Written in such a clear and factual way. Thank you. What you wrote is 100% o the spot and we have proof of it being true because we have experienced and are still experiencing the lack of this in Protestants who therefore are missing out on so much .They lack a very important part because they think they themselves can understand, just by reading the Scriptures alone. Sola Scriptura. This has led to so many opinions and splitting of churches which are now more than 40.000 in numbers. Not even mentioning the wars that have been waged and so many people have suffered. I always say that this was to be expected because the EVIL ONE hates Jesus and therefore hates His church. Therefore persecuting His church was to be expected and He even warned us of that. Some of our famous Catholics who were Protestants to start with, realised this and converted.
"The Gates of Hell will NOT overcome it "he promised us about His church. Here we are 2000 years later and His church still stands.
If we all have spiritual discernment when we have the Spirit of God, as Paul teaches us, why would it be confined only to the Magisterium? John tells us that the anointing teaches us, and that we don’t need anyone else to teach us when we abide in what we have heard from the beginning. We have this information at our disposal in Scripture. Of itself, individual conscience is not infallible unless it is informed by spiritual discernment.
If you read through the whole reflection you would see where I did not discount the possession of the Holy Spirit by the individual faithful. But you err in multiple places in your response.
John does not teach that we do not need anyone else to teach us. In both his Gospel, recourse to the Holy Spirit through the Apostles, and His letters, avoiding false teachers, he makes it clear that some are appointed to teach us.
If there were no need for teachers, Christ would not have commissioned teachers of the faith with authority over us:
“Go teach all nations.” Matt. 28:19
“He who hears you, hears me.” Luke 10:16
“Feed my sheep.” John 21:17
While the Holy Spirit is the primary teacher, the Magisterium is the instrument by which God teaches and guides mankind. Without the Magisterium, there is no objective rule of measurement since…
The conscience, even with the gift of Spiritual Discernment, is not infallible. You are also placing a charism of the spirit, which is in the way of extraordinary mysticism, above that of the ordinary means of interpretation of revelation. St. Paul is very clear that these gifts, which are gratis datae, are not given to all Christians. So even if it guaranteed an infallible interpretation of revelation, only a small number of the faithful would have it, and the rest would be at whose mercy?
The proof of all of this is the multitude of protestant denominations. Each one professes to have the fullness of truth according to their own private interpretation, according to the “spirit of discernment.” The Spirit makes us docile to the teachings of the church.
What you have done is cut off the members (faithful) from the Head (Christ) by eliminating the body (the church). For the members to live, be taught, and be sustained by the head, the body is necessary. Apart from the body, we cannot survive.
Faith comes by hearing: so we do need to be taught on how to arrive at the anointing that John speaks of; but when it is activated in our lives, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us individually into all truth. I believe that the spiritual discernment that Paul speaks of is how we are primarily guided. This is something that applies to all Christians who have the Spirit of God; but there are charisms that are not given to all Christians as stated in 1Corinthians. Not everyone who claims to have spiritual discernment truly has it. God knows those who are His.
The Church compiled the Bible in the fourth century as the objective standard for its teaching. Before that, the New Testament books were scattered within the Church. Without Sacred Scripture, the Magisterium wouldn’t even know what to teach for guiding mankind. Bibles are now available almost everywhere; and people can be taught Catholic doctrine without setting foot in a Catholic church. There is a lot of division in Christianity; but nobody said that things would be perfect. There were divisions even when the Church had more control over the dissemination and interpretation of the message.
The views concerning the members of the Body of Christ may need further development in the Church. Those who are attached to Head may not even know who the other members of the Body are.
The church has never claimed to be above Scripture. The Magisterium acknowledges and teaches that it is a servant to Scripture and Tradition. There are two modes of Divine Revelation. Without the Church, we do not have true access to either of these.
Yes, one can sit and read their Bible, but you have yet to show, outside of a personal claim, how all of the faithful are given an infallible charism to interpret that Bible. It is because that infallible charism does not reside with the faithful; it resides with the Pope and the bishops in union with him. When we try to operate outside of the church as established by Christ, we are trying to navigate a roaring sea outside of the safety of the ship built by Christ and captained by the Pope.
As for the Body of Christ, St. Paul is very clear: it is baptism that makes one a part of that Body. Knowing who is in that body is not necessary. Union comes through our obedience to, and unity with, those who are our shepherds. Each Catholic is united to their parish community through their Pastor. Through the pastor, we are united to the Catholics of our diocese through union with the Bishop of that diocese. Through our Bishop, we are united to the Pope, who is the principle of Unity for the whole Church. Thus, through union with the Successor of St. Peter, we are united to the whole Church, the body, which is necessarily united to the head, which is Christ. The members have communion with the Head, only through the body.
The Magisterium is not something that is optional. It is not something that we can put away because we have a Bible in our hands. Only holding to Scripture is a protestant heresy. Knowingly rejecting the Magisterium places one's soul in danger. Every Catholic is bound to holy obedience, first to their pastor, then their bishop, and finally to the sitting Pope.
From an abysmally formed RCIA Catholic I thank you for both essays…they have helped clarified so much for me.
I’m so glad to hear they helped. I can’t tell you how often I get questions on them.
Written in such a clear and factual way. Thank you. What you wrote is 100% o the spot and we have proof of it being true because we have experienced and are still experiencing the lack of this in Protestants who therefore are missing out on so much .They lack a very important part because they think they themselves can understand, just by reading the Scriptures alone. Sola Scriptura. This has led to so many opinions and splitting of churches which are now more than 40.000 in numbers. Not even mentioning the wars that have been waged and so many people have suffered. I always say that this was to be expected because the EVIL ONE hates Jesus and therefore hates His church. Therefore persecuting His church was to be expected and He even warned us of that. Some of our famous Catholics who were Protestants to start with, realised this and converted.
"The Gates of Hell will NOT overcome it "he promised us about His church. Here we are 2000 years later and His church still stands.
If we all have spiritual discernment when we have the Spirit of God, as Paul teaches us, why would it be confined only to the Magisterium? John tells us that the anointing teaches us, and that we don’t need anyone else to teach us when we abide in what we have heard from the beginning. We have this information at our disposal in Scripture. Of itself, individual conscience is not infallible unless it is informed by spiritual discernment.
If you read through the whole reflection you would see where I did not discount the possession of the Holy Spirit by the individual faithful. But you err in multiple places in your response.
John does not teach that we do not need anyone else to teach us. In both his Gospel, recourse to the Holy Spirit through the Apostles, and His letters, avoiding false teachers, he makes it clear that some are appointed to teach us.
If there were no need for teachers, Christ would not have commissioned teachers of the faith with authority over us:
“Go teach all nations.” Matt. 28:19
“He who hears you, hears me.” Luke 10:16
“Feed my sheep.” John 21:17
While the Holy Spirit is the primary teacher, the Magisterium is the instrument by which God teaches and guides mankind. Without the Magisterium, there is no objective rule of measurement since…
The conscience, even with the gift of Spiritual Discernment, is not infallible. You are also placing a charism of the spirit, which is in the way of extraordinary mysticism, above that of the ordinary means of interpretation of revelation. St. Paul is very clear that these gifts, which are gratis datae, are not given to all Christians. So even if it guaranteed an infallible interpretation of revelation, only a small number of the faithful would have it, and the rest would be at whose mercy?
The proof of all of this is the multitude of protestant denominations. Each one professes to have the fullness of truth according to their own private interpretation, according to the “spirit of discernment.” The Spirit makes us docile to the teachings of the church.
What you have done is cut off the members (faithful) from the Head (Christ) by eliminating the body (the church). For the members to live, be taught, and be sustained by the head, the body is necessary. Apart from the body, we cannot survive.
Faith comes by hearing: so we do need to be taught on how to arrive at the anointing that John speaks of; but when it is activated in our lives, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us individually into all truth. I believe that the spiritual discernment that Paul speaks of is how we are primarily guided. This is something that applies to all Christians who have the Spirit of God; but there are charisms that are not given to all Christians as stated in 1Corinthians. Not everyone who claims to have spiritual discernment truly has it. God knows those who are His.
The Church compiled the Bible in the fourth century as the objective standard for its teaching. Before that, the New Testament books were scattered within the Church. Without Sacred Scripture, the Magisterium wouldn’t even know what to teach for guiding mankind. Bibles are now available almost everywhere; and people can be taught Catholic doctrine without setting foot in a Catholic church. There is a lot of division in Christianity; but nobody said that things would be perfect. There were divisions even when the Church had more control over the dissemination and interpretation of the message.
The views concerning the members of the Body of Christ may need further development in the Church. Those who are attached to Head may not even know who the other members of the Body are.
The church has never claimed to be above Scripture. The Magisterium acknowledges and teaches that it is a servant to Scripture and Tradition. There are two modes of Divine Revelation. Without the Church, we do not have true access to either of these.
Yes, one can sit and read their Bible, but you have yet to show, outside of a personal claim, how all of the faithful are given an infallible charism to interpret that Bible. It is because that infallible charism does not reside with the faithful; it resides with the Pope and the bishops in union with him. When we try to operate outside of the church as established by Christ, we are trying to navigate a roaring sea outside of the safety of the ship built by Christ and captained by the Pope.
As for the Body of Christ, St. Paul is very clear: it is baptism that makes one a part of that Body. Knowing who is in that body is not necessary. Union comes through our obedience to, and unity with, those who are our shepherds. Each Catholic is united to their parish community through their Pastor. Through the pastor, we are united to the Catholics of our diocese through union with the Bishop of that diocese. Through our Bishop, we are united to the Pope, who is the principle of Unity for the whole Church. Thus, through union with the Successor of St. Peter, we are united to the whole Church, the body, which is necessarily united to the head, which is Christ. The members have communion with the Head, only through the body.
The Magisterium is not something that is optional. It is not something that we can put away because we have a Bible in our hands. Only holding to Scripture is a protestant heresy. Knowingly rejecting the Magisterium places one's soul in danger. Every Catholic is bound to holy obedience, first to their pastor, then their bishop, and finally to the sitting Pope.