Listen to Him.

At the Transfiguration the voice from the cloud said, "'This is my son, the Beloved, listen to him.'"  Mark 9:7 (NRSV)

But most Christians ignore what Jesus said and adhere to Tradition.

Jesus said of the Pharisees, "'You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition!'"  Mark 7:9 (NRSV)

Jesus also said, "'For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, "He has a demon"; the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, "Look. a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!"'"  Luke 7:33-35 (NRSV)

So it is clear that the Traditions of the Church may not reflect the teachings of Jesus.

And where there is a conflict the words of Jesus must always take precedence.


[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.]

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