(June 21, 2015 at 12:23 pm)Neimenovic Wrote:(June 21, 2015 at 11:10 am)Randy Carson Wrote: 15. That people can be infallible.
I'd like to address this point next, I think. But first, can you tell me which people you are referring to?
The pope.
Okay, thanks...just wanted to be sure.
Let me begin with some background on what infallibility is and isn't and the basis for infallibility.
Terms first:
Impeccability
Impeccability means that one is incapable of sin. Catholics do not claim this characteristic for their Church or Pope. Popes have sinned because they are human.
Infallibility
Infallibility means that one is incapable of teaching error. Catholics do claim this for both the Church and the Pope.
Infallibility does not mean that one is always right or that everything he says is correct, but it does mean that no popes have ever formally taught error on matters of faith and morals because the Holy Spirit has prevented them from doing so. Infallibility does not come from man's ability; it is because of what God has done in protecting His Church from error.
Inerrancy
Regarding the inerrancy of Scripture, the Catholic Church teaches that the inspired books teach the truth. "Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures."
I threw that last on in just because.
Now, I would like to quote the Catechism at this point because precision is REALLY important when discussing what infallibility is and is not. Why? Because misunderstanding the CATHOLIC definition of infallibility leads to many unnecessary disagreements.
889 In order to preserve the Church in the purity of the faith handed on by the apostles, Christ who is the Truth willed to confer on her a share in his own infallibility. By a "supernatural sense of faith" the People of God, under the guidance of the Church's living Magisterium, "unfailingly adheres to this faith."417
890 The mission of the Magisterium is linked to the definitive nature of the covenant established by God with his people in Christ. It is this Magisterium's task to preserve God's people from deviations and defections and to guarantee them the objective possibility of professing the true faith without error. Thus, the pastoral duty of the Magisterium is aimed at seeing to it that the People of God abides in the truth that liberates. To fulfill this service, Christ endowed the Church's shepherds with the charism of infallibility in matters of faith and morals. The exercise of this charism takes several forms:
891 "The Roman Pontiff, head of the college of bishops, enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his office, when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful - who confirms his brethren in the faith he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals. . . . The infallibility promised to the Church is also present in the body of bishops when, together with Peter's successor, they exercise the supreme Magisterium," above all in an Ecumenical Council.418 When the Church through its supreme Magisterium proposes a doctrine "for belief as being divinely revealed,"419 and as the teaching of Christ, the definitions "must be adhered to with the obedience of faith."420 This infallibility extends as far as the deposit of divine Revelation itself.421
892 Divine assistance is also given to the successors of the apostles, teaching in communion with the successor of Peter, and, in a particular way, to the bishop of Rome, pastor of the whole Church, when, without arriving at an infallible definition and without pronouncing in a "definitive manner," they propose in the exercise of the ordinary Magisterium a teaching that leads to better understanding of Revelation in matters of faith and morals. To this ordinary teaching the faithful "are to adhere to it with religious assent"422 which, though distinct from the assent of faith, is nonetheless an extension of it.
So, infallibility does not mean that the pope cannot sin or that the pope has all the answers. What it DOES mean is that when the pope speaks on matters of faith and morals in his official capacity as head of the universal church, he is prevented by God from teaching error. Infallibility is like guardrails that keep the pope from going off the road.
This has only happened a few times in history, btw. Probably less than a dozen - depending on who is doing the counting.
Now, let's drill down a bit further into this. Hidden for the sake of those who don't care.
All that having been said, I could provide you with a bunch of scriptures and writings from the Early Church Fathers which demonstrate that while the doctrine of papal infallibility was not formally declared until 1870 at the first Vatican Council, the basis for it was held by the Church going back to the books of the New Testament itself. Let me know if you are interested in this supporting material.