You are contemptable and an unregenerate and self serving person who is of your father, the devil, for he was a liar from the beginning and is full lies and deceit. You removed me for proselytizing who? I never did such a thing and you know it; your problem is you hate truth, God and love religion. I called it right; that you came into this thread for one reason and one reason only. When you could not find a legitimate reason you made one up; typical for an unregenerate soul. Flee from the wrath to come and turn to Jesus who can save you; repent and believe the gospel according to God; not Rome.Now to answer CatHerder in a charitable manner:
So you think hymns, prayers, Bible reading, homilies and Holy Communion are unscriptural. Of course, your church does exactly the same things every Sunday. So your church is unscriptural too?
No not all, if it accords with Scripture, then it is acceptable and if it is not, then it is not acceptable. The firm standard to which mens traditions are to be measured is the Scripture in my opinion; not the other way around as in your church. That is how the JW’s and Mormons and other religions emerged by using the tradition of men to interpret the Scripture as opposed to Scripture being used to measure the tradition of men. This is why Jesus was so angered by the Pharisees, Scribes and Sadducees. They took their traditions and nullified the Scripture and He said because of that they prevented people from entering the Kingdom.
1 The Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered around Him when they had come from 1 Jerusalem, 2 and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with impure hands, that is, unwashed. 3 For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders; 4 and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots. 5 The Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?” 6 And He said to them, "Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.7 BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’
8 “Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.” 9 He was also saying to them, "You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. - Mark 7:1-9
Jesus affirms the point I made & received from Him; that the tradition of men can and often does nullify God and prevent men from entering His kingdom. In matthew, Jesus again affirms the same.
1 Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” 3 And He answered and said to them, "Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 "For God said,
HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,' and, HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH.’ 5 "But you say,
Whoever says to his father or mother, "Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God," 6 he is not to honor his father or his mother.' 7 And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 "You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: 8 THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS,
BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.
9 `BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME,
TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’ "
10 After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, "Hear and understand. 11 “It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”
12 Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?” 13 But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. 14 “Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
What I find frightening and worrisome are verses 13-14 because in essence Jesus is saying leave them alone; these are not whom the Father has given me and they are blind guides and leading the blind into the pit What caused this; they put their traditions that contradicted/nullified Scripture before and above Scripture.
You wonder why a true Protestant puts their trust in the Scripture above that of the tradition of men; for the reasons above and because Jesus also said it was because they were set above the Word of God. Traditions of men are not the Word of God and not all traditions nullify the Scripture either. The example you gave was the use of Hymns, which many are based on specific passages contained in God’s revealed word and complement what was already written. Jesus commanded us to learn from the mistakes that Israel made is to be used as examples and instruction.
Why do you think all false religions put forth extra biblical revelation, which is a guise for usurping the authority of God as revealed in His word for the tradition of men to gain control and power over people?
) Don’t know if you’ve ever been to a Mass or not, but I guarantee you that more Scripture is proclaimed at our one hour liturgy than at any Protestant service.