Taking Sides on the Truth

[kooldood]

ok so i’m not sure if this is philosphy. but anyway, i was reading about st. augstine and i am kinda confused. i was reading that he had arguments with other people about free will and grace. so my dilemna is… can there really be “sides” on the Faith? i mean, cause augistine is a saint, and the other guy… forgot his name… is not excommunicated or anything, so are they both right or does the Church allow for dissent or what?

 

[geekborj]

ok so i’m not sure if this is philosphy. but anyway, i was reading about st. augstine and i am kinda confused. i was reading that he had arguments with other people about free will and grace. so my dilemna is… can there really be “sides” on the Faith? i mean, cause augistine is a saint, and the other guy… forgot his name… is not excommunicated or anything, so are they both right or does the Church allow for dissent or what?

While Doctors and Saints are revered by the Church, they don’t by themselves give final teaching about the Faith of the Church but they helped significantly in the deeper understanding of the Faith today. Your dilemma can be solved by looking at the position of the Church about that matter and find the authoritative teaching about the Truth.

The Church allows her members to think and explore to deepen our understanding of the Faith. There are however bounds to specific understanding such as the Nature and Persons of God and some other topics. One has to go over the Dogma of the Catholic Church for this and for details the Catechism of the Catholic Church and its compendium. Other Catholic Catechisms by some Popes would also be useful. But of course, i can only talk about the Catholic Side of the story.

 

[Lancer]

I concur…here are a couple of references to peruse:

Scripture…

1 Timothy 3:15 (New International Version) 15if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the** pillar and foundation of the truth.**

Catechism…

171 The Church, "the pillar and bulwark of the truth", faithfully guards “the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints”. **She guards the memory of Christ’s words; **it is she who from generation to generation hands on the apostles’ confession of faith. As a mother who teaches her children to speak and so to understand and communicate, the Church our Mother teaches us the language of faith in order to introduce us to the understanding and the life of faith.

2030 It is in** the Church,** in communion with all the baptized,** that the Christian fulfills his vocation**. From the Church he receives the Word of God containing the teachings of “the law of Christ.” From the Church he receives the grace of the sacraments that sustains him on the “way.”** From the Church** he learns the example of holiness and recognizes its model and source in the** all-holy Virgin Mary**; he discerns it in the authentic witness of those who live it; he discovers it in the spiritual tradition and long history of** the saints **who have gone before him and whom the liturgy celebrates in the rhythms of the sanctoral cycle.

Pax Christi

 

[kooldood]

ok. thanks!