Ex cathadra statements

[Cody]

This may seem like a stupid question, but I thought that I would ask some of the experts on the forum about it.
I was having a conversation today and someone told me he thought the two ex cathadra statements were similiar to the Mormon theology of continued revelation. I know that’s not right, but I can’t think of a proper way to answer that charge. Can anyone help?

Cody

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Cody:

This may seem like a stupid question, but I thought that I would ask some of the experts on the forum about it.
I was having a conversation today and someone told me he thought the two ex cathadra statements were similiar to the Mormon theology of continued revelation. I know that’s not right, but I can’t think of a proper way to answer that charge. Can anyone help?

Cody

Continued Revelation would allow for NEW Revelation. Excathadra pronouncements define as Dogma beliefs and teachings always held in the Church.

 

[Catholic_Dude]

Br. Rich SFO:

Continued Revelation would allow for NEW Revelation. Excathadra pronouncements define as Dogma beliefs and teachings always held in the Church.

To piggyback on this there are a few mormon threads around here that talk about this. The problem is the concept or revelation is different, for the CC nothing is pulled out of thin air it all has some level of history and consistency, for the other guys ANY doctrine can be changed or made by using the power of “revelation”

 

[petra]

I am really curious why an ex cathedra statement had never been made until 1854 years into the Church’s history. Why were not the issues of Imaculate Conception and the Assumption dealt with through a council? Or conversely, why were not other dogmas, like the Trinity, delivered through an ex cathedra statement?

 

[rwoehmke]

petra:

I am really curious why an ex cathedra statement had never been made until 1854 years into the Church’s history. Why were not the issues of Imaculate Conception and the Assumption dealt with through a council? Or conversely, why were not other dogmas, like the Trinity, delivered through an ex cathedra statement?

Probably because Papal Infallibility was not defined explicitly until Vatican Council I. That is not to say that Papal Infallibility was a belief invented at that time(late 1800’s). Until the Age of Reason and the Reformation the notion of Papal Infallibility had been widely accepted by Christians. There have been many Traditional beliefs Like the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption that had been believed by Catholics for many centuries but never really called into question. The Pope or a Council defined some of these beliefs only when the subject was a matter of broad controversy and needed to be clarified and pinned down as to exactly what the accepted definition was to be held by the faithful. The nature of Jesus , the Trinity, and of Mary as the Mother of God(Theotokos) were some of the items that were debated and defined by the earlier Councils.

 

[Scott_Waddell]

rwoehmke:

Probably because Papal Infallibility was not defined explicitly until Vatican Council I. That is not to say that Papal Infallibility was a belief invented at that time(late 1800’s). Until the Age of Reason and the Reformation the notion of Papal Infallibility had been widely accepted by Christians. There have been many Traditional beliefs Like the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption that had been believed by Catholics for many centuries but never really called into question. The Pope or a Council defined some of these beliefs only when the subject was a matter of broad controversy and needed to be clarified and pinned down as to exactly what the accepted definition was to be held by the faithful. The nature of Jesus , the Trinity, and of Mary as the Mother of God(Theotokos) were some of the items that were debated and defined by the earlier Councils.

Excellent points. One thing people tend to miss is that Church authority (Scripture, Tradition, Magisterium) is a living authority and not just a bunch of dead-letter documents, pronouncements, and confessions amounting to no more than the modern ideological bluster found in other sects.

Scott

 

[Giga1992]

Well, one thing to remember is that the power that the Pope currently wields over the Catholic Church is relatively new. I mean, yes, the Pope (Bishop of Rome) was always considered the First among Equals, but the extraordinary powers that he has now were unheard of 1,000 years ago. So Papal Infallibility is an even more recent development than that. Moving on, the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary is a lot older than Papal Infallibility. It was already a common belief in the West 1,000 years ago, and if memory serves, it began in the third century in Spain as a response to a heresy there.