Tonight I received correspondence from a friend, a preacher at a mission church. A part of the statement that always appears on his posts says in part, “We speak where the Bible speaks and we are silent where the Bible is silent”. I just “googled” this phrase and 44,600 hits came up. Of course, this is a part of the “Restoration plea…..”.
Am I nuts? Wouldn’t almost all of the splits and quarrels among Restoration people not have happend if we practiced this principal? Lets be honest, I must agree with the preacher who quipped “.. and where the Bible is silent we have even more to say!“. How true!
It is most often those things the Bible does not address that become often as important or more important than the gospel.
What is it that drives people to place personal preferences and tradition on the same level of authority as what the Bible clearly teaches? I think it might be that they don’t really know what the Bible does say. Knowing two dozen or so passages that are used over and over and over to prove up a few particular distinctives is a poor substitute for having some understanding of the scheme of redemption revealed in the Bible.
NO! I don’t claim to know the whole Bible or even most of it. I do know that much of what some coC folks will fiight to the death over can’t be proved up by the Bible. What is needed in our churches is Bible preachers, not church preachers.
Royce
Grace Digest 
It says in scriptures that God is a God of the Living. Traditions are equally important to the scriptures. They give a basis for how to interpret the scriptures. Pride was the the same thing that split the churches and caused the fall. The Catechism of the catholic church is based heavily on scriptures. But there are many questions that are not answered in the bible, but there’s a reason for that. Not everything was placed in the bible. Sacred tradition is the other half of it. There are large components of life that are missed out on when churches go by the bible alone. The most powerful thing Jesus gave us was himself in the Breaking of the Bread. This is celebrated at mass and is the center point of our Catholic life. Thought I would share my thoughts with you. May God bless you on your journey brother.
I have some understanding of your perspective, though limited. I strongly disagree with the Catholic church’s emphasis on tradition. To make tradition equal to the authority of holy scripture is bad policy. Why? What if the “tradition” was wrong. You must admit that not everything the Catholic church has done in the past is worthy of repeating. A tradition that does not violate scripture is not necessarily bad and in fact some are very good. But, only the Bible should have final authority for both faith and living out that faith.
Thanks for your visit and your comment.
Royce
Amen brother,
Reading the Bible with the purpose of understanding is a far cry from reading it to find justification for a pet doctrinal issue.
It is ironic, based on the restoration plea, that people make the most noise where the Bible is silent.
“Speak where the Bible speaks, and be silent where the Bible is silent.”
Seeing as that phrase isn’t itself found in Scripture, I have a hard time swallowing it as really being God’s will for our fellowship.
It’s amazing to me that so many people use that phrase as their mantra without thinking critically about its implications.
Namely, that they’re contradicting themselves.
By saying it, they’re speaking where the Bible hasn’t spoken.
“Speak where the Bible speaks, be silent where the Bible is silent” is NOT IN THE BIBLE!
-Wes
Wes,
I have never heard anyone say the phrase is in the Bible. What they do claim is that they only speak along with the Bible and keep silent about everything it does not address. It simply isn’t true, thats the point.
Royce
I haven’t heard anyone say that’s in the Bible either, but it’s quoted as if it’s Scripture while it’s not. Using a phrase like that without it being in the Bible contradicts the logic behind the statement. It’s a self-defeating argument – that was my point.
And you’re right – people don’t live by it.
that deserves a 7-fold Amen!
Amen, Amen, Amen!!