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Saturday, January 17, 2009

Is Paradosis(tradition) always a bad thing?

παράδοσις paradosis as a bad thing:

KJV
Mark 7:3
"For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders."

NIV
Mark 7:3
"(The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders."




παράδοσις paradosis as a good thing:

KJV
2 Th 2:15
"Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle."


NIV
2 Th 2:15
"So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter."




If you noticed, the NIV didn't want to use the word "tradition" for 2 Th 2:15. I think this had to do with a bias against the word "tradition" itself. For it is demonized in some evangelical circles.

But the word "tradition" isn't bad in and of itself. What makes it bad or good depends on if its a tradition of men or a Tradition of God.......or Apostolic Tradition.

One should also keep in mind that the party of the Pharisees was a jewish protestant group. So their "traditions" will not necessarily be the same as that of Jesus and the Apostles.


Related Links:
A Catechumen's Tale: Does God Hate Tradition?

What do we mean by Tradition?

Tradition



JNORM888

2 comments:

Tony said...

I don't mean to kinda advertise my own blog again, but I discussed something similar in response to the common Protestant misuse of Christ's use of Isaiah against the Pharisees.

Incidentally, the common response by some Protestants to 2 Th 2:15 is that the tradition was the written tradition of scripture. Never mind that Paul clarifies he gave tradition by word OR epistle. Apologetics I've read for sola scriptura continue to confuse me, because they refer to written tradition as unwritten tradition in the same breadth.

Jnorm said...

True,

and thanks for giving a link to your post.




JNORM888

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