1. The church of Rome is the Bride of Christ. Without the Roman Magisterium, we'd be lost in the wilderness, forced to fend for ourselves.
2. The church of Rome can't be falsified by what the priesthood, hierarchy, or pope does, but only by what's officially taught.
3. The church of Rome can't be falsified by what the pope happens to say, but only when speaking ex cathedra. All else is fallible.
4. The church of Rome can't be falsified by heretical teaching in the Catechism of the Catholic Church because that's fallible.
5. The church of Rome can't be falsified by heretical conciliar teaching because that just shows the council wasn't ecumenical. Even if a pope solemnly defined a heresy as irreformable doctrine, that can't falsify the church of Rome. A heretical pope is an antipope, not a true pope. Ex cathedra heresy is a contradiction in terms. So nothing in principle or practice, nothing in history, nothing on paper, can falsify the church of Rome.
6. Dogma is our benchmark to sift de fide teaching from fallible or heretical teaching. We rely on magisterial teaching to know what's dogma and we rely on dogma to know what's magisterial teaching. The church of Rome is the One True Church® because it says it's the One True Church®. The Roman Catholic church is always right–except when it's wrong. And you can tell the difference by using dogma to winnow the Magisterium while simultaneously using the Magisterium to winnow dogma. Dogma is the starting-point. Unless the Magisterium is the starting-point. When in doubt, flip a coin of St. Jude.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...what would Karl Popper say about those claims?
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that the pope can make a declaration from his position as pope to change the CCC on the death penalty to the entire Roman Catholic Church, yet somehow that's not an infallible declaration.
ReplyDeleteThere is one more. The fact that the church of Rome survived the Borgia pope is proof its the real one true church. Otherwise God would have destroyed it.
ReplyDeleteHonest question, can we know when the pope actually speaks ex cathedra?
ReplyDeleteBrett - Honest answer: whenever the Pope says he is speaking ex cathedra except when the Vatican declares he wasn't at any point in history. I know, it sounds like I'm being a smarta** but that is one of the things that the RCC is very slippery on. They state the criteria (ie - speaking ex cathedra) but refuse to define what that means
ReplyDeleteInteresting. Do you have some resources or documentation you can point me toward?
Delete