Infallibility of the Church

The infallibility of the Church is the belief that the Holy Spirit preserves the Christian Church from errors that would contradict its essential doctrines. It is related to, but not the same as, indefectibility, that is, "she remains and will remain the Institution of Salvation, founded by Christ, until the end of the world." The doctrine of infallibility is premised on the authority Jesus granted to the apostles to "bind and loose" (Matthew 18:18; John 20:23) and in particular the promises to Peter (Matthew 16:16–20; Luke 22:32) in regard to papal infallibility.

Ecumenical councils

The Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church hold the doctrine that the ecumenical councils are infallible. However, the Eastern Orthodox churches accept only the seven ecumenical councils from Nicaea I to Nicaea II as genuinely ecumenical, while Roman Catholics accept twenty-one. Only a very few Protestants believe in the infallibility of ecumenical councils, and these usually restrict infallibility to the Christological statements of the first seven councils. Lutherans recognize the first four councils, whereas most High Church Anglicans accept all seven as persuasive but not infallible.

Catholic Church

Catholicism teaches that Jesus Christ, "the Word made Flesh" (), is the source of divine revelation and, as the Truth, he is infallible. The Second Vatican Council states, "For this reason Jesus perfected revelation by fulfilling it through His whole work of making Himself present and manifesting Himself: through His words and deeds, His signs and wonders, but especially through His death and glorious resurrection from the dead and final sending of the Spirit of truth." (Dei verbum, 4). The content of Christ's divine revelation is called the deposit of faith, and is contained in both Sacred Scripture and sacred tradition, not as two sources but as a single source.<!-- THIS WHOLE BIT IS A MATTER OF OPINION WHICH GOES AGAINST OTHER OPINIONS TENABLE IN THE CHURCH TODAY:, as well as of the ordinary and universal magisterium. Despite its name, the "ordinary and universal magisterium" falls under the infallible sacred magisterium, and in fact is the usual manifestation of the infallibility of the Church, the decrees of popes and councils being "extraordinary". Examples of infallible extraordinary Conciliar decrees include the Council of Trent's decree on justification, and the First Vatican Council's definition of papal infallibility.

Examples of infallible teachings of the ordinary and universal magisterium are harder to point to, since these are not contained in any one specific document, but are the common teachings found among the Bishops dispersed through the world yet united with the Pope. Pope John Paul II specifically clarified that the reservation of ordination to males is infallible under the infallibility of the ordinary and universal magisterium of the Church, without issuing a corresponding extraordinary papal definition. It has been suggested that Pope John Paul II did this to remind everyone that the ordinary and universal magisterium can also be infallible, and that an extraordinary definition is not necessary to make a teaching irrevocably binding and demanding of supernatural faith. In fact, the ordinary and universal magisterium is the usual manifestation of infallibility, the decrees of popes and councils being the extraordinary expression.

The document Pope John Paul II approved—signed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (later known as Pope Benedict XVI), and Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone—answers the question "Whether the teaching that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women, which is presented in the Apostolic Letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis to be held definitively, is to be understood as belonging to the deposit of faith" with "Affirmative."

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A document signed by Cardinal Ratzinger and Cardinal Bertone speaks of

Pope

The doctrine of papal infallibility states that when the pope teaches ex cathedra his teachings are infallible and irreformable. Such infallible papal decrees must be made by the pope, in his role as leader of the whole Church, and they must be definitive decisions on matters of faith and morals which are binding on the whole Church. An infallible decree by a pope is often referred to as an ex cathedra statement. This type of infallibility falls under the authority of the sacred magisterium.

The doctrine of papal infallibility was formally defined at the First Vatican Council in 1870, although belief in this doctrine long predated this council and was premised on the promises of Jesus to Peter (Mat 16:16–20; Luke 22:32).

Ordinary and universal magisterium

The ordinary and universal magisterium is considered infallible when it proposes a doctrine that the pope and the bishops dispersed throughout the world who are in communion with the successor of St. Peter universally hold as definitive. Of the ordinary magisterium, the Second Vatican Council said: "Bishops, teaching in communion with the Roman Pontiff, are to be respected by all as witnesses to divine and Catholic truth. In matters of faith and morals, the bishops speak in the name of Christ and the faithful are to accept their teaching and adhere to it with a religious assent."

Lutheranism

[[File:AugsburgConfessionArticle7OftheChurch.jpg|thumb|...one holy Church is to continue forever. The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered.

–Augsburg Confession]]

Lutheran theology teaches that the Church is indefectible, as with Catholic doctrine. Lutheran churches hold that the "maintenance of this indefectibility as the sovereign work of God." Anglicans believe there will always be a section of the Christian Church, although possibly not the Anglican Church, which will not fall into major heresy.

Tradition and scripture

Catholics and Orthodox Christians believe that divine revelation (the one "Word of God") is contained both in the words of God in sacred scripture and in the deeds of God in sacred tradition. Everything asserted as true by either scripture or tradition is true and infallible.

Methodists and Anglicans teach the doctrine of prima scriptura, which suggests that Scripture is the primary source for Christian doctrine, but that "tradition, experience, and reason" can nurture the Christian religion as long as they are in harmony with the Bible.

Yves Congar, who thought Catholics could acknowledge a substantial element of truth in the Lutheran and Reformed doctrine sola scriptura, wrote that "we can admit sola scriptura in the sense of a material sufficiency of canonical Scripture. This means that Scripture contains, in one way or another, all truths necessary for salvation." This has led to the tenable position of the "two modes" theory.

In his book, James F. Keenan reports studies by some academics. A study by Bernard Hoose states that claims to a continuous teaching by the Church on matters of sexuality, life and death, and crime and punishment are "simply not true." After examining seven medieval texts about homosexuality, Mark Jordan argues that, "far from being consistent, any attempt to make a connection among the texts proved impossible." He calls the tradition's teaching of the Church "incoherent". Karl-Wilhelm Merks considers that sacred tradition is "not the truth guarantor of any particular teaching." Keenan, however, says that studies of "manualists" such as John T. Noonan Jr. demonstrate that, "despite claims to the contrary, manualists were co-operators in the necessary historical development of the moral tradition." Noonan, according to Keenan, has provided a new way of viewing at "areas where the Church not only changed, but shamefully did not."

Christian fundamentalism

Evangelical Fundamentalist churches believe that the primary method of Bible study is literal interpretation, and that the interpretation of these verses is infallible and therefore cannot be discussed.

Consequences for ecumenism

The Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the various Protestant denominations are divided by their different views on infallibility. The ecumenical movement, which hopes to reunify all of Christianity, has found that the Catholic Church's Papacy is one of the most divisive of issues for Protestants and Eastern Orthodox, while Catholics view the Papacy as necessary source of the Church's unity and an indispensable ministry bestowed by Christ on the Church. Papal infallibility has often been misunderstood by many Protestant denominations and among some within Eastern Orthodoxy as well.

References

External links

Dogma and Authority in the Orthodox Church
The Fundamental Teachings of the Eastern Orthodox Church