All the churches that trace their origins to the Western Church which finds its roots in the Western Roman Empire and acknowledges the primacy of the pope. This includes not only Roman Catholics but Protestants
as well since for some inexplicable reason they continue to adhere to man made traditions and ignore the Holy Scriptures. The Bible
commands us to "come out of her" in Revelation 18:4&5. Our fellowship must be with those who
adhere to Scripture and follow God not with those in bondage to Roman culture. A time is
coming when the line between those in bondage to Rome through their churches and those who
have come out of her and strictly adhere to the teachings of the Bible will be made very
apparent. This has been a standard tenet of fundamentalists for 2000 years.
An example of a man made tradition would be the prohibition on marrying cousins or nieces.
Nowhere in scripture is this prohibition found, quite the contrary, marriage to cousins
and nieces was common throughout scripture. Not only did scripture not prohibit it but
marriage to cousins in particular appeared to be a preferred form of marriage. Isaac
married his cousin, Rebekah. (Genesis 24:15) Jacob married his cousins,
Leah and Rachael. (Genesis 29:10) These are only the most celebrated
examples. Many more cases exist.
All prohibited marital relationships are found in Leviticus
18:1-18 and Leviticus 21:7, 13, & 14 The commands in these verses are
written to men so in reading you must understand that when Leviticus 18:14 it
says, Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's brother, thou
shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt. It is a specific command
to men not to marry or have relations with their aunt (their paternal uncle's
wife) after their uncle has died. A command for this is not required while the
uncle lives because adultery is already prohibited as one of the ten
commandments and it is not referring to homosexuality because in Leviticus 18:22
homosexuality is forbidden . Marrying any aunt is prohibited but not by
this verse but by the preceding two verses Leviticus 18:12, l3 Furthermore,
since these commands are written to men; when it says in the above verses,
Leviticus 18:12, 13 & 14, that a man must not marry his aunt it is
also saying that a woman must not marry her nephew. In Leviticus 18:14 the
command concerns the wife of the uncle not the uncle himself. When it talks
about the nakedness of the father's brother it is not referring to
the father's brother's very own nakedness but that of his wife. Had a command
been written not to marry your niece it would have been as follows: (NOT IN
BIBLE -The nakedness of thy sister's daughter shalt thou not uncover: it is thy
sister's nakedness. The nakedness of thy brother's daughter shalt thou not
uncover: it is thy brother's nakedness.-NOT IN BIBLE) In addition there would
have to have been a verse covering your wife's niece as well for she becomes
your niece at marriage. No such verse exists. In fact the only relatives of a
wife that cannot be married while the wife lives is your wife's sister, daughter
and mother. Leviticus 18:17 & 18. The wife's daughter or mother are
forbidden before after or during the marriage. The command forbidding it,
Leviticus 18:18 did not specify a time frame as in the case of the wife's sister
where a marriage can occur after the wife's death.
Now, while I've got your attention, let me remind you not to, confuse
the Old Testament with the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant was talked about in the
Old Testament but the Old Covenant was talked about in the New Testament as well. The Old
Covenant is not the same as the Old Testament nor is the New Covenant the same as the New
Testament. Look at the meaning of the words. Old Testament means Old Testimony or
Scripture. Old Covenant means Old Contract. New Testament means New Testimony or New
Scripture. New Covenant means New Contract. Now let me make something clear. Neither the
words Old Testament or New Testament are to be found anywhere in the Bible! So stop being
illogical. Or do you say that an old title to land is the same as the county registry that
contains information about that title as well as others. Let's get real! Now that there is
a New Covenant we can differ on what that says about the Old Covenant but not about the
validity of the Old Testament which contains information about the Old Covenant as
well as information about many other subjects. Do not fear
abandoning the pagan laws of Rome and abiding by Holy Scripture instead!
At this point some well meaning but uninformed brother
usually brings up the issue of whether or not the Old Testament is valid. (Even though
I've already explained it! Like, duh!) So, I'll give the clearest answer we have on this.
Jesus considered the Old Testament Holy Scripture and never quoted from the New Testament,
only
from the Old Testament. If Jesus who is our Lord and Savior accepted the Old
Testament as Holy Scripture how dare we do any less!