Scripture Trumps Tradition

Tradition 1a: an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior (as a religious practice or a social custom) b: a belief or story or a body of beliefs or stories relating to the past that are commonly accepted as historical though not verifiable.

Merriam-Webster's online Dictionary

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

Colossians 2:8 (NASB)

In the Movie "Fiddler on a Roof," the character Tevye is infamous for his knowledge (or lack thereof) of the Bible:

Tevye: As the good book says, when a poor man eats a chicken, one of them is sick
Mendel: Where does the book say that?
Tevye: Well, it doesn't say that exactly, but somewhere there is something about a chicken.

I have been reminded by a dear friend that no matter what we want to believe about God, we are "obligated" to Scripture. We are not here to take the edge off of a harsh gospel or edit out the Bible as we see fit. Just the opposite! God's desire to save all mankind is not an obscure idea in scripture. Consider the following excerpt from a letter my dear friend wrote to a brother in the Lord who supported "eternal torment":

Let me assure you, [friend], if the Scriptures taught such a thing as eternal torment, we all are obligated to believe it and teach it. But I am throughly convinced that the Word of God is not contradictory. If God says that He will reconcile all to Him, both that on earth and that in the heavens, He will. If He says that in the fullness of times He will "head up all in the Christ -- both that in the heavens and that on the earth", He will. If He says that "in the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in heaven, on earth and under the earth, and every tongue shall acclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord, for the glory (the expression of His Person) of God, the Father,: it shall be so.

...He died, not just for our sins, but for those of the whole world. God will not waste one drop of that precious blood. It will purchase and secure the redemption of all.

...We need to ask ourselves, "What wisdom of our own has made us the recipients of a believing heart?" We glibly say, "But for the grace of God, there go I," while in the same breath consign billions to a fate of eternal agony that staggers the imagination of even the most brutal of our race. This we do because "The Bible tells me so." But is the Bible in our hands accurate in this matter? We have never gone past the "scholars" (who were wrong in Christ's day, just as they are today and for hundreds of years past), to see how God uses the word "eternal."

(Excerpts from an e-mail from Albert P. Knoch to a friend)

[For a discussion of the Greek word aion -- commonly translated eternal, but used by Scripture for a limited time span, see in the blog the articles "Forever and an Age" and "Scripture gives a real example of eternal fire in Sodom!]


Somewhere there is something about Hell in the Bible, and with the help of the mistranslation of a key word (aion), we have inherited a full blown doctrine of Hell from those who have gone before us. If eternal torment is the destination for most of mankind and we are to warn people of this danger, why does the most prolific writer in the New Testament not even mention it? The Apostle Paul does not mention Hell once in his letters. And interestingly enough, when he knew by the Holy Spirit that he would not see the saints in his mission travels again, he says:

And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
[emphasis mine]

Acts 20:25-27 (KJV)

Paul shared "all the counsel of God" with "all among whom I have gone preaching." All the counsel of God but he left out Hell? The place of "eternal torment?" How could this be? Shouldn't there somewhere be something about Hell?