KOG Book 13 Human Tradition & Divine Revelation

What authority do early church traditions have?

In contemporary Christianity there has been a significant increase in the interest and study given to the writings of the early Church Fathers.  What extra-biblical doctrines and traditions did early Christian leaders teach?  How do we evaluate these teachings?  Of course, Roman Catholicism (Romanism) has always given a great deal of authority to these writings.  Accordingly, in the course of our study we provide a biblical critique of several of their foundational beliefs, including:

• It is important to biblically evaluate the “traditions” in our churches.
• The early Church leaders taught some weird stuff that cannot be backed by Scripture.
• Romanism has a history of teaching and practicing extra-biblical or unbiblical “traditions” like indulgences, celibacy of the priesthood, and restricting the reading of Scripture, all with horrible consequences.
• The authority claimed by the Papacy has no biblical support, was denounced by several early Church Fathers, and has been rightly questioned because of its historical errors, ineffectiveness, and immorality.
• The Roman doctrines concerning Mary are unbiblical and result in the idolatrous worship and deification of a good woman.