Thank you, Had2.
"So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter." 

 Protestants believe that Christians are to follow the Scriptures alone as their sole source of Christian truth (sola Scriptura). But then why does Saint Paul tell us to follow both the Scriptures and the oral word? Isn't Paul adding something else to follow in addition to the Bible? Yes he is, because the doctrine of sola Scriptura is an erroneous doctrine.
If St Paul added to God's word,
then he transgressed the law (at Deut 4:2),
and his word wouldn't now be in the Bible.

(But men do wrestle with St Paul's words,
even as they do with other scriptures, to their own destruction.)

The Lord helped me to see (and do) the commandments
which St Paul was also teaching,
and which are in Leviticus, btw.

If any man think himself to be a prophet,
or spiritual,
let him acknowledge
that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 14:37

Praise the law
`Paul

Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you,
neither shall ye diminish ought from it,
that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
Deuteronomy 4:2

What thing soever I command you, observe to do it:
thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
Deuteronomy 12:32



Saint Paul is saying that obeying the written tradition (the Scriptures) is not enough.
Know ye not, brethren,
( for I speak to them that know the law, )
how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
Romans 7:1

Aught we believe what you say (oral) St Paul was saying,
or should we believe what the written word says St Paul said.

After all, the written word quotes St Paul's words accurately,
where as you [here] are making a general assumption about what St Paul is saying,
based upon an oral tradition, that you believed in some men was true.
Aren't you?
We must also obey the oral tradition.
And ye shall be left few in number,
whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude;
because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God.
Deuteronomy 28:62

This is the body of teaching that Christ gave the apostles that was not written down (if it were, Saint John says that "even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written." John 21:25).
To execute upon them the judgment written:
this honour have all His saints.
Praise ye the LORD.
Psalm 149:9

In other words, it's everything else the Church teaches on faith and morals.
How is it that ye do not understand
that I spake it not to you concerning bread,
that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?
Matthew 16:11

We can be thankful for the oral apostolic traditions which have definitively taught us about the Blessed Trinity, the two natures of Christ (human and divine), the union of those natures (hypostatic union), the Filioque (the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son), and the canon of Scripture (what books belong in the Bible and what books do not).
All the commandments which I command thee this day
shall ye observe to do,
that ye may live,
and multiply,
and go in and possess the land
which the LORD sware unto your fathers.
Deuteronomy 8:1

All of these teachings, and many, many more, are not explicitly taught in the Bible, yet are generally believed by all Christians.
And shalt return unto the LORD thy God,
and shalt obey His voice
according to all that I command thee this day,

thou and thy children,
with all thine heart,
and with all thy soul;
That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity,
and have compassion upon thee,
and will return and gather thee from all the nations,
whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.
Deuteronomy 30:2-3

To learn more about the oral apostolic tradition, buy a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
So that we also put away what God said,
like you have done?

For this commandment which I command thee this day,
it is not hidden from thee,
neither is it far off.
Deuteronomy 30:11

I kind of love smiley: happy
how your Church gave us God's word,
but you have to wear theirs.

And now
we who received God's word in the scripture from your Church
are the unrighteous ones,
but you who received their oral traditions,
and who preach against God's written word,
suppose your traditions are more righteous
than what is written that God spoke.
Because 2 Thessalonians 2:15 is so troubling to the sola Scriptura position,
You pray so,
but we look not upon the scriptures through the eyes of your Church.
Therefore we rejoice, rather than be troubled, as you hope.

I hope you are in the peace of the Lord.

These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace.
In the world ye shall have tribulation:
but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
John 16:33

Protestants often argue that the oral tradition Paul is referring to had to come from the mouths of the apostles.
If you had looked into Moses' word,
you would have seen what St Paul (and Jesus) was striving to teach you.
But, as you are here saying,
your Church had you keep an oral tradition instead.
Instead of what God commanded by Moses.

For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me:
for he wrote of Me.
But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe My words?
John 5:46-47

Their argument further goes that, since all the apostles are deceased, we no longer have to follow oral tradition.
And your Church's argument is;
because you got a Church,
you no longer have to do the Father in heaven's will, as per the written word.
Just follow the Church's traditions.

But God in the scripture said;

Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.
Exodus 21:1
This argument, however, cannot be proven from Scripture (which should be possible if sola Scriptura were true) and, in fact, is contrary to Scripture.
God told us everything in heaven and earth, by His word,
but you pray that you cannot be disproven by scripture.

Nevertheless,
some of us will compare your oral traditions
with what God said in the scriptures.

Because,
to follow God is safe,
but men are deceivers.

But He answered and said,
It is written,
Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Matthew 4:4

See for example, 2 Timothy 2:2 where Paul (1st generation) instructs Timothy (2nd generation) to teach others the faith (3rd generation) who will be able to teach others also (4th generation).
Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them;
but they will not hearken to thee:
thou shalt also call unto them;
but they will not answer thee.
But thou shalt say unto them,
This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God,
nor receiveth correction:
truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.
Jeremiah 7:27-28

Keep hearkening to your oral tradition, Had2.
Never mind what God spoke.
And don't think to check in the Old Testament,
where God commanded the things St Paul was speaking about,
(lest you find God's written word repudiates your Church's oral traditions).
Such an argument is also inconsistent with the very meaning of tradition (in Greek, "paradosis") which means "to hand on" from one generation to the next.
If oral tradition is to prove oral tradition,
then oral tradition will be seen as being the truth,

But if we compare oral tradition to what is written that God spoke,
then we shall be doing God's judgments.
And what God spoke is the truth.

And it shall be our righteousness,
if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God,
as He hath commanded us.
Deuteronomy 6:25
Moreover, the Protestant argument is also refuted by the way in which the Church selected the Bible canon.
Use God's words to refute those of men.
Don't use men's words, or oral traditions, to refute other men's words,
meanwhile bypassing whatever God said.

And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more:
for every man's word shall be his burden;
for ye have perverted the words of the living God,
of the LORD of hosts our God.
Jeremiah 23:36

While the last apostle John died around 100 A.D., the Bible was not finally compiled until 397 A.D.
Blessed is he that readeth,
and they that hear the words of this prophecy,
and keep those things which are written therein:
for the time is at hand.
Revelation 1:3

Beware the oral traditions of men.

The Church was thus required to rely upon the oral apostolic tradition during this 300 year period in order to determine which letters were inspired and which letters were not.
They had the Torah,
but they decided to lean on what some men said, and wrote, instead,
whom they then dubbed their "Early Church Fathers".

God's written word is now completely forgotten, to them,
and even spoken against, by them,
in favour of keeping some oral traditions, which they now take to be the truth.
Jesus is still the truth.
Always will be.

Verily, verily, I say unto you,
If a man keep My saying, he shall never see death.
John 8:51

The tradition they depended on, of course, did not come from the mouths of the apostles (they were deceased), but from their successors.
And the men took of their victuals,
and asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD.
Joshua 8:51

(There is also no reason to conclude that the Church should listen to the fourth, fifth or sixth generation of apostolic successors, but not to later successors such as those of our day).
Therefore shall ye lay up these My words
in your heart and in your soul,
and bind them for a sign upon your hand,
that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.
Deuteronomy 11:18

We should also note that the apostolic traditions Paul is commanding us to follow in 2 Thessalonians 2:15 are not the same as the Pharisaical traditions that Jesus condemned in Matthew 15:3 and Mark 7:9.
Woe unto the scribes and Pharisees!
for they pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin,
and have omitted the weightier matters of the law,
judgment, mercy, and faith:
these ought they to have done,
and not to leave the other undone.
Matthew 23:23
The traditions Jesus condemned dealt with the Old Testament ceremonial rituals and other acts that contravened the New Testament Gospel.
You twist Jesus' teaching.
He said, do not suppose He came to destroy the law of Moses,
or to dismiss what was spoken by the prophets in the Old Testament.

But whoever believe on the oral traditions of a Church,
will soon come to take their stand against the things that are written,
that Jesus spoke.

And Jesus saith unto him,
See thou tell no man;
but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest,
and offer the gift that Moses commanded,
for a testimony unto them.
Matthew 8:4

So there are certain human traditions that, if contrary to the Gospel, we must reject, and oral apostolic tradition, as Paul commands, which we must accept.
Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law
to do them.
And all the people shall say, Amen.
Deuteronomy 27:26

The only other argument the Protestant can make is that, once the Bible was compiled, all oral apostolic tradition was committed to the Scriptures.
Teach me good judgment
and knowledge:

for I have believed Thy commandments.
Psalms 119:66
As a result, the requirement to follow oral tradition ceased.
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God,
and keep His commandments:

for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecclesiates 12:13

But this they cannot prove from the Bible.
Not if you believe on an oral tradition instead.

But if you believed in the God of the Bible,
then you would believe in His written word also,
and His words would be proof unto you.
Wouldn't they?

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,
that there may be meat in Mine house,
and prove Me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts.
Malachi 3:10

Verily, verily, I say unto you,
He that heareth My word,
and believeth on Him that sent Me,

hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation;
but is passed from death unto life.
John 5:24

There is nothing in the Scriptures that commands us to follow oral tradition until the Bible is compiled, and then to follow the Bible alone (the word "Bible" is not even in the Bible).
The words "law", and "commandments", are.

They kept not the covenant of God,
and refused to walk in His law;
Psalm 78:10

Then shalt thou say unto them,
Because your fathers have forsaken Me, saith the LORD,
and have walked after other gods,
and have served them,
and have worshipped them,
and have forsaken Me,
and have not kept My law;
And ye have done worse than your fathers;
for, behold,
ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart,

that they may not hearken unto Me:
Therefore will I cast you out of this land
into a land that ye know not,

neither ye nor your fathers;
and there shall ye serve other gods day and night;
where I will not shew you favour.
Jeremiah 16:11-13

In fact, Jesus never even commanded any of His apostles to write anything down.
And the LORD said unto Moses,
Write
this for a memorial in a book,
and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua:
for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
Exodus 17:14

And the LORD said unto Moses,
Write
thou these words:
for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee
and with Israel.
Exodus 34:27

After believing their oral traditions, they suppose they know God's word.
But they expose their nakedness,
for the written word shows us what the written word actually says,
and Jesus did instruct His servants to write,
FOR YOU!

Now let's look further
to see what it is we must write.

And the priest shall write these curses in a book,
and he shall blot them out with the bitter water:
Numbers 5:23

And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
...
And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house,
and on thy gates.
Deuteronomy 6:6 & 9 [and again at Deut 11:20]

And it shall be,
when he sitteth upon the throne of His kingdom,
that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book
out of that which is before the priests the Levites:
Deuteronomy 17:19

And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law,
when thou art passed over,
that thou mayest go in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee,
a land that floweth with milk and honey;
as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee.
Deuteronomy 27:3

They were only charged to "preach the Gospel to all creation."
But if you had believed in God's written word,
rather than in an oral tradition,
you would not have preached against His written word.

Now therefore
write
ye this song for you,
and teach it the children of Israel:
put it in their mouths,
that this song may be a witness for Me
against the children of Israel.

Deuteronomy 31:19
Matthew 28:19.
If you, Had, read but one verse further,
to understand the verse you offered us better,
before offering it to us,
you would have seen what it is that Jesus wanted you to teach us.

But you wanted to teach us the oral tradition you received, instead.
Didn't you smiley: happy

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:
and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Matthew 28:20

And if you aren't sure
what Jesus might have meant by His commandments, that He commanded us,
refer to the written word.
{Do not refer to any oral tradition,
for they all only steer people away from God's words,
as we are witnessing here today.
}

Remember ye the law of Moses My servant,
which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel,
with the statutes and judgments.
Malachi 4:4

Because the Scriptures are the living word of God which is the same yesterday, today and forever (cf. Hebrews 13:10)
The scriptures are the written word of God, Had2.
They're just paper and ink, and paper and ink are not alive.

Jesus Himself is the living word of God.
And He comes quickly, to us all.
Make sure you put off your oral traditions.

For the LORD had said unto Moses,
Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people:
I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee:
therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee,
that I may know what to do unto thee.
Exodus 33:5

, and there is no verse in Scripture that repudiates Paul's instruction in 2 Thessalonians 2:15,
There is no scripture that repudiates any other scripture.
Only oral traditions repudiate scripture.

But in vain they do worship Me,
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Matthew 15:19

we must also obey the oral tradition of the Church as Paul commanded, or we are not being faithful to the Scriptures.
LOL.
Be faithful to the scriptures,
and cast out oral traditions.
Oral traditions only confound you.

For not the hearers of the law are just before God,
but the doers of the law shall be justified.
Romans 2:13

And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee,
who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?
Romans 2:27

I compare people's oral traditions
to the written words of God,
for I believe is is safer to follow God
`Paul

My heart is inditing a good matter:
I speak of the things which I have made touching the king:
my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
Psalm 45:1

Let not mercy and truth forsake thee:
bind them about thy neck;
write them upon the table of thine heart:
Proverbs 3:3

Bind them upon thy fingers,
write them upon the table of thine heart.
Proverbs 7:3

Moreover
the LORD said unto me,
Take thee a great roll,
and write in it with a man's pen
concerning Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
Isaiah 8:1

Now go,
write
it before them in a table,
and note it in a book,
that it may be for the time to come
for ever and ever:
That this is a rebellious people,
lying children,
children that will not hear the law of the LORD:
Which say to the seers, See not;
and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things,
speak unto us smooth things,
prophesy deceits:
Get you out of the way,
turn aside out of the path,
cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
Isaiah 30:8-11

Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel,
saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.
Jeremiah 30:2

Take thee a roll of a book,
and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel,
and against Judah,
and against all the nations,
from the day I spake unto thee,
from the days of Josiah, even unto this day.
Jeremiah 36:2

But that we write unto them,
that they abstain from pollutions of idols,
and from fornication,
and from things strangled,
and from blood.
Acts 15:20

I write not these things to shame you,
but as my beloved sons I warn you.
1 Corinthians 4:14

For we write none other things unto you,
than what ye read or acknowledge;
and I trust ye shall acknowledge even to the end;
2 Corinthians 1:13

For to this end also did I write,
that I might know the proof of you,
whether ye be obedient in all things.
2 Corinthians 2:9

Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.
To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous,
but for you it is safe.
Philippians 3:1

Brethren,
I write no new commandment unto you,
but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning.
The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.
1 John 2:7

And He that sat upon the throne said,
Behold,
I make all things new.

And He said unto me,
Write

for these words are true and faithful.
Revelation 21:5

~&~

And thou shalt speak My words unto them,
whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear:
for they are most rebellious.
Ezekiel 2:7

Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts,
Because ye speak this word,
behold, I will make My words in thy mouth fire,
and this people wood,
and it shall devour them.
Jeremiah 5:14

For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God:
for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.
John 3:34

But don't believe God's written words.
They are only God's word.
But the oral traditions of Churches come from the mouths of holy men.