The Church established by Jesus is Holy. Part of what this means is that in its Holiness there can not be error as Jesus did not preach error and could not preach error. In fact, the Church is the Body of Christ and the Holiness of the Church is the Spirit of Christ. Even though authority has been given to successors of St. Peter who are still sinners, the Church which is the Spirit of Christ will not be allowed to be in error in matters of faith as Christ will never be in error. So when Christ says “whatever you shall bind on earth will be bound in heaven…” means that statements of faith proclaimed as truth by the authority given by Christ will be truth accepted by Christ in heaven where there will never be anything false.
Many thanks for your response. While I was familiar with the theology of the Church as Christ’s body, the idea of the Church’s holiness as His spirit is new to me and certainly food for thought. You know, it’s interesting, because whenever I’ve read Matt. 16:19 before, I guess, because “earth” is mentioned before “heaven” I had kind of subconsciously assumed that the state of things in heaven was a result of what happens on earth (which is confusing). It makes much more sense the other way around. In fact, when I relooked it up in my NASB translation, it says, “Whatever you bind on earth
shall have been bound in heaven…” which more clearly expresses earth reflecting heaven. Understanding it that way brought up some parallels with the Lord’s prayer “…They will be done on earth as it is in heaven…” The binding/loosing of statements of faith seems as plausible candidate for what is being bound as I’ve come across so far, although to be honest, I think I still have a ways to go, before I feel like I understand this verse completely.
This gives me much comfort in that I know that there is an objective truth that I can search for. The search for truth is what we all should be doing. So many times I encounter those who say “you have your truth and I have mine” as if truth is relative to one’s personal beliefs. Christ gave us His truth through His written Word, His Tradition and His teaching authority for the benefit of helping us understand what He wants of us and to show us the way to Him.
Well I bet it gives you comfort to trust that there is somebody on earth that can be infallibly relied upon as the accurate interpretation of God’s truth! Part of me desires that as well, and at the same time fears that it might simply be wishful thinking. As a Protestant, I have always just had faith in the fact that God reveals
sufficient truth to us to love and follow Him. (You know, that just because you can’t be entirely certain of
everything doesn’t mean you can’t know
anything!) There is a sense in which various Protestant traditions disagree on a lot of issues, but I’ve always viewed these as somewhat tangential to the common Gospel we all share. You know it’s funny that I was considering similar issues to what we’ve been discussing on this board (as far as how personal holiness relates to correct discernment in matters of faith) back when I took a class on the Protestant Reformation in college. I was struck by the fact that sometimes pretty bad people seemed to have good ideas, and that very holy people still had significant disagreements in matters of faith. I remember thinking in my frustration. “God, why couldn’t you just send us somebody to set the record straight about Your truth?!” Then I had to laugh as I caught myself reflecting, “Oh yes, I suppose that was Jesus Christ! And here we all are disagreeing about what He meant!” At that time, I hadn’t been introduced to the doctrine of Papal Infallibility. I suppose for now, I will just have to continue to struggle with the issue with patience and faith. But all your comments have been truly helpful and are appreciated!
down under, thanks for the synopsis of the St. Catherine of Siena story. It had me laughing.
Gamera, good point about Solomon! I’ve always found it very discouraging that the world’s wisest person seems to have failed miserably! It reminds me of my motto that I’ve adopted over the past year, which is, “You’re never too old to be stupid!” It’s sounds kind of cynical, but it’s really an important thing to keep in mind!
However, your reference to Matt. 16:19, did bring out another question that has been rattling around in the back of my mind, which is what does all the talk of “binding and loosing” refer to? I can get the idea of keys more or less, but what is it exactly that will be bound or loosed? Does this refer to people, spiritual beings, rules, ??? I would appreciate anyone’s (name removed by moderator)ut as reading through this passage has caused many a wrinkle in my brow! Thanks.