Catholic Ecclesiology

 In the  last post  on the voice of the Church, we went over the fact that the Church has a voice/mind/mouth, and the fact that this voice is clear, at least enough to be recognized, in ecumenical councils and the universal opinion of teachers of the Faith. This time, I'd like us to take a look at the notion of infallible tradition broadly and how the voice of the Church plays into it.  Before we consider infallible tradition, though, it would be wise to consider tradition broadly. The Latin noun "trāditiō" comes from the verb "trādere," literally meaning to hand over. Tradition can be considered, therefore, anything which is handed over from one generation to the next. In the context of the Christian religion, there are various kinds of tradition. For example, a local church might have a tradition of singing certain hymns on particular Sundays. We are not considering this kind of local and unofficial tradition. Here, we will investigate infallible traditions, o...

In the first of several posts on the infallibility of the Church, I'd like to consider the Patristic notion of the knowledge possessed by the Church in her 'voice,' 'faith,' and 'mind.' In the same vein, I'd like to consider the expression of that knowledge in her 'confession,' 'preaching,' and the 'teaching.' Let's look at some quotes from the Fathers: "Now then let me finish what still remains to be said for the Article, 'In one Holy Catholic Church' , on which, though one might say many things, we will speak but briefly. It is called Catholic then because it extends over all the world, from one end of the earth to the other; and because it teaches universally and completely one and all the doctrines which ought to come to men's knowledge , concerning things both visible and invisible, heavenly and earthly," etc. (Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures, Lecture 18, Chapter 23) "Having, as we ha...

 The Church's indefectibility is a somewhat noncontroversial, if interesting, topic. For our purposes, we will take two of the elements of indefectibility as they appear in  Faith Seeking Understanding for our definition: (i) the Church will never perish and (ii) the Church will never fail in her mission. As I see it, based on the clear passages from Sacred Scripture (most notably Matthew 16:18 and Matthew 28:20), the issue has been largely settled throughout history: the Church is indefectible. Regardless of this consensus, it still seems important to establish that the Church cannot perish or fall away from her mission of spreading the Gospel, not least because an indefectible Church is a prerequisite of an infallible Church.  Because of this, I've decided to compile a large florilegium, or collection of quotations from tradition, to show the consensus in favor of ecclesiastical indefectibility. This collection comes from the best of Catholic theologians such as Gerard...

 Melchior Cano was a Counter-Reformation era theologian and professor of theology at Salamanca. His work, De Locis Theologicis , makes for one of the earliest and most detailed expositions of the sources of theology for Roman Catholics. In the seventh book of this work, he outlines the various levels of authority given to different opinions based upon their matter (what they are about) and consent (how many Early Church Fathers oppose or agree). In chapter three of this book, Cano lays down his fifth conclusion: "in the exposition of sacred literature, the common understanding of all the ancient saints provides the theologian with a most certain argument for corroborating theological assertions since the sense of all the saints is the sense of the Holy Spirit Himself." In the subsequent pages, he proves this assertion from Christian tradition. This list of quotations, often called a florilegium, will be reproduced below based upon a translation of the entire book I made (whic...

 Chapter XXI. In Refutation of the Error of Those who say that Outside the Unity of this Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, Men can be Saved Having proven the firmness of the faith of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, we now set our sight first to this most useful controversy [of salvation outside the Church],  rejecting the pernicious errors of those who are opposed to the holy Church, her apostolic and ecclesiastical dignity, and the mystery of her inseparable unity, who impiously presume to assert the opinion that salvation can be had in their sect, which is outside of the unity of the holy Church. Jews, Saracens, Pagans, also heretics and schismatics who most perniciously assert this are not merely in falsehood or error, but heresy. And although we could demonstrate this from many sources, we have nevertheless decided for the present to take as the foundation of the current disputation those things which, by the power of faith, are attributed in Sacred Scri...

 When I first started studying the concept of the infallibility of the Church in the Early Church Fathers, I came across a repeated citation of the Dove of Song of Songs 6:8 in the context of the purity and unity of the Church. This got me thinking, how many other Fathers and Theologians interpret that verse in such a way?  That question led me to compiling a very interesting florilegium, or compilation of quotations from tradition, on the verse. These are in no particular order, except that the Theologians come after the Fathers. Please enjoy. “This is that holy Church which is without spot or wrinkle. For many others have gathered together Churches, as Marcion, and Valentinus, and Ebion, and Manichaeus, and Arius, and all the other heretics. But those Churches are not without spot or wrinkle of unfaithfulness. And therefore the Prophet said of them, ‘I hate the Church of the malignants, and I will not sit with the ungodly.’ But of this Church which keeps the faith of Christ ...