G
Genesis315
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It says in the very preceding verse that he will send a Redeemer–Christ came as Redeemer the first time, He does not come as Redeemer the second time, but as Judge.This one is probably the best, and I must say it certainly does imply a Tradition. I think the problem though is that this isn’t necessarily a prophecy for our time. Clearly, this is a prophecy about Jesus, but I think it applies to his second coming, not his first. Look a couple verses earlier:
18 According to what they have done,
so will he repay
wrath to his enemies
and retribution to his foes;
he will repay the islands their due.
This clearly isn’t Jesus the first time around, but it is certainly the second time around. So, I’m not sure if the verse in question actually applies to now. Just my thought. Even so, I would point out that one verse is too little to base a major doctrine on, and all there really is is this one verse.
It says teach. The Apostles went preaching. They didn’t just write some things and pass them around. They went out and taught the Gospel (the whole good news). As we know from elsewhere in Scripture, this includes written and oral traditions. So if you look at the verses from Matthew and John I provided in the context of the definition of the “Gospel” it applies to both.Here’s some more.
These two have one common point, that I think is true for most of the other verses as well. This doesn’t actually make any mention of tradition, you are assuming that Jesus is speaking of an Oral Tradition, when no such thing is mentioned. I really think you are reading too much into these verses. For instance, in John 14:25 neither tradition nor scripture are mentioned. All it says is that the Holy Spirit will teach the Apostles what they need to know. It doesn’t tell them to pass down oral traditions, it doesn’t tell them to write those teachings down. It makes no mention of later generations. If anything, I would assume that the Holy Spirit will do the same thing for later generations as well, since the Holy Spirit will be with us forever. Certainly, nothing is mentioned about tradition.
Again in Matthew 28, no mention is made of how the teachings will be passed down. It’s completely open. All that is stated is that the Apostles will teach others. It doesn’t say that they will do it by word of mouth, it doesn’t say they will do it by writing, heck, they might even be passing down Jesus teaching through interpretive dance! All this verse says is Jesus commanding the Apostles to teach, it makes no mention of a divinely protected Tradition. That is an unjustified assumption.
To be continued…
For example, John writes that the Paraclete will remind them of all that Jesus taught. And then at the end of his Gospel he says not everything Jesus taught was written down. Likewise, St. Paul says to hold fast to the written and oral traditions–implying the Gospel is made of both. Therefore, if the Gospel in its entirety is to be taught and preserved, both the written and the oral must be preserved.