Jewish Traditions the New Testment accepts that are not found in Old Testament scripture
“Jewish theology, however, if it is at all possible to speak of such, is not founded on the Old Testament alone. Shalom Ben-Chorin, the well-known Jewish writer and theologian, has said that Judaism is reminiscent of "Catholic divinity in which there are two fixed points: the Scriptures and Tradition". The Old Testament is to be interpreted in the light of tradition. The Rabbis often say that, "The Old Testament without the expositions of our scholars -- may their memory be blessed -- is not comprehensible."”—The Messiah in the Prophets http://www.kolumbus.fi/hjussila/rsla/OT/OT16.html
What a Protestant must learn is that Jesus and the Bible condemns are traditions of men, traditions which are explicitly condemned in the Bible such as the Korban laws that allowed a man to keep money away from his parents, therefore breaking the commandments to “honor thy father and mother.” Or the tradition that said you cannot carry your mat on the Sabbath. Since these are not commandments that could be put in place, Christ labeled them traditions of men. But Christ never condemned ALL tradition. Christ condemned those traditions since they were false and corrupt, not simply because they were “traditions.” Catholic traditions are authentic, furthermore the New Testament does indeed uphold and quote Jewish traditions… Both New and Old Testaments condemn adding or subtracting to the Bible, but at the same time in both Testaments they require obedience to Church authority and declares that in both that they are the authoritatives judges (eloha). (Deutronomy 17:8-12, Matthew 18:17, 19:28, 2 Thessolonians 2:15 etc..)
"that what was spoken by
the prophets might be fulfilled, ‘He shall be called a Nazarene.’"—Matthew
2:23 *Some say this quotes a verse in the Old
Testament referring to Neser or Nazir,
or that Matthew is misquoting, but if the Scripture is taken for what it said
it is to be assumed this is a (oral) tradition
“The feast of the Dedication was then taking place in
Jerusalem. It was winter.”—John 10:22 *The feast of the Dedication is Hanukkah, which is in
December a winter month, the Feast which was started in the book of 1 Maccabees 4:36 etc, Christ did not condemn this as a “tradition
of men” perhaps because he recognized the tradition or the books, or
both. The two books of Maccabees are accepted in Catholic and many early Church
canons.
“for
they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them”—1 Corinthians 10:4 *scripture
mentions the rock, but not that the Rock followed them, this undeniable upholds
a tradition, which even bigots like bible.ca admit but hilariously try to
downplay.
“Yet the archangel Michael, when
he argued with the devil in a dispute over the body of Moses, did not
venture to pronounce a reviling judgment upon him but said, "May the Lord
rebuke you!"”—Jude 1:9 *Scripture mentions
Moses body, but not Michael and Satan fighting over it, this tradition is from
extra biblical tradition, some point to the apocryphal book of the Assumption
of Moses.
“Enoch, of the seventh generation
from Adam, prophesied also about them when he said, "Behold, the
Lord has come with his countless holy ones to execute judgment on all and to
convict everyone for all the godless deeds that they committed and for all the
harsh words godless sinners have uttered against Him."”—Jude 1:14-5 *This prophecy is not in Genesis 4 or 5 (in fact Enoch
never even speaks) or any other book of the Old Testament, it is found though
in Jewish Tradition in the book of Enoch 1:9, which St Jude quotes. Here we see St Jude calling a tradition as
prophetic. A few church fathers, like
Tertullian considered Enoch to be scripture, and to this day Ethiopian Orthodox
include in it their canon. Here is the verse in Enoch 1:9:
“And behold! He cometh with ten
thousands of His holy ones
To execute judgement upon all,
And to destroy all the ungodly:
And to convict all flesh
Of all the works of their ungodliness which they have ungodly committed,
And of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”—Enoch 1:9
“Or do you suppose that the scripture speaks without meaning
when it says, "The spirit that he has made to dwell in us tends toward
jealousy"?” –James 4:5 *This quote has not been found in the Old
Testament, it may be a paraphrase, or just quoting a tradition which he calls
scripture. Some have translated the quote as a question, therefore making it
not scripture, but the Apostle’s own.
“At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face
to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully
known.”—1 Corinthians 13:12 *The
bold is used in Rabbinical writing, and also seems to resemble somewhat
Aristotelian philosophy of shadows.
The lack of clarity in our perception of His Presence is as if we observed an event through ‘me-iy-rah is-pak-lar-ya she-ey-nah’, a blurred, cloudy lens. The result is that we have a diminished appreciation of God’s greatness. This is the unclear lens through which we attempt to perceive His influence and is referred to as the miniature Presence of God.”-- The Jewish Artscroll Siddur-Sefard (p.391) used by HebrewCatholic
“Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so they also oppose the truth--people of depraved mind, unqualified in the faith.”—2 Timothy 3:8 *Exodus does not mention their names, it’s from tradition, but anti-Catholic sites such as bible.ca try to downplay this again by attacking the non scriptural Jewish texts that mention them as if that were all relevant to whether or not this was a legitimate tradition. As if St Paul by the Holy Spirit just by coincidence learned the same names as tradition stated, which their argument pathetically melts down to and eventually admit that tradition was confirmed..
In addition Jesus is said to have quoted the famous Rabbi Hillel, who lived in the first century BC, some of his saying are similar to Jesus. I will show this later.
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“But he, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God”—Acts 7:55 |
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“God wrought swift miracles at his words and sustained him in the king's presence. He gave him the commandments for his people, and revealed to him [Moses] His glory.”—Sirach 45:3 |
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“And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up”—John 3:14 |
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“But as a warning, for a short time they were terrorized, though they had a sign of salvation [the serpent], to remind [anamnesis] them of the precept of Your Law. For he who turned toward it was saved, not by what he saw, but by You, the Savior of all.”—Wisdom 16:6-7 |
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In addition the
Excellent Evangelist St Paul, peace be upon him,
quoted Greek philosophers who were pagan, since St Paul was a Pharisee and they
studied the Greek Philosophers. Here are at least four examples in
Scripture were St Paul alludes to pagans writers.
“One of them, a prophet of their own, once said, "Cretans have always been liars, vicious beasts, and lazy gluttons."”—Titus 1:12 *He quotes the Cretan poet, Epimenides of Knossos, who lived around the 6th Century BC
For 'In him we live and move and have our being,'—Acts 17:28a *Many attribute the first half to the poet Epimenides of Knossos, who lived around the 6th Century BC
as even some of your poets have said, 'For
we too are his offspring.'—Acts 17:28b *This is a quote of the poet Aratus
of Soli, a fellow Cilician of St Paul’s, from the 3rd Century before
Christ.
There is also evidence from
scripture showing St Paul understood Stoicism (fatalist/preordination) and
Epicureanism (total freewill) of pagan philosophy of the time. Acts 17:18 shows the evangelists discussing
with them.
“Even some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers engaged him in discussion…”—Acts 17:18
St Paul being a Pharisee and a Catholic
Christian would have believed in freewill and predestination working, rather
than the Essenes who attributed almost, if not
everything, to God’s decision with humans having no effect on fate, or the Saducees (the priests) who stressed that almost everything
that happened was due to freewill.
“Philo, influenced
by Judaism, professed the doctrine of free will ("Quod Deus Sit Immutabilis," ed. Mangey, p.
279), and Josephus states that the Pharisees maintained it against both the
Sadducees, who attributed everything to chance, and the Essenes,
who ascribed all to predestination and divine providence ("Ant."
xiii. 5, § 9; xviii. 1, § 5). "All is in the hands of God except the fear
of God" is an undisputed maxim of the Talmud (Ber.
33b; Niddah 16b).”—Jewish
Encyclopedia on Free
will
“In
his "Antiquities" (xiii. 5, § 9), Josephus speaks of the Essenes as a sect which had
existed in the time of the Maccabees,
contemporaneously with the Pharisees and Sadducees, and which teaches that all
things are determined by destiny (εἱμαρμένη),
and that nothing befalls men which has not been foreordained; whereas the
Pharisees make allowance for free will, and the Sadducees deny destiny
altogether. This refers not so much to the more or less absolute belief in
Providence (comp. the saying, "Ha-kol hi-yede shamayim" = " All
is in the hands of God": Ket. 30a; Ber. 33b; and R. Akiba's words,
"Everything is foreseen, but free will is given," Abot
iii. 15), which the Sadducees scarcely denied, as to the foreknowledge of
future (political) events, which the Essenes
claimed (comp. Josephus, "Ant." xv. 10, § 5, et al.); the
Pharisees were more discreet, and the Sadducees treated such prophecies with
contempt. In "Ant." xviii. 1, §§
2-6,”—Jewish Encyclopedia on the Essenes
Not under the Laws of the Torah
"The tradition of Elijah teaches that the world is to exist for six
thousand years; In the first two thousand desolation; in the next two
thousand the Torah will flourish and the next two thousand are the days of the
Messiah but on account of our sins, which were great, things turned out as they
did."-- Sanhedrin 97a
Sources used on this page include: Risto Santala http://www.chnetwork.org/journals/sola/sola8.htm and the NAB.