Protestant man-made traditions...

Since the Protestant reformation, and the subsequent separation by them from the Catholic Church, Protestantism lost the teaching arm of the Catholic Church and the holding of Sacred Tradition. In so doing, they reverted to a condemnation of holding all tradition, both Sacred and man-made. They then turned to the only resource they had left, the Holy Bible, a product of the Catholic Church by the way. At about the same time, they invented a new man-made doctrine called Sola Scriptura, or 'Bible only', which in itself teaches that if it cannot be found in the Bible, then it is simply did not happen, is not true, and is therefore not to be believed.
Interestingly, Protestants reject keeping the Sacred Traditions held by the Catholic Church, yet they have several man-made traditions of their own to which they hold. Holy Scripture is very clear in separating man-made tradition from GOD made, or Apostolic Tradition (capital 'T' Tradition). Scripture commands us to "Hold the Traditions that you have learned, whether by word or by letter of ours", 2Thess 2:15.
See, " The Legacy of the One Legged Stool", and "The Origin of Sola Scriptura" for much more. 

Here are a few of Protestant invented man-made traditions which are not to be found in Scripture and which clearly ignore the meaning of Sola Scriptura. These Protestant 'traditions' are used to attack the Catholic Church in many ways.

1. The man-made false doctrine of "Sola Scriptura" is itself a Protestant tradition. Read my files, "For Whom the Bell Tolls", and "The Origin of Sola Scriptura", and other files of this same subject on this web site. The man-made tradition of Sola Scriptura is not to be found in Scripture. In fact it is not to be found anywhere in history before the reformation.

2. The man-made false doctrine of "Individual Interpretation of Holy Scripture" is condemned by Scripture itself. However, Protestants do it all the time, while ignoring the many verses which admonish them not to do so. This is a Protestant invented man-made tradition. See the same references listed above for the many verses.

3. The man-made false doctrine of "Not Baptizing Infants". Interestingly, Protestants attack the Catholic Church for baptizing infants, yet nowhere in Scripture does it say, "Do not Baptize Infants". I have been told that we should not baptize children until they are old enough to accept Jesus Christ. What happens to their souls if they die or are killed before that time? Where in Scripture does it say to wait until they can reason it out for themselves? In fact, Holy Scripture says to baptize all, as I have shown in another file called, "Baptism". This is yet another Protestant tradition.

4. The man-made false doctrine of "Baptism by Immersion Only". Protestants attack the Catholic Church for not baptizing by immersion. This is a false attack, as the Catholic Church does baptize by immersion. There is nothing in Holy Scripture that says "Baptism must be done by immersion", so a lack of Scriptural proof makes that charge another Protestant tradition. See the same "Baptism"
file for the facts.

5. The man-made false doctrine that "Catholics worship Mary". Show me where Scripture says that? If you cannot show me the Scripture, then show me the authentic Catholic document which tells Catholics that they must worship Blessed Mary? This is yet another Protestant invented tradition concocted specifically to attack the Catholic Church with yet another false, and baseless charge.

6. The man-made false doctrine which shows that the "Catholic Church apostatized" in the early centuries and is therefore, not the Church which Jesus Christ founded. This charge is certainly not Scriptural, and it is not even historical, as no genuine historical document has proved this to be true. To the contrary, if anyone would take the time to read the writings of the historians of the Church, the Church Fathers, they would find just the opposite of this false charge to be true. From the first fathers to the last, spanning over five centuries, they mention the Catholic Church by name and how it grew and expanded. There is not one word of this "Great Apostasy" which Protestants invented. Yet, Protestants teach this lie, as it is one of their man-made traditions to do so.
I do not understand why Protestants read of the history of their country, and of the world, and yet shun the wealth of historical documents regarding the most important historical topic, the history of Christianity.
See "Lord, That I May See", elsewhere on this website for the proof of what I said here of the writings of the Church Fathers.

7. The man-made false doctrine that "This IS My Body", as said by Jesus Christ Himself in
Matt 26:26, is really only "a symbol" of His body. Where did Jesus Christ ever say, "This is a symbol of my body"? Here is yet another example of a false charge against the Catholic Church, as it is NOT Scriptural. This is merely another Protestant man-made tradition. When they separated themselves from the Catholic Church , they lost (and now do not even acknowledge) the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Therefore, their ministers lost the power to call the Holy Spirit through a valid priesthood, in order to consecrate the host into the real Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, of Jesus Christ. So therefore, in Protestantism, it IS only a symbol. Just because they have only a symbol, they should not charge the Catholic Church with having only a symbol, as we have had a valid priesthood for almost 2000 years. I would be happy to explain what the definition of IS is, as used in Matt 26:26 by Jesus Christ Himself.

Written by Bob Stanley, January 22, 2000
Updated December 28, 2006 

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