There are many things in life that require our discernment. Often what is presented or even spoken on the surface appears attractive, feels good, and is enticing, but there is evil underneath. The devil is the master of deception and uses his tricks unceasingly. If he presented every ill as the evil that it is, many would not have a problem identifying it and rejecting it, but he disguises it, often as a good behavior, a virtue, or even a positive belief, only to draw you in, convict you, and then allows his disception to unravel.
Otherwise, if we follow the letter, we too can concoct a new dogma and assert that such persons as wear shoes and have two coats must not be received in the Church.
Here is a quote from one of the Early Fathers of the Church:
We ought to remain in the Church that was founded by the Apostles and continues to this day. If ever you hear of any that are called Christians taking their name not from the Lord Jesus Christ, but from some other, for instance, Marcionites, Valentinians you may be sure that you have not the Church of Christ there, but the synagogue of Antichrist. For the fact that they took rise after the foundation of the Church is proof that they are those whose coming the Apostle foretold. And let them not flatter themselves if they think they have scriptural authority for their assertions, since the devil himself quoted Scripture, and the essence of the Scriptures is not the letter, but the meaning.
St. Jerome (342-420AD)
Mini-Bio: Dalmatian; priest, hermit, abbot, biblical scholar and translator, Doctor of the Church
Mini-Bio: Dalmatian; priest, hermit, abbot, biblical scholar and translator, Doctor of the Church
My caution to you is to not be so easily swayed by Rhetoric, Tradition is important because it has roots that have withstood the test of time, the test of wise discernment, and has supported men for centuries.
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