The Importance Of Sacred Tradition And Sacred Scripture

The city of Jerusalem has been recognized as the holy city throughout the history of three religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. During the time of Judaism, Biblical writers presented Jerusalem as the most sacred space, the center of the world, and the city of the Lord. A leading interpreter of religious texts, Mircea Eliade, in his book The Sacred and The Profane, defined several religious experiences with specific terminologies, such as hierophany, which means the sign of sacredness, and axis mundi, which is the center of the world. These terminologies will help us in interpreting how the biblical writers promote Jerusalem as the holy city. In the Hebrew Bible Genesis 1-3, 22, 2 Samuel 6-8, 1 King 6-8, the writers reveal Jerusalem

The process by which Scripture has been preserved and compiled is one whose history is worth noting. The early church had many opportunities to share the Good News of Christ via word of mouth, but from the time of Christ’s resurrection until the mid-second century, there had not been a single culmination of writings considered to be essential for the purposes of

Most Christians do not think about the canon of scripture or know what it is or means in theology. Most take for granted the Bible they have and never question how it came into being. Today, we have 39 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament. There was a time, however, that we did not have a canon. Bruce defines canon as books of the Bible that were recognized to be considered scripture (p. 17). The importance of the canon and how it was developed was intriguing to professor and author F.F. Bruce. He dedicated his book The Canon of Scripture to explore and explain the formulation of the canon we have today. Bruce taught in universities, including the University of Manchester, where he began to lecture students on the

The Old Testament is the largest part of the bible nestled behind the leather binding in the front of the book. Unlike most books, told from one-person or even two this is comprised of multiple, some stories even having two different versions in another point of view; over time it has become a large collection of ancient texts written and re-written by different authors and editors over the many years. The stories show the ancient Israelites, they show the laws, and rituals, which make up their religion and the small embers, which will one day, turn to a flame that is Christianity. The Jewish people view these stories as collected in what they call the Torah, is the collection for what makes up their history and the promise that God gave to them, as well as their laws and what they worship today. For the Christians the Old Testament is still seen as sacred, but most place a stronger importance to the New Testament.

Over the centuries, Christianity has organised its beliefs into a systematic theology that draws from its sacred writing and tradition. While the main beliefs of Christianity are shared by all Christian variants, there are degrees of different in the interpretation of these beliefs and how they are lived out in everyday life. This can be seen in the important of sacred text, principle belief of the concept of salvation in John 3:16, principle belief of divine and humanity in ‘John 1:14’, principle belief of resurrection in ‘Mark 16:1-8’, principle belief of revelation in ‘1 corinthians14:6’, and beliefs through the Trinity in ‘2 Corinthians 13:14’. This essay will explain the important of the sacred text and the principal beliefs of Christianity.

Sacred texts and writings are very beneficial for Christian people since they are the word of God and can be deliberated as supportive indication of understanding the principle beliefs of Christianity which include the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the nature of god and the nature of trinity, revelation and salvation. This essay aim’s at assessing the significant role of the sacred text in providing authentic information in regards to sacred texts.

In Eliade’s The Sacred and the Profane, he accentuates the inevitable distinction between the sacred and profane.This develops when an individual tries to establish himself in his world and acknowledges his own individuality of the worldly and physical spaces he takes up. Chaos seems to be in the areas where the profane governs and there are no principles in a profane universe. The idea of the sacred comes from knowledge itself. The brahmanas defines religion and human existence with the sacredness embedded in water which brings forth life.

Sacred texts can be written, oral or visual. Sacred texts are the core beliefs and teachings and inform the ethical teachings and rituals and ceremonies. The adherents and believers live their lives according to beliefs taught and respond in action by participating in rituals and ceremonies. A dynamic living religion changes due to the development of factors in the context. An example of sacred texts adapting to society is the language of the bible. The bible was originally written in Latin but changed languages so that it could adapt to other dialect. Sacred texts provide the meaning of existence as well as the ultimate source and goal of life. Acts 2:37-42, allow Christians to understand the meaning and purpose of Baptism, and enables the believers to realise why Christians conduct this ritual today. Baptism symbolizes the purification or regeneration and admission to the Christian Church. By the sacred text explaining the purpose of the ritual it provides the ultimate source of meaning for life to live without sins. Sacred texts hold the source of information and the core beliefs so that the teachings can be responded by the

Scholars prefer to focus on religious traditions rather than just “religion” because religious traditions are “a tradition is an historical context or network of linguistic, personal, and cultural relationships” (Portier 19). Traditions can be limiting like the legal tradition in America where we carry it around because it shapes our ideas of what is right and what is wrong. Traditions can also be freeing like the civil rights movement which ended slavery and ended a limiting tradition. Traditions are used as a resource to answer the deeper questions about life. Also, scholars prefer to focus on religious traditions due to a problem associated with “religion”. The problem with “religion” is what does the term “religion” actually refer to?

In William Kirk Kilpatrick’s article, “Why the Secular Needs the Sacred,” the need for spirituality to be the basis behind the rules of this world is accurately presented. Six reasons the world rules need spirituality behind them are to: give a reason to the secular laws, give authority to parents, give a moral reason to keep the laws, instigate love and respect rather than hostility, give the power to discipline, and explain why things are done this way. Kilpatrick suggests that in order for one’s daily actions to make sense, one must recognize the sacred values hidden in them. Those actions will not make sense without

Once a faith centered on priesthood, sacrificial rituals, communal gatherings and oral traditions, the people of the Jewish religion decided to restructure the faith around written scripture. Although it is argued that rabbis began work on compiling the oral histories prior to the fall of the Second Temple, there was a marked resurgence in documentation of the important history and moral laws of Judaism after the fall (Molloy, 291). The Jewish people felt a sense of urgency to finish the written works. They believed the incorporation of written word into Judaism would help to solidify their place in the religious world, as well as make the faith easier to correctly interpret among their own vastly dispersed people (BBC, 2009).

Within Yves Congar’s The Meaning of Tradition, he sets out to define the traditions of the Catholic Church. Congar begins his analysis of the role of Tradition in the Catholic Church by defining it; his definition states that Tradition is a gift from God that is passed down subsequent generations. According to Congar the Church’s tradition involves sharing Christ’s revelation, so that God’s revelation can be passed down throughout space and time. Congar devotes sections of his book to the role of magisterium in the Church. The magisterium has a pivotal role in analyzing the doctrines of the faith and providing the people of God with an explanation of its meaning. By doing this, the magisterium is exercising its role as the successors of Jesus’ apostles in guiding the faithful. The Magisterium is essential to ensuring that the faithful create a personal relationship with God. Congar, attributes the magisterium’s role in the Tradition of the Church is guided by the Holy Spirit. According to Congar argues that the Holy Spirit has inspired the Church throughout history. The Holy Spirit also works through the people, giving them the gifts necessary for understanding the word of God. Congar continues to ascribe the Church’s tradition to its familiar atmosphere that allows faith to grow in believers. Congar goes on to state that the Church’s tradition does not stem from Scripture alone, the uniting force of God’s word. Scripture needs to come from an inspired source, alone it can

There are many connections linking the Old Testament and the New Testament. These connections are formed to parallel Jesus Christ in the Gospels from the stories of the Old Testament. These examples are used to show the truth of the Old Testament and to present the fulfillment of Jesus Christ. A few of these examples are Moses and the Pharaoh and Jesus and King Herod, Lamb of God and Passover, Moses and the Burning Bush and “I AM” statements, and finally, the parting of the Red Sea and Jesus Christ’s baptism. All of these examples are shown in the Old and New Testament and are shown as miracles because these parallels happened years apart from each other. This is the fulfillment of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Before the gospels and Pauline epistles, early church Christians related to the Old Testament as Scripture and viewed their Christian walk as the fulfillment of the promises made to Israel from the Old Testament, which foretold of the coming age of the Messiah. The first New Testament Christians understood the importance of the Old Testament; it was their “Bible” they preached from. Just as in the early church, Christians today need the Old Testament for preaching and in which to reference and understand Christ’s purpose for why he came.

This is because the entire new testament is based on the Jesus of Nazareth as God manifest in the flesh (1 Tim 3:16). According to St. Paul (Ephesians 1:10), the dispensation of the fullness of time might gather together in all things in Christ both which are in heaven and on earth. All that is written in the first four books is about Jesus of Nazareth. Therefore to know Jesus and his salvation one must study the New Testament. This knowledge is highly precious that according to Paul he counts all things as loss for the knowledge of Jesus Christ (Philemon 3: