These things might seem little and insignificant, but it matters. It is the difference between life and death.
IF they are discipled as the Latin Church discipled them, they are indeed as you say, a death sentence... And this because they CAN be understood as a system of magic, where powers reside in objects, and attendance at services "counts" toward one's Salvation, and on and on...
Properly understood, they are but reverence for God in the Church...
Indeed so...
Jesus says that tradition keeps man from God’s truth: Matthew 15:6-9 Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’”
Isaiah prophesied about the Jews who would crucify Christ... And Christ gave them the same criticism... And it helped them NOT...
But the Body of Christ Who is Her Head is not human tradition, even though human traditions can be found in Her... Christ discipled His disciples to disciple all the Nations, teaching them to meticulously obey ALL that Christ had COMMANDED them to be DOING, Baptizing them in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit... So THESE, you see, are NOT human traditions, but HOLY TRADITION, and you will find them consistently observed in all the Apostolic Churches, although less so now in the Latin Church from which you emerged...
But there IS a WAR against the Body of Christ, the Church... And most folks who claim Christianity are doing their best to hold fast the traditions handed down to them, by word or by epistle, as the Apostle writes... And the illegitimate spawn of the Apostate Latin Church are awash in a lot of conflicting IDEAS...
Mark 7:8-9, 13 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.” And he said to them: “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! 13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”
He was not speaking of His Apostles, but of the Jews who would kill Him... Paul later said SOME would rise up against the Ekklesia from within Her and would not spare the faithful... He NEVER said She would be overcome by them... The Gates of Hell shall never overcome Her... She is the Bride of Christ... He died for Her...
Arsenios
