A popular argument for Roman Catholicism takes this basic form: If God gave us an infallible text, then he’d give us an infallible interpreter.
Variations on this type of argument are adapted to analogous claims, viz., If God gave us a collection of infallible books, he’d give us an infallible collector; if God gave us his Word, he’d give us an infallible Church to assure us that the Bible is his Word.
II. The Hypothetical Counterargument
What these arguments have in common is their hypothetical character. But this type of argument suffers from a basic liability: For every hypothetical argument, it’s often child’s play to propose a hypothetical alternative.
Consider the following:
If God gave us an infallible text, but didn’t give us an infallible interpreter, then an infallible interpreter is unnecessary for God to teach us what he intends to have us to believe.
If God gave us a collection of infallible books, but didn’t give us an infallible collector, then an infallible collector is unnecessary to discover the correct canon of Scripture.
If God gave us his Word, but didn’t give us an infallible Church, then an infallible Church is unnecessary to assure us that the Bible is his Word.
Put another way, the hypothetical arguments for Catholicism are reversible. You can take a hypothetical argument for Catholicism, and by a Moore shift, turn that into a hypothetical counterargument against Catholicism.
III. Plausible Alternatives
Incidentally, it isn’t difficult to flesh out the hypothetical alternatives. For instance, if the Protestant canon of Scripture is the correct canon, and God wants someone to believe in the Protestant canon, then he can do so causing that person to attend a Protestant church.
God could cultivate that belief through opportune social conditioning. In this case, special providence is a reliable belief-forming mechanism. In this case, God has prearranged historical events so that Protestant churches adhere to the true canon. And God has prearranged historical events so that some individuals will be born at such a time and place that they will attend a Protestant church, where they will be conditioned to believe in the true canon of Scripture.
This doesn’t mean that providence, per se, yields true beliefs. Rather, this has reference to situations in which God intentionally employs providential circumstances to foster a true belief in the canon of Scripture.
So it could be a simple as that. What is more, this happens to be a very realistic model of how most OT Jews and NT Christians actually form their beliefs. Their beliefs are largely the result of their natural aptitudes, historical opportunities, and formative experiences.
At the same time, it’s also possible for more sophisticated Christians to confirm their belief in the Protestant canon through various lines of evidence.
But even if you’re in no position to prove it, the fact that you’re in no position to prove it could be a special providential circumstance. God brought you to a true belief in the canon, not by historical evidence, but by historical events. By exposing you to external conditions which are divinely designed to induce true beliefs.
Wow!
ReplyDeleteWhat a good post!
But this type of argument suffers from a basic liability: For every hypothetical argument, it’s often child’s play to propose a hypothetical alternative.
ReplyDeleteSteve, you once did a post to the effect that, once a Catholic apologist receives this kind of response, he ought just to stop using this kind of argument, but he doesn't. You then explored the reasons for that.
I've been thinking about that post for some time now, and doing some rudimentary searches for it, but I can't for the life of me remember what to search on.
Any ideas on that one?