Magisterium?

[kfinks]

How can you tell when a teaching is from the Magisterium and not just a scholar’s opinion?

 

[Joe_5859]

In general, you look at where the teaching is found. Is it in the writings of the popes? Ecumenical Councils? Does it contradict anything said by a pope or Ecumenical Council?

Do you have a specific teaching in mind?

 

[JRKH]

In general, you look at where the teaching is found. Is it in the writings of the popes? Ecumenical Councils? Does it contradict anything said by a pope or Ecumenical Council?

Do you have a specific teaching in mind?

To add to the above, one can look in the Catachism or for more technical questions Canon Law.

Peace
james

 

[Just_Lurking]

If it is straight from the mouth of your bishop or the pope, then it is from the Magisterium, which is the living teaching authority of the Catholic Church. Anything else is opinion or interpretation of Magisterial documents or the Bible.

 

[kfinks]

In general, you look at where the teaching is found. Is it in the writings of the popes? Ecumenical Councils? Does it contradict anything said by a pope or Ecumenical Council?

Do you have a specific teaching in mind?

Nothing specific, yet. I have picked up a catechism and the compendium, but there is not much detail regarding some topics, i.e. purgatory has only a few paragraphs.

Please forgive my ignorance, I am not Catholic, but I am researching what the Church teaches and not what someone says the Church teaches.

Thanks for the responses, all.

 

[Joe_5859]

Nothing specific, yet. I have picked up a catechism and the compendium, but there is not much detail regarding some topics, i.e. purgatory has only a few paragraphs.

Please forgive my ignorance, I am not Catholic, but I am researching what the Church teaches and not what someone says the Church teaches.

Thanks for the responses, all.

Well, God bless you on your quest!

If you have the Catechism and the Compendium, you are on the right track. But, you’re right, the Catechism does not always go into great depth on every single doctrine.

My advice for this is to pay careful attention to the footnotes. The citations are really the heart of the Catechism’s authority. The Catechism isn’t just pulling teaching out of thin air but is basing it on how the Church has already articulated that teaching.

Thus, in the section on Purgatory, here are the citations:

[606] Cf. Council of Florence (1439): DS 1304; Council of Trent (1563): DS 1820; (1547):1580; see also Benedict XII, Benedictus Deus (1336): DS 1000.
[607] Cf. 1 Cor 3:15; 1 Pet 1:7.
[608] St. Gregory the Great, Dial. 4,39L 77,396; cf. Mt 12:31.
[609] 2 Macc 12:46.
[610] Cf. Council of Lyons II (1274): DS 856.
[611] St. John Chrysostom, Hom. in 1 Cor. 41,5G 61,361; cf. Job 1:5.

That’s where you start to look for more information.

Of course, it is also helpful to find Catholic websites you can trust that will put things in more understandable language.

 

[Ignatius]

Nothing specific, yet. I have picked up a catechism and the compendium, but there is not much detail regarding some topics, i.e. purgatory has only a few paragraphs.

Please forgive my ignorance, I am not Catholic, but I am researching what the Church teaches and not what someone says the Church teaches.

Thanks for the responses, all.

Welcome brother.

Note these have the Nihil Obstat and IMPRIMATUR, so they represent Authentic Catholic Magisterial Teaching and not just someones opinion.

Here is a little more extensive discussion of Purgatory: catholic.com/library/Purgatory.asp
There are some great articles here: catholic.com/library/faith_tracts.asp
Great ones here too: biblechristiansociety.com/booklets.php
There is a great presentation here from a former Protestant minister: shop.catholic.com/product.php?productid=16715

 

[JRKH]

Welcome brother.

Note these have the Nihil Obstat and IMPRIMATUR, so they represent Authentic Catholic Magisterial Teaching and not just someones opinion.

Here is a little more extensive discussion of Purgatory: catholic.com/library/Purgatory.asp
There are some great articles here: catholic.com/library/faith_tracts.asp
Great ones here too: biblechristiansociety.com/booklets.php
There is a great presentation here from a former Protestant minister: shop.catholic.com/product.php?productid=16715

Just a bit of a cautionary note on the Nihil Obstat and IMPRIMATUR.
These mean that the works have been reviewed and found not to “contradict” catholic teaching. It does not mean there cannot be some “interpretation” of teachings.

From HEREPlease know that the presence of an Imprimatur does not mean that a book is an official text of the Church. It doesn’t make the book the equivalent of an encyclical, say. It’s not the approval of the work by the Pope or a dogmatic Council, and it’s not a stamp of infallibility. It doesn’t even mean that everything in the book is accurate, only that there is nothing in it that contradicts Catholic dogma. But, while occasionally a book sneaks through and its Imprimatur later recalled, this procedure is an important way for Catholics to increase their chances of staying error-free with regard to doctrine. Sadly, because of the triumph of modernsists and liberals in the human aspect of the Church since the Second Vatican Council, books which could well contain a watered-down theology, a warped view of History, etc. now do receive the “Imprimatur.”

So while it is certainly good advice to look for the Nihil Obstat and IMPRIMATUR, do not confuse them, or the books containing them for official Church documents.

Peace
James

 

[Lypher]

If it is straight from the mouth of your bishop or the pope, then it is from the Magisterium, which is the living teaching authority of the Catholic Church. Anything else is opinion or interpretation of Magisterial documents or the Bible.

I do not believe you can consider a single Bishop the magisterium. The only Bishop that can speak infallibility by himself is the Bishop of Rome speaking ex-cathedra or the entire Magisterium in concert with the Pope. I would like to see a list of magisterial documents but the only one I know of besides council documents is the CCC, I am sure their are many more I just don’t know what they are.

God Bless You,…

 

[Just_Lurking]

I do not believe you can consider a single Bishop the magisterium. The only Bishop that can speak infallibility by himself is the Bishop of Rome speaking ex-cathedra or the entire Magisterium in concert with the Pope.

Canon law uses the term “magisterium” to refer to the non-infallible teaching authority of individual bishops:

Can. 753 Although the bishops who are in communion with the head and members of the college, whether individually or joined together in conferences of bishops or in particular councils, do not possess infallibility in teaching, they are authentic teachers and instructors of the faith for the Christian faithful entrusted to their care; the Christian faithful are bound to adhere with religious submission of mind to the authentic magisterium of their bishops.