Oral Tradition

  • Thread starter Thread starter Will_Pick
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
I have also heard this question:

Can you name one oral, extrabiblical tradition which is necessary for one’s salvation?

Well, the Bible is an extrabiblical tradition itself, but it isn’t necessary for one’s salvation.

Probably the better question would be: What dogmas of the Catholic Church are not explicitly stated in the Bible, but we must believe them to go to heaven? That would fufill that question, right? Any ideas?
 
The only thing NECCESSARY for one’s salvation is the sacrifice of Jesus. (Before my fellow Catholics go crazy on me, I am well aware of the Church’s teachings on Baptism, Confession, etc and so forth, and I fully comply and agree with them…just bear with me please)

The Catechism lays out for us the “ordinary means of salvation”, which Jesus gave us, which of course would be His Church and consequently, the Sacraments that flow from that Church. But, none of this would be possible without HIs death on the Cross. And, although His Church is the “ordinary means of Salvation”, the Catechism clearly points out that God wills that all men be saved and that God does not hold accountable those who do not know any better through no fault of their own. So (I’m taking a very narrow view of the word “neccessary” here) technically, the only “neccessary” part of the equation is the Crucifiction.Everything else rests on God’s judgement, which is infinitely more perfect and loving than we could possibly comprehend (and also is not subject to His own rules which He gave to us).
 
40.png
joshua_b:
The only thing NECCESSARY for one’s salvation is the sacrifice of Jesus. (Before my fellow Catholics go crazy on me, I am well aware of the Church’s teachings on Baptism, Confession, etc and so forth, and I fully comply and agree with them…just bear with me please)

The Catechism lays out for us the “ordinary means of salvation”, which Jesus gave us, which of course would be His Church and consequently, the Sacraments that flow from that Church. But, none of this would be possible without HIs death on the Cross. And, although His Church is the “ordinary means of Salvation”, the Catechism clearly points out that God wills that all men be saved and that God does not hold accountable those who do not know any better through no fault of their own. So (I’m taking a very narrow view of the word “neccessary” here) technically, the only “neccessary” part of the equation is the Crucifiction.Everything else rests on God’s judgement, which is infinitely more perfect and loving than we could possibly comprehend (and also is not subject to His own rules which He gave to us).
Click to expand...
The next question they would ask you given that response is, “Then what is the rest of the stuff for?”
 
And a good question it is indeed. I can only respond with analogy and personal opinion but I’ll try to convey my point as best I can.
In short, I don’t think any of us can say for sure “why” we are required to do everything else, but we must trust that God, in his infinite and perfect wisdom, has valid reasons for the requirements he puts on us (such as Baptism, Confession, membership in and conformation to His Church, etc.) For example, God demanded the sacrificial system and Kosher food laws of the Israelites. It probably didn’t make much sense to them, but we can understand thousands of years after the fact that those laws were imposed so that God could baby-step the Israelites out of the culture of idolatry in which they had become so enveloped. And, while God was leading them out of idolatry, and repeatedly stressing to them that He was One God, Scripture speaks of Him as a Plurality. It isn’t until the New Testament that we see that reference of Plurality realized in its fullest in the Trinity. (cont)
 
Someone (I think it was Rosalind Moss) once said “our God is a one step God” meaning He leads us a step at a time and ultimately He knows where He is leading us, but we just have to trust Him because until we reach the destination He has planned, most of it usually won’t make much sense to us. Scripture tells us that we must be Baptized, and that we must repent (and Catholics would elaborate that repentance includes the Sacrament of Reconciliation), Jesus tells us that unless we “eat the flesh of the Son of Man, we will have no life within us”. I have absolutely no clue WHY God requires us to do all of these things, but I trust that in His infinite wisdom is very good reason for all of it. To say that since Jesus sacrifice paid for our sins and as a result all we have to do is “believe” is to refuse Salvation on the terms which it was offered to us, and in my humble opinion, is not very trusting in the wisdom of God and His reasoning for why we are required to do, as you so eloquently stated, “the rest of the stuff”.
 
Maybe a personal example will help illustrate my point a bit further. My daughter (who is 7) wanted to play in the neighbors driveway, but they no longer live there and the house is presently vacant. I would not let her, because of homeowner liability issues that may arise if one of her friends got hurt on the property. Of course at 6 and 7, her friends and her couldn’t understand “why”, since they have no knowledge of how insurance works, or even what it is, but none the less my reasons were valid. God, I think, deals with us on pretty much the same terms. His ways, His reasons, and His wisdom, are I’m certain, way beyond our finite human comprehension, and I for one do not think it is a good idea to go second guessing what we are told we must do, just because it “doesn’t make sense” or we don’t see why it is neccessary. Just because we don’t see why it is neccessary doesn’t make it unneccessary. Sorry, I’ll stop monopolizing the thread and get off of my little soapbox now.
 
One reason I do believe God wants us to participate in the sacraments is because we are finite creatures and we like to “see” things. The Sacraments are God’s power made visable.

This is my personal opinion of one of the reasons why. Another being perfectly in line with Josua. We may not be able to understand the why yet, but God does things for own good, just like as parents we do the same for our children.

God Bless,
Maria
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top