:57 people could not go in? 38:58 Luke 11:52 has the answer to that question. 39:01 Luke 11:52 says that they had taken away the key of knowledge. 39:07 You see, they believed that they had the key 39:09 to unlock the Scriptures. 39:10 Common people did not have any right to do that. 39:14 They had to accept the interpretations, so to speak, 39:17 of the church and of the theologians. 39:20 It says there in Luke 11:52: 39:25 And, by the way, this is not lawyers like we 39:27 understand them today. 39:28 These are experts in the law of Moses. 39:30 These are religious lawyers. 39:42 And so the religious leaders had a stranglehold 39:46 upon the common populous. 39:49 And the rebuke of Jesus against the scribes and the Pharisees 39:52 was very, very strong. 39:54 In fact, in Matthew 23, Ellen White says that He was trying 39:58 to break this stranglehold so that people would study 40:01 the Scriptures for themselves, and not accept the mere 40:05 interpretations of the so called experts and theologians. 40:08 George Foot Moore, in Volume I of his work, 40:11 page 43, had this to say: 40:25 Now this is important. 40:40 Now we know why it was so difficult for Jesus 40:43 to get through to the people. 40:44 It was because they had high regard and respect for their 40:49 theologians, for the scholars, for the experts in the law. 40:52 They said, How can this man contradict such a long tradition 40:56 of teaching in Judaism? 40:58 Flavius Josephus, who I previously mentioned was a Jew, 41:02 and a Pharisee, had this to say about the Pharisees. He said: 41:14 Are you understanding this now? the principles involved here? 41:44 So in other words the Sadducees said, No, we only go by written 41:47 Scripture, whereas the scribes and the Pharisees said, No, 41:50 we go by written Scripture as interpreted by the theological 41:54 experts, by the rabbi's, and we also allow the rabbi's 41:57 to tell us what is a genuine tradition, and to take out 42:01 observances and beliefs from the deposit of oral tradition. 42:04 Josephus continues saying: 42:23 It almost sounds like the Roman Catholic Church 42:26 during the 1260 years. 42:29 Ellen White concurred with this view. 42:32 In the book, Desire of Ages, pages 611 and 612, 42:36 she speaks about the authority that the scribes and the 42:40 Pharisees had over the people. 42:41 This is what she says: 43:32 Are you starting to catch the picture? 43:35 You know, as we study this view of Jewish tradition, 43:38 it's amazing if you've done any studies into Roman Catholicism, 43:42 how Roman Catholicism is a virtual copy of the view of 43:47 tradition that was held by the Jews in the days of Christ. 43:49 Is it just possible then that the rejection of Christ by the 43:54 Jews in the days of Jesus, will be repeated at the end of time, 44:00 because of the view that is sustained by the church 44:04 regarding tradition at the end of time? 44:07 I believe the answer to that is yes. 44:09 Now from extant sources we know that much of the 44:14 scholarship of Christ's day consisted in quoting from the 44:18 previous rabbi's and fathers, and what they had said about 44:22 Scripture and tradition, rather than quoting Scripture itself. 44:26 Thus the opinions of men took the place of the word of God. 44:30 Theological works of the scribes were saturated with quotations 44:36 from previous scholars, and what they had said 44:39 about the Biblical text. 44:41 The more they quoted the reputable scholars of the past, 44:45 the more authority they were considered to have. 44:48 You know, it's very interesting. 44:50 Many of you might know that I belong to the committee that is 44:56 studying the issue of women's ordination. 44:58 And, you know, as I look at some of the papers that have been 45:02 submitted by some of the scholars, you know you have 45:04 like probably maybe 15 or 20 pages of text, and then you have 45:09 15 or 20 pages of footnotes referring to what different 45:12 scholars have said about the text. 45:14 Very, very interesting! 45:16 Very similar to what happened in the days of Christ. 45:19 You know, the scholars, they didn't really 45:21 actually study Scripture. 45:22 What they did was accumulate all of the previous wisdom about 45:27 what all of the experts had said about that text of Scripture, 45:31 and then they shared it as if it was Scripture itself. 45:35 Regarding this teaching method of the rabbi's, 45:38 Ellen White makes this very telling statement. 45:41 This is found in the Review and Herald, August 22, 1907. 45:46 She says: 45:55 Fables and childish traditions! 45:59 We're going to see that in our next study together 46:01 when we deal with Mark 7. Very interesting! 46:04 You know, if you really want to know how this worked out 46:06 in practical terms, you've got to come to the next lecture. 46:09 Because there I'm going to take a living 46:11 example from the gospels. 46:12 Mark 7, the issue of the washing of hands. 46:14 And you're going to see that this very terminology that we've 46:17 studied is used there in Mark 7. 46:19 And you're going to see why Jesus was rejected, 46:22 and why they hated Him so much. 46:24 In fact after that episode the Bible says that they were 46:27 seeking how they could destroy Him, because He did not fit 46:31 with their view of tradition. 46:32 And so she continues saying: 46:39 Now notice what their authority was. 46:58 Notice: theories of men. 47:00 Remember in our last study together? 47:01 You know, the eyes like the eyes of a man? 47:04 Meaning that this system bases its teachings, and its practices 47:08 on human wisdom, and not on divine wisdom. 47:11 Ellen White further states, and this is found in 47:15 the Spirit of Prophecy, Volume 2, page 176. 47:25 Do you understand what that means, cold and formal? 47:28 Have you ever listened to a Roman Catholic Mass? 47:33 You know, what does the priest do in Roman Catholic Mass? 47:38 Does he expound upon the word of God with a freshness, 47:41 and with living color? Absolutely not! 47:44 He has this book in front of him and he just basically reads. 47:48 Even the Pope when he appears at that window in Vatican City, 47:53 you know, he always has a podium. 47:54 And he has something that he just repeats, and he reads there 48:00 from the text. Very little life! And so she says: 48:10 What does that mean, learned by rote? 48:11 Learned from memory. 48:31 Perhaps this is the reason why when Jesus told a parable which, 48:36 by the way, we're going to study. 48:38 It'll be our last study in this series: the famous parable 48:42 of the man who built his house on the rock, and the man who 48:46 built his house upon the sand. 48:47 After Jesus told that story and, by the way, 48:53 that was the conclusion also of the sermon on the Mount. 48:55 So that's the concluding story of the sermon on the Mount. 48:58 We find this very telling description in Matthew 7:28, 29, 49:06 and I'm reading from the New International Version, 49:08 which I believe is clearer. It says there: 49:15 When He finished the sermon on the Mount. 49:20 What were they amazed about? 49:23 They were amazed at His teaching. 49:26 Did Jesus repeat His teachings from memory, I mean, la la la, 49:31 without any life in them? No! No! 49:33 Jesus presented the truth with freshness, 49:36 and He took stories to illustrate Biblical truths. 49:40 He made the truth come alive, and He inspired 49:44 the hearts of people. 49:45 That's the reason why you had thousands of people 49:48 that followed Jesus. 49:50 You know, and they would sit on a hillside all day without 49:55 eating, and they didn't even get hungry, you know. 49:59 And Jesus at the end of the day would say, Now wait a minute. 50:01 We can't send these people away hungry. 50:03 You know, we already gave them the spiritual food, 50:06 but we've got to give them physical food too. 50:08 And so Jesus fed the 5,000, and He fed the 4,000, 50:12 because the people loved Jesus. 50:15 They loved His teaching, because it was fresh and it was alive. 50:19 It wasn't just repeating what other rabbi's had said. 50:22 In fact, in our fourth study together, I'm going to go 50:25 through the gospels, and I'm going to show you that Jesus 50:28 not once ever quoted another theological expert. 50:32 He always quoted from Scripture. 50:34 His answer was always based on written Scripture. 50:39 He never appealed to oral tradition to defend any view, 50:43 or to correct people who had gone astray. 50:46 And so it says here: 51:08 What law is this talking about? 51:11 Is it talking about the Ten Commandments? No. 51:14 The word law in Hebrew would be the Torah. 51:18 That is the writings of Moses. 51:21 So, in other words, what this is saying is that Jesus 51:25 taught with authority, because we're going to see that He 51:29 actually based His teachings upon Scripture, 51:32 whereas the teachers of law, they simply repeated 51:36 things from memory, and therefore had no authority. 51:40 And they were quoting other human beings and what they 51:42 had said about Scripture. 51:44 And so we return to the question that we had at the very 51:48 beginning of our study together. 51:50 How can the Roman Catholic Church justify teaching 51:57 doctrines, and commanding observances, that are not found 52:01 in the Bible either explicitly, or implicitly? 52:06 Doctrines such as the immaculate conception. 52:10 Do you know what that means? 52:12 The idea that Mary was conceived without a sinful nature? 52:15 The assumption of Mary. 52:19 The idea that Mary ascended to heaven bodily. 52:22 She died and resurrected the third day, 52:25 and she ascended to heaven bodily. 52:28 The idea that Mary is the mediator between 52:31 the Father and us. 52:34 Actually, you know, we go to Jesus, and Jesus goes to Mary, 52:38 and then Mary goes to the Father. 52:40 She's a mediatrix. 52:42 What about the idea of celibacy? 52:45 The idea of the sacrifice of the Mass; that really the Mass is 52:51 the death of Christ all over again. 52:53 The idea of Lent. And, by the way, there's an Adventist church 52:58 in Northern California that is celebrating Lent. 53:02 And they had a Roman Catholic scholar preach just, I believe, 53:06 last week in their church. 53:09 And they had a Lutheran pastor who had the Scripture reading 53:12 in their church; celebrating Lent. 53:15 Where does the idea of Lent come from? 53:17 Is that found anywhere in Scripture? Well, no. 53:19 It comes from a long process of oral tradition. 53:22 What about baptizing infants? 53:24 What about baptism by sprinkling? 53:28 What about the idea of confessing your sins 53:31 to a sinful priest? 53:32 What about the idea of indulgences? 53:35 What about the idea of praying for the dead, 53:38 and praying to the dead? 53:40 What about the idea of reciting the rosary? 53:43 Where in the Bible do you find the idea of reciting the rosary? 53:46 Jesus said, Don't pray repetitious prayers 53:49 like the religious leaders. 53:51 What about the idea of not eating meat on Fridays? 53:56 Now where does that come from? 53:58 Is there any text in the Scripture that says you can't 54:01 eat meat on Friday's? 54:02 There's no place in Scripture that would say that. 54:05 What about bowing before idols? 54:07 You now, does the Bible condemn bowing before idols? 54:11 The second commandment says don't bow before them. 54:15 How does the Roman Catholic Church justify 54:17 bowing before idols? 54:19 How do they justify the observance of Sunday 54:23 as the day of rest when the Bible explicitly 54:26 says it's the Sabbath? 54:27 It's because of the reverence that they have for the 54:32 tradition of the church; the oral traditions that have been 54:36 passed on from one generation to the next, supposedly by an 54:40 unbroken succession of religious leaders; the threefold idea 54:45 that I shared at the beginning of our study. 54:47 1. A deposit of tradition. 54:49 They say the first deposit is the written Scriptures. 54:53 The second is the oral traditions that had been handed 54:56 down all the time from the days of Peter, 54:59 till the days of the church today. 55:01 They believe that in an unbroken succession these truths, 55:06 both from written Scripture and from oral tradition, 55:09 have been passed along in unbroken succession from one 55:13 generation to the next in what they called the process 55:16 of apostolic succession. 55:18 And they believe that in each generation there is a living 55:23 teaching office of the theological experts who are the 55:27 ones that define, explain, and bring forth from the oral 55:31 tradition practices and beliefs that perhaps were not explicitly 55:36 contained in the written Scriptures, 55:38 but they were contained in the oral traditions, 55:42 and they're simply bringing these things out from the 55:45 deposit of oral tradition. 55:47 The view is virtually identical. 55:51 And all this might appear to be academic, 55:52 but I believe that the best way to approach the Roman Catholic 55:55 view is to see the view that was held in the days of Christ. 55:58 Because if it's a replication of what we have in the days of 56:02 Christ, it means that the religious world today is in the 56:05 same situation that it was back then. 56:08 Incidentally, we're going to have two studies 56:12 on the issue of the Sabbath. 56:14 Later on in this series we're going to discuss the Sabbath 56:19 in the days of Christ. 56:20 You see the Sabbath of the Pharisees was not the 56:22 Sabbath of the Lord. 56:23 It was the Sabbath that was based on human tradition. 56:27 It was a counterfeit Sabbath. 56:28 And the only difference between then and now is that in the days 56:33 of Christ they kept the Sabbath in the wrong way, 56:36 whereas at the end of time Christians are going to 56:38 keep the wrong day. 56:39 But the principle, we're going to find, is the same. 56:43 And so we have very exciting things to study. 56:46 We still have eight more in this series of lectures 56:49 on the Bible or Tradition, and I hope that we were all able to 56:53 understand what we studied this evening. 56:55 Raise your hand if you understood what we studied 56:57 this evening, the Roman Catholic view of tradition. 56:59 Praise the Lord! And the Jewish view of tradition as well. 57:03 So in our next session together we're going to take a look at 57:07 Mark 7, the first few verses of the chapter, 57:11 and we're going to see how this view of tradition plays out 57:16 in a practical encounter of Jesus with the religious leaders 57:20 leaders of His day. 57:22 So don't miss the next exciting episode. |
Revised 2015-01-20