New Warhorn Media post by Tim Bayly:
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In moral theology, however, another question had meanwhile become pressing: The hypothesis that the Magisterium of the Church should have final competence [infallibility] only in matters concerning the faith itself gained widespread acceptance; (in this view) questions concerning morality should not fall within the scope of infallible decisions of the Magisterium of the Church. There is probably something right about this hypothesis that warrants further discussion. But there is a minimum set of morals which is indissolubly linked to the foundational principle of faith and which must be defended if faith is not to be reduced to a theory but rather to be recognized in its claim to concrete life.
TB: “Probably something right?” Smile. He thinks maybe the walls of papacy’s Divine claims deserve to crumble just a wee bit. Then notice the adversative “but” as if moral absolutes depend upon papal infallibility, even if only somewhat.
There’s a kind of rigid assurance that comes with the Roman Catholic belief system of the sacraments that is false, and the section above struck me as something similar to that. They seem to approach the question of what is and is not infallible with a similar kind of rigidity.
It seems to be an attempt to avoid the need for wisdom in day-to-day life. As a Protestant minister, I don’t have the “safety blanket” of the Magisterium of the Church. Instead, I have the Bible, I have church history (including my fathers in the faith), and I have my local church. I also must trust that the Holy Spirit will guide me and give me wisdom.
But there’s no escaping the fact that I, myself, must make judgements about what to believe and what to reject.
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Thanks for the articles on this, really good. Question though, you start off this first article buy saying you’ve always respected Pope Benedict. Given your negetive view of Roman Catholicism, which I agree with, how did you respect this pope? Was it his consistency?
Yes, and his firmness, doctrinally. Any man bloody for the truth is hard for me not to love. Seriously, I think Benedict is in his dotage and shouldn’t have authored this piece. It’s unworthy of him, I think. Love,
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