Infallibility of the Church
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Infallibility of the Church is the belief that the Holy Spirit will not allow the Church to err in its belief or teaching under certain circumstances. This belief is held in a variety of forms by different Christian groups, including the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox churches.
Contents |
[edit] Different ecclesiastical channels of doctrinal infallibility
In addition to the infallibility of Scripture (see Biblical Inerrancy), the following channels of infallibility are accepted by some Christian groups:
[edit] Infallibility of the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church teaches two sources of Infallible teachings: the deposit of faith, which includes both Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture (the Church teaches that these comprise one rather than two separate sources), and the Sacred Magisterium.
The Magisterium (from the Latin, magister, "teacher") is the teaching office of the Roman Catholic Church. Roman Catholic theology divides the functions of the teaching office of the Church into two categories: the infallible Sacred Magisterium and the non-infallible Ordinary Magisterium. The infallible Sacred Magisterium includes the teachings of papal infallibility, of Ecumenical Councils (traditionally expressed in conciliar canons and decrees), and of the ordinary and universal Magisterium. (Despite its name, the ordinary and universal Magisterium falls under the infallible Sacred Magisterium.)
Examples of infallible papal definitions (and, hence, of teachings of the sacred magisterium) are Pius IX's definition of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, and Pius XII's definition of the Assumption of Mary. Examples of infallible Conciliar decrees include the Council of Trent's decree on justification, and Vatican I'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.
The Ordinary Magisterium also includes the non-infallible teachings of the Pope, of Ecumenical Councils (not all Conciliar teachings are infallible), of individual Bishops or groups of Bishops. Such teachings are not infallible and could possibly contain errors; they are subject to revisions or even, rarely, revocation. However, the non-infallible teachings are necessary to contribute to the development of doctrine. Eventually, many non-infallible teachings progress to the point where they can be infallibly defined. Thus, some teachings move from the Ordinary Magisterium to the Sacred Magisterium.
All teachings of the Sacred Magisterium are considered infallible in Roman Catholic theology: "Wherefore, by divine and Catholic faith all those things are to be believed which are contained in the word of God as found in Scripture and Tradition, and which are proposed by the Church as matters to be believed as divinely revealed, whether by her solemn judgment or in her ordinary and universal Magisterium." (First Vatican Council, Dei Filius 8.) Infallible teachings can fall under papal infallibility, or under the teachings of Ecumenical Councils (and similar gatherings of the Pope and the body of Bishops), or under the universal Magisterium.
It is when a teaching is outside of the conditions for the Sacred Magisterium, it falls under the fallible Ordinary Magisterium.
[edit] Ecumenical councils
The doctrine of the infallibility of ecumenical councils states that definitive decrees of ecumenical councils, approved by the Pope, which concern faith or morals, and to which the whole Church must adhere are infallible. Such decrees are often labeled as 'Canons' and they often have an attached anathema, a penalty of excommunication, against those who refuse to believe the teaching. The doctrine does not claim that every aspect of every ecumenical council is infallible.
The Roman Catholic Church holds this doctrine, as do most or all Eastern Orthodox theologians. However, the Orthodox churches accept only the first seven general councils as genuinely ecumenical, while Catholics accept twenty-one. Some Protestants believe in the infallibility of ecumenical councils, but they usually restrict this infallibility to the Christological statements of the first seven councils.
While the Russian Orthodox Church does recognize the first seven ecumenical councils as valid, some Russian Orthodox theologians believe that the infallibility of these councils' statements derived from their acceptance by the faithful (and thus from the infallibility of all believers), and not from the acts of the councils themselves. This differs from the Greek Orthodox view, which accepts that an ecumenical council is itself infallible when pronouncing on a specific matter.
[edit] The Pope
- Main article: Papal Infallibility
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.
This doctrine is held by the Roman Catholic Church. It was definitively defined at the First Vatican Council in 1870, although belief in this doctrine pre-dated this council. The rejection of this doctrine is a common definitional element of Protestantism and the Old Catholic Church. In the Orthodox Churches, the doctrine is also not generally accepted, although the doctrine is not necessarily inconsistent with the beliefs of those Churches and consequently some Orthodox theologians have professed it. Some adherents and theologians who consider themselves Catholic but are not in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church have disputed or denied papal infallibity.
[edit] Infallibility in the Orthodox Church
Since the authority here claimed is associated with the doctrine of Apostolic Succession and is founded on Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, it is also not entirely foreign to the Orthodox Churches. However, the Orthodox Church believes that the bishops are responsible for preserving the faith, the dogmatic truths and traditions. This does not equate however to them being individually infallible but that, in consensus, in combined agreement, they are charged with the Universal faith. Thus, the Orthodox churches, even though they may not use the same terminology, would generally accept the Roman Catholic views of the infallibility of bishops in an ecumenical council, but not of the ordinary and universal Magisterium.
[edit] Infallibility in the Anglican Church
The Anglican Church, at its origins, claimed this type of authority over the people of England, but the idea is no longer popular within the Church, owing in particular to a lack of commonly-accepted traditions and to disputes as to the doctrine of Apostolic Succession. However, it is still accepted in some Anglo-catholic circles in a modified form. It is not otherwise found in the Protestant traditions.
[edit] The Witnesses of Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture
Catholics and Orthodox 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 Sacred Scripture or Sacred Tradition is true and infallible.
| This plan of revelation is realized by deeds and words having in inner unity: the deeds wrought by God in the history of salvation manifest and confirm the teaching and realities signified by the words, while the words proclaim the deeds and clarify the mystery contained in them. By this revelation then, the deepest truth about God and the salvation of man shines out for our sake in Christ, who is both the mediator and the fullness of all revelation. |
- Second Vatican Council, Dei Verbum, n. 2
[edit] Consequences for ecumenism
Christian churches are divided by their different views on infallibility. The ecumenical movement, which hopes to reunify all of Christianity, has found that this is one of the most divisive of issues between churches. This term unfortunately has often been misunderstood by most Christian denominations. Infallibility cannot be understood properly unless a sound comprehension of the administration and theology of each Christian group has firstly been understood. For example, many Protestants and Eastern Orthodox believers have the mistaken belief that papal infallibility refers to papal impeccability, i.e. that the Pope cannot sin. This, however, is not the teaching of papal infallibility.
[edit] External links
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ Vatican II, Lumen Gentium § 12 ¶ 1.
- ↑ Pope Pius IX, Tuas Libenter. Vatican I, Dei Filius ch. 3 ¶ 1.
- ↑ Vatican II, Lumen Gentium § 25 ¶ 2 and ¶ 3. 1983 Code of Canon Law 749 § 2.
- ↑ Pope John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae §§ 5, 57, 62, 65.
- ↑ Vatican I, Dei Filius ch. 3 ¶ 1. Vatican II, Lumen Gentium § 25 ¶ 2. 1983 Code of Canon Law 749 § 2.
- ↑ "The infallibility of the Church does not mean that the Church, in the assembly of the Fathers or in the expression of the Conscience of the Church, has already formally expressed all the truths of faith and norms. The infallibility of the Church is confined to the formulation of truths in question. This infallibility is not wholly a God-inspired energy which would affect the participants of the synod to such an extent that they would be inspired to pronounce all the truths at one time as a whole system of a Christian catechism. The Synod does not formulate a system of beliefs encompassing all Christian teachings and truths, but only endeavors to define the particular disputed truth which was misunderstood and misinterpreted. The Church of Christ and its divine nature, as set forth above, is the foundation upon which the Eastern Orthodox Church continues to administer and nourish its faithful, thereby protecting its fundamental essentials." Rev. George Mastrantonis, of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
- ↑ Vatican I, Dei Filius ch. 3 ¶ 1 and Pastor Aeternus ch. 4 ¶ 5. Vatican II, Lumen Gentium § 25 ¶ 3. 1983 Code of Canon Law 749 § 1.
