M
mpartyka
Guest
I don’t want to bias the responses by providing the author’s name, so I’ll just post the quote and ask whether you agree:
We shall never get forward in discussion with people on any one dogma till we agree about this: that the authority of the Church today is the criterion for all dogmas. That is, the Catholic criterion of the true faith is what the living Church, guided always by God, teaches today. This, and this alone, is a real, objective standard of belief, about which there neither is nor can be any doubt, once you know what the Church is.
The Church is a living authority, an authority alive in the world at this moment, that can answer your difficulties, reject a false theory as it arises, and say who is right in disputed interpretations of ancient documents. Christ has given to his Church his own authority, so that we can trust the Church as we trust Christ himself. Therefore, the main proof for any dogma, the most efficient in every way, the proof that should be the real motive for every Catholic, is simply that this dogma is taught now by the Church.
There is also another kind of argument for each dogma, taking each separately and proving that this was taught by Christ and has been believed from the beginning. This direct proof of each dogma can only be confirmation of the general argument for all, taken from the present teaching of the Church. But it is a most valuable confirmation, which we are always ready to offer, as long as it is understood that it is not the main reason of our belief. Even the most fundamental dogmas rest ultimately on the teaching of the Church today, even, for instance, that of the Holy Trinity. I am quite certain that the Church Fathers all say what I believe about the Trinity. But I do not base my faith on what they say. I base my faith on what the Catholic Church of today says.
We believe that, whatever may happen, the Church still lives and will live to the end of the world. Christ said so. She remains always what he founded –- one united society. Her rebel children may leave her and set up rival churches of their own. This is tragic; it is the great tragedy of Christendom; but it does not affect the unity of the Church, for unity is of her essence. Nothing can destroy that, because her Founder is almighty and promised that she should last always, till the end of the world. It is a fact that there are many Christians who have left her, that Christendom is divided; it is not a fact that the Church is divided. If ever it were so, then the Church would no longer exist; the gates of hell would have prevailed. So we Catholics believe in Christ’s one Church, and we look to this Church for guidance, as she is now, as she teaches this year.
We shall never get forward in discussion with people on any one dogma till we agree about this: that the authority of the Church today is the criterion for all dogmas. That is, the Catholic criterion of the true faith is what the living Church, guided always by God, teaches today. This, and this alone, is a real, objective standard of belief, about which there neither is nor can be any doubt, once you know what the Church is.
The Church is a living authority, an authority alive in the world at this moment, that can answer your difficulties, reject a false theory as it arises, and say who is right in disputed interpretations of ancient documents. Christ has given to his Church his own authority, so that we can trust the Church as we trust Christ himself. Therefore, the main proof for any dogma, the most efficient in every way, the proof that should be the real motive for every Catholic, is simply that this dogma is taught now by the Church.
There is also another kind of argument for each dogma, taking each separately and proving that this was taught by Christ and has been believed from the beginning. This direct proof of each dogma can only be confirmation of the general argument for all, taken from the present teaching of the Church. But it is a most valuable confirmation, which we are always ready to offer, as long as it is understood that it is not the main reason of our belief. Even the most fundamental dogmas rest ultimately on the teaching of the Church today, even, for instance, that of the Holy Trinity. I am quite certain that the Church Fathers all say what I believe about the Trinity. But I do not base my faith on what they say. I base my faith on what the Catholic Church of today says.
We believe that, whatever may happen, the Church still lives and will live to the end of the world. Christ said so. She remains always what he founded –- one united society. Her rebel children may leave her and set up rival churches of their own. This is tragic; it is the great tragedy of Christendom; but it does not affect the unity of the Church, for unity is of her essence. Nothing can destroy that, because her Founder is almighty and promised that she should last always, till the end of the world. It is a fact that there are many Christians who have left her, that Christendom is divided; it is not a fact that the Church is divided. If ever it were so, then the Church would no longer exist; the gates of hell would have prevailed. So we Catholics believe in Christ’s one Church, and we look to this Church for guidance, as she is now, as she teaches this year.
