Originally Posted by MyRdmrLvs
let me give you an example that makes my point: lets say you find yourself with 100 other people locked in a room with a very large bomb! the timer on the bomb is ticking and some people are saying we should cut the blue wire! others are saying cut the red! others say dump water over it! everyone is fairly certain there idea could work but know one knows for sure, except one guy. you see this guy is a bomb disposal expert, he has been diffusing bombs for years and could do it in his sleep. you could say he is INFALLIBLE. Now a decision has to be made on what to do. How is that decision made??? they all vote! thats right everyone has an equal say in determining their fate. Does this seem logical to you? Im thinking if everyone believes that guy is infallible, we arent voting on anything! He is going to tell us exactly what to do and thats the end of it.
the vote about the deity of Christ really demonstrates what these bishops believed. there is no way the would have voted if they believed the bishop of Rome was infallible. Does that mean hes not a wonderful God loving Jesus serving pontiff? NO it just means the infallible doctrine was cooked up later.
Lets try a different example:
Jesus was infallible through the power of the holy spirit. Though he wavered at times, Father take this cup from me, he was strengthen by the holy spirit. He left mere men the apostles to create the church organization here on earth. Jesus knew, just as God knew, that there would be disagreements. As with any organization, there should be someone in charge of debate among men, someone with authority. It is plain to see from scripture that Jesus put Peter in that posistion. From the dialogue where Jesus said you are Peter and upon this rock i will build my church, to where whenever the apostles were mentioned it was always stated as Peter and the Apostles. He was the first among equals.
In debate over how should scripture be interpreted, or what should church doctrine should be, Im sure much imput would be heard amongst the apostles and disciples. Example would be Paul’s appeal to Peter to include the Gentiles without circumcision. Paul appealed to Peters authority and the collective conscionious of the apostles and elders of the church. Now during that debate the Jesus is watching over the discussion and sends the holy spirit into the discussion to iinfluence the free will of the men in attendence. It may have been what Paul said or what someone else said. In the end, the decision was made by Peter to include the gentiles without circumcision. Jesus will get the right results from important decisions that need to be made by his church. Whether the holy spirit influences the mind of the Bishop direct, or the bishops mind is influenced through the words of someone else, the holy spirit presides over the outcome of church decisions regarding scripture and morals.
Since Jesus said that what you deem on earth i will deem in heaven, He knew that the church he left here on earth would contain some human aspects, but he made sure that the core elements of his church would remain true to his teachings, through the intervention of holy spirit.
The misconception of most protestants is that we believe that the pope to be some kind of super power that is incapable of making a mistake. The pope has the college of cardinals and the bishops , plus im sure hundreds of scholars who provide discussion and debate over posistions of the church on certain subjects as they come up. With that said, we believe to this day, that the holy spirit, through its intercession of those discussions, reveals the truth through someone, so that the Pope, who has to make a final decision perhaps, makes the decision that jesus would want him to make.