Traditions of men

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nikolayevich
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Traditions of men

Post #1

Post by nikolayevich »

What should be done by believers when discovering traditions, or aspects of traditions we partake in have come down to us via pagan sources, or are named after other gods, etc?

One example is Easter. Not speaking of the death, ressurrection and ascention of Jesus which is a wonderful celebration, but rather the name "Easter", which is really the name of a goddess, "Eostre".

Should we not, like David, in the Psalms refrain from even speaking the name of other gods?

"Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god; Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, Nor take up their names on my lips." -from Psalm 16

Now, granted, the Bible mentions other gods, but the point I think is that they are mentioned as bywords and evil is associated with them.

I'm not sure the best approach, so I'm not assuming to have the best answer... I think it would be difficult for the whole church body worldwide to change, but I'd like to think we could still alter traditions to honor God better. Thoughts?

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otseng
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Post #2

Post by otseng »

Or to even expand the issue, how are we to respond to traditions that aren't Biblical (even if it is not pagan in origin)? The traditions might have even had a good origin, but is currently outdated or even detrimental.

An example is Moses' serpent on the pole. Originally, it had a good purpose:

Num 21:8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

But, years later, the Israelites still had that serpent and was worshipping it:

2Ki 18:4 He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.

And I think the church now is not immune to holding on to things purely out of tradition and not rethinking if those traditions are still valid for today.

One example is the "altar call". Is it Biblical? I don't see any examples of it in the Bible. Yet, practically every single church in all the major denominations practice it. Then how did it originate? Probably through Charles Finney. Why does it continue on if it's not Biblical? Why aren't more Christians questioning the validity of altar calls?

Maybe we should start a thread to list Christian traditions worth reevaluating...

nikolayevich
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Post #3

Post by nikolayevich »

otseng wrote:Or to even expand the issue, how are we to respond to traditions that aren't Biblical (even if it is not pagan in origin)? The traditions might have even had a good origin, but is currently outdated or even detrimental.
I think that is important. I think it's ok to have man made traditions which support Biblical teaching, but there certainly are things which are outdated or detrimental.
otseng wrote:But, years later, the Israelites still had that serpent and was worshipping it:
You know, that's a part of the story I hadn't remembered. It's fascinating how we'll corrupt things, even from good places.
otseng wrote: And I think the church now is not immune to holding on to things purely out of tradition and not rethinking if those traditions are still valid for today.
Therein lies the challenge. How do believers go about reevaluating traditions when there are reasonably rigid corporate structures to churches? To be sure, I think some corporate structure is helpful for things such as missions, and perhaps to be sure the traditions don't change week to week.
otseng wrote: One example is the "altar call". Is it Biblical? I don't see any examples of it in the Bible. Yet, practically every single church in all the major denominations practice it. Then how did it originate? Probably through Charles Finney. Why does it continue on if it's not Biblical? Why aren't more Christians questioning the validity of altar calls?
That's very eye opening. I hadn't known about that.

My dad and I were recently talking about how his parents' generation, especially those born in the first half of the 20th century, were often quite legalistic in their thinking. I think it's true that there were often strong emphases on things which weren't absolutely necessary to the faith. There was of course a major rebound from that as well, as kids ran off with their boyfriends/girlfriends, did drugs for the first time, vowed to think differently with their own kids, to teach them less 'rules'. Now, my grandparents were great people, firm believers, as were many at the time. But in their culture, were there things taught which were detrimental to the faith? How do we really determine the fruits of a given teaching?
otseng wrote: Maybe we should start a thread to list Christian traditions worth reevaluating...
Sounds good, Christian and Biblical traditions would be great, as there are many truly Biblical traditions which we've relegated to the Old Testament for abandonment. And I guess other posts related to non Christian/Biblical traditions or concerns can follow here. Is that what you were meaning?

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Post #4

Post by otseng »

I've created a thread to debate/discuss this - What Church traditions are not Biblical?

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