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Alan Creech
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December 07, 2006
> 7:02 PM
how Catholic am I? > 2 Weelll, that got a lot of interest didn't it. Anyway, moving along, something came up in the last post and in the comments that I was intending on delving into next one way or the other so... What about that Teaching Magisterium? Of course it would take far too long and too much energy to go into this as it probably deserves, but this is a blog, so I'll do what I can. This is the idea that there is a gift, in general, given by and through the residency of the Holy Spirit in the collected successors of the Apostles, the Bishops, especially the Cardinals with the Pope - a gift of teaching correct doctrine and of having been given the Authority to do so by Jesus as He established the Church - that this is where we go for the definitions and interpretations of Scripture and doctrine. I think that about gets at it, basically. I do believe that there is such a gift, such a Teaching Authority in the Church catholic. I believe that the Teachers inside the Catholic Church are a part of that - yes, the Bishops, Cardinals and the Pope. Used rightly by faithful vessels it can shed the Light of Christ on the world and help transform the Body of Christ. I believe, in fact, that because of the continuous nature of the Catholic Church that the Magisterium located within its "borders" probably contains a good bit more of the deposit of the Faith than do other entities like it. In other words, She deserves listening to, and then some. But I tend to think that the holistic Magisterium of the whole Church perhaps extends beyond the borders of Rome. Is there Teaching Authority in the Orthodox Churches? Certainly so. In the Anglican Communion? Hmmm, well OK. :) How about those Baptists? Very likely even there. I think it is contained inside all the gifted Teachers of the Church catholic. If they Teach and behave as catholics. I'm not talking about all the theological lone rangers out there. I'm not sure what the Holy Spirit does with those who have been endowed with such a gift and tries to use it in utter disconnection with the faithful Tradition of the whole Church. Surely the ridiculous brokenness of the down through especially the last several hundred years has wreaked havoc on that extended Magisterial authority. I think that's a point worth making. So, there's my take on it as briefly as I can make it in a setting like this. I'm sure I could do a lot more research and write a full-scale thesis on the subject. Buuuuut, nope, not really feelin' the need to do that. I'm just blogging some thoughts. I mean, I know I'm verbose sometimes but I wouldn't do that to ya. Peace. technorati tags > church, catholicism, roman catholic church, catholic doctrine, faith, magisterium Labels: catholic, church, theology 0 Comments:| permalink | e-mail me | 
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