IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE HOLY ORAL TRADITION AND MAN-MADE TRADITIONS?

Indeed, there is. In continuation of the previous article, we would like to mention that the “Protestant” and “Independent” Christian denominations, as a matter of fact, reject the authority of Holy Oral Tradition and justify their attitude by quoting Jesus’ words written in the Gospels.  With regards to this account, let us observe what the actual words of Christ are?

When the Scribes and Pharisees asked Jesus why His disciples transgress the tradition of elders, for they do not wash their hands when they eat bread, the Lord responded: “Why do you also transgress the commandments of God because of your tradition” (Matthew 15:4).

The response of our Lord is obvious: He vividly emphasizes the words “your tradition” in order to show alienation of the Hebrew traditions of the elders from God’s Holy Word, since the Scribes and Pharisees were not able to comprehend the difference of the Holy Oral Tradition from man-made, secondary traditions which men practice, the ones we experience even nowadays, such as washing hands before meals, using proper wording with elders, having appropriate clothes when attending public gatherings, etc. 

DID THE DISCIPLES OF OUR LORD RECOGNIZE THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN ORAL TRADITIONS?

In contrary to the Scribes and Pharisees, disciples of our Lord fully recognized the distinction between these two traditions as they also were the actual conveyers of the Sacred Oral Tradition: “When you received the Word of God which you have heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God” (I Thessalonians 2:13).  Let us also emphasis that when the Apostles were talking about Holy Tradition they were not “transgressing” it, but encouraging early Christians to keep a firm hold of it, “Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you” (I Corinthians 11:2).

The importance of the Holy Oral Tradition of the Church is explicitly seen in the letters of the Apostle Paul addressed to Timothy. In his first letter, the Apostle says, “O Timothy, guard what was committed to your trust” (I Timothy 6:2), in the second he reaffirms, “Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me” (II Timothy 1:13).

Therefore, as faithful Christians and disciples of Christ, we should also be able to recognize the distinction of these traditions, “hold fast” the Holy Oral Tradition, and never misjudge its value. 

WHAT IS THE WRITTEN TRADITION OF THE CHURCH?

It is the Sacred Scripture: the Holy Bible. In the previous chapters, we examined the importance of the Holy Oral Tradition; from now on, we will observe the Holy Written Tradition.

The Holy Bible is the written word of God, the sacred message addressed to men. The Books of the Holy Bible differ from all other books as, “They are given by inspiration of God” (II Timothy 3:16). That is the reason why we Armenians call the Holy Bible “Astvadzashunch” (The Breath of God). In fact, we are the only ones who use this name for the Holy Scripture, since other nations call it the Bible from the Greek word “Biblos” (Book). The Bible was formed within 1500 years and consists of 75 different books (Genesis, Exodus, the prophecy of Jeremiah, the gospel of St. Matthew, etc.) which form the canon of the Armenian Bible. It is important to note that Christian Churches have different opinions about the canon of the Bible; therefore, we plan to examine this subject in detail in one of our future articles.

WHO ARE THE AUTHORS OF THE BIBLE?

The authors of the 75 books of the Bible are 45 persons who lived in various periods in the history of mankind and possessed different positions in their respective societies (kings, prophets, administrators, tax collectors, doctors, fishermen, etc.). However, they also had major union with each other: they were humble enough to hear the voice of God, i.e. they were inspired by the Holy Spirit, “Prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (II Peter 1:21). This sacred inspiration made the Books complete, an absolute chain which ought not be broken in any circumstance. Thus, the chief Author of the Holy Books is God Himself; therefore, it is intolerable for someone to remove or change even a letter from the Scripture, as everything that is written in the Book must be fulfilled (Matthew 5:18-19). In addition to what we have said, it is also important to note that the persons who wrote the Books, were not mere tools in the hands of God, but participants in the formation of the Books, with their individual approaches and unique manner of writing that is why even the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) show noticeable differences in their conduct.

To Be Continued

Hayk Madoyan