Church History 102_Demo

This “ordinary” Magisterium involves, among other things, bishops in various places
beginning to teach the same particular doctrine (for instance, the teaching that Mary was
conceived without sin), and that if this teaching gains acceptance throughout the church as a
whole, it is an indication that the Holy Spirit is working through the bishops and that this
teaching is from God. The pope may later recognize this and proclaim infallibly that it comes
from God and is to be accepted by all Roman Catholics.
Discussion
How might Matthew 23: 2-3 appear to support the decision of the First Vatican
council?
In which area(s) did First Vatican Council stray away from the Bible?
How did this decision affect those of the Catholic Church?
Putting The Pope To The Test
The Roman Catholic Church sees the papacy and the infallible teaching authority of “mother
Church” as being necessary to guide the Church, and uses that as logical reasoning for
God’s provision of it. But in examining Scripture, we find the following:
1. While Peter was central in the early spread of the gospel (part of the meaning behind
Matthew 16:18-19), the teaching of Scripture, taken in context, nowhere declares that
he was in authority over the other apostles or over the entire church (see Acts 15:1-23;
Galatians 2:1-14; 1 Peter 5:1-5). Nor is it ever taught that the bishop of Rome was to
have primacy over the church.
2. Nowhere does Scripture state that, in order to keep the church from error, the authority
of the apostles was passed on to those they ordained (the Roman Catholic Church
teaching of "apostolic succession"). Apostolic succession is “read into” those verses
that the Roman Catholic Church uses to support this doctrine (2 Timothy 2:2; 4:2-5;
Titus 1:5; 2:1; 2:15; 1 Timothy 5:19-22).
Summary
In summary, the Bible speaks of only one abiding, "tangible," infallible guide left by God for
His church. It is the written word of God, not an infallible leader (2 Timothy 3:15-17). And, as
He gave the Holy Spirit to bear holy men along in the writing of those Scriptures (2 Peter
1:19-21), so He has given His Holy Spirit to indwell, fill, guide, and gift members of His church
today for the purpose of directing His church through the proper interpretation of that written
word (1 Corinthians 12 and 14; Ephesians 4:11-16).
The fact that there are schisms and false teachings today should be no surprise, since the
Bible also warns us that there would be false teachers who would twist the written word (2
Peter 3:16) and that these false teachers would arise from within the churches (Acts 20:30).
Therefore, the believers were to turn to God and the "word of His grace" for their guidance
(Acts 20:32), determining the truth not by who said it, but by comparing it with the gospel