Three 16th-Century Truth Seekers—What Did They Find?

a reply to: AnkhMorpork
Luke 10:21 (between brackets is mine):

In that very hour he [Jesus] became overjoyed in the holy spirit and said: “I publicly praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have carefully hidden these things from wise and intellectual ones and have revealed them to young children. Yes, O Father, because this is the way you approved.

Never Cease Growing in Your Appreciation

Appreciate the Privilege of Knowing Bible Truth

4. What caused Jesus to become “overjoyed in the holy spirit”?

4 Gaining insight into God’s Word does not depend on intellect or worldly education, which tend to foster pride. Instead, it depends on Jehovah’s undeserved kindness, which he extends toward humble, honesthearted people who are conscious of their spiritual need. (Matthew 5:3; 1 John 5:20) When Jesus reflected on the fact that some imperfect humans were having their names inscribed in heaven, “he became overjoyed in the holy spirit and said: ‘I publicly praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have carefully hidden these things from wise and intellectual ones, and have revealed them to babes.’”—Luke 10:17-21.

5. Why were Jesus’ disciples not to take for granted the Kingdom truths revealed to them?

5 After uttering that heartfelt prayer, Jesus turned to his disciples and said: “Happy are the eyes that behold the things you are beholding. For I say to you, Many prophets and kings desired to see the things you are beholding but did not see them, and to hear the things you are hearing but did not hear them.” Yes, Jesus encouraged his faithful followers not to take for granted the precious Kingdom truths being revealed to them. These truths had not been revealed to earlier generations of God’s servants, and they were certainly not disclosed to the “wise and intellectual ones” of Jesus’ day!—Luke 10:23, 24.

1 Timothy 4:1,2

However, the inspired word* [Lit., “the spirit.”] clearly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to misleading inspired statements* [Lit., “misleading spirits.”] and teachings of demons, 2 by means of the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, whose conscience is seared as with a branding iron.

2 Timothy 3:1-8, 12-17

12 In fact, all those desiring to live with godly devotion in association with Christ Jesus will also be persecuted. 13 But wicked men and impostors will advance from bad to worse, misleading and being misled.

14 You, however, continue in the things that you learned and were persuaded to believe, knowing from whom you learned them 15 and that from infancy you have known the holy writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight,* [Or “correcting.”] for disciplining in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work.

Ephesians 1:3

Praised be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in union with Christ,

2 Corinthians 11:31

The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, the One who is to be praised forever, knows I am not lying.

Divine Teaching Versus Teachings of Demons
Speaking the Truth Unites (search: "wise for salvation")
Religious Traditions and the Bible
The Bible or Tradition?—A Dilemma for Sincere Catholics: Awake!—1986

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Allowed But Not Essential

The book A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture asks the question: “Is Bible Reading Necessary for Salvation?” In answer it states: “There is no universal precept, either divine or apostolic, that all the faithful​—every man, woman and child—​should personally read the Bible.”

Thus, while the Catholic Church now permits its members to read the Holy Scriptures, even granting a plenary indulgence “if the reading continues for at least one half hour,” it does not consider such Bible reading to be indispensable.* Explaining why, the French Catholic Dictionnaire de la Bible states: “Tradition is the most normal channel by which all teaching of the faith reaches mankind. Use of the New Testament Scriptures came later. They do not contain the entire deposit of faith, and their use is not essential.”

Tradition Put Above the Bible

The Bible is not, therefore, required reading for Catholics. And even if they do read it, it must take second place, behind tradition. The Catholic Church claims that the early Christians depended on oral tradition before receiving the written Word and that, accordingly, Scripture must be understood in the light of tradition as preserved by the church.

Confirming this viewpoint, a book designed to help French-speaking Catholics to read the Bible states: “The divine revelation, even that expressed predominantly in the Scriptures, has been committed to a faithful community, the living Church; this raises the vital question of the relationship between the Bible, Tradition and the Church. . . . This added light [in the Scriptures], once given, joins and completes the treasure of Tradition. . . . The Scriptures are, therefore, entirely dependent upon Tradition.”​—Initiation Biblique, pages 963, 971. Author’s italics.

How much confidence will a sincere Catholic have in the Bible when he reads in a book written by a Catholic professor of Sacred Scripture: “Tradition precedes, envelops, accompanies and goes beyond the Scriptures”?* Or what will he think if he picks up A Catholic Dictionary and reads: “The Church . . . affirms that all Scripture is the word of God, but at the same time it maintains that there is an unwritten word of God over and above Scripture”?
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The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Eph 1:3; 2 Cor 1:3; 2 Cor 11:31; Rom 15:5,6; etc.)

Who is "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ"? (Eph 1:3)
I AM JEHOVAH, and there is no one else. (Isaiah chapter 45, NW)

Too much? Just pick one (or maybe after that another one if you've got nothing better to do anyway; one of the links in there about Christian unity, as discussed in Ephesians chapter 1, also relates to the thread by DISRAELI called "NTS All one in Christ Jesus").

Btw, false teachings or false traditional teachings and human traditions that contradict "the holy writings" (the doctrine of the Trinity for example as discussed in this thread or indoctrinating people with the notion that promoting the worship of Jehovah and praising Jehovah makes you brainwashed, part of a brainwashing cult or "false prophets"; or that the "rejection" of demonic teachings in Christendom is a negative thing, even "dangerous", quoting DISRAELI from the earlier mentioned thread), do not unite, they divide (and promote prejudice and the resulting hatred against those who praise Jehovah and are misleadingly or falsely painted in that 'light'* in my 2nd and 3rd examples). Not surprising since they are the teachings of demons after all that oppose the truth about "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Eph 1:3) "whose name alone is JEHOVAH" (Ps 83:18; KJ).

*: "light" in that sentence was part of an expression that relates to painting a negative picture on someone or an entire group of people that is not really true/accurate or honest and heavily biased. Isaiah 5:20,21 is appropiate here:

20 Woe to those who say that good is bad and bad is good,

Those who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness,

Those who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

21 Woe to those wise in their own eyes

And discreet in their own sight!

Acts 5:38,39

38 So under the present circumstances, I say to you, do not meddle with these men, but let them alone. For if this scheme or this work is from men, it will be overthrown; 39 but if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them. Otherwise, you may even be found fighters against God himself.”