The Teaching Authority of Roman Catholicism vs. The Bible Alone

 Roman Catholicism teaches that God has appointed bishops as the teachers of the Catholic faith [77, 888-892]: 

In order that the full and living Gospel might always be preserved in the Church the apostles left bishops as their successors. They gave them “their own position of teaching authority.” —Second Vatican Council

The teaching authority of the Church resides in the bishops and is called the Magisterium, from the Latin word for master. Only the bishops of the Church have the right to judge the true meaning of revelation and to teach it with authority [85, 100, 939]: 

The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone. Its authority in this matter is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ. —Second Vatican Council

Catholics, therefore, are to obey the bishops even as they would Christ Himself [87, 862]: …the bishops have by divine institution taken the place of the apostles as pastors of the Church, in such wise that whoever listens to them is listening to Christ and whoever despises them despises Christ and him who sent Christ (cf. Luke 10:16). —Second Vatican Council

Consequently [891, 2034, 2037, 2041, 2050]: …the faithful, for their part, are obliged to submit to their bishops’ decision, made in the name of Christ, in matters of faith and morals, and to adhere to it with a ready and respectful allegiance of mind. —Second Vatican Council

Matters of faith here refers to the doctrinal beliefs of the Roman Catholic religion, such as the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Matters of morals refers to proper conduct, such as loving one’s neighbor and obedience to the commandments. Church doctrine relating to faith and morals is to be distinguished from Church discipline and practice. The latter involves aspects of the Roman Catholic religion that may be optional, such as praying the Rosary, or that may change, such as abstinence from eating meat on Fridays. Conversely, Roman Catholic teaching as to faith and morals, says the Church, does not change: …that meaning of the sacred dogmas is ever to be maintained which has once been declared by holy mother church, and there must never be any abandonment of this sense under the pretext or in the name of a more profound understanding. —First Vatican Council

Roman Catholicism, claims the Church, is always the same: “…the same doctrine, the same sense, and the same understanding.” Hence the Latin axiom Semper Eadem, “Always the Same.” Infallibility [890-891, 2032-2040, 2051] 

The Bishops 

Roman Catholicism teaches that God supernaturally protects the Magisterium from teaching falsehood. The bishops do not err and cannot err when teaching doctrine related to faith and morals. They are said to possess the gift of infallibility. The bishops are believed to be infallible in their teaching not as individuals but collectively. In other words, those beliefs that they hold in common with each other and in harmony with the Pope represent the authentic and inerrant Catholic faith [890-891, 939]. This principle applies to the bishops’ teaching regardless of whether it is expressed by the decree of an ecumenical council or through their everyday ministry [2033-2034, 2049].

The Pope 

Roman Catholicism teaches that the gift of infallibility extends to the teaching of the Bishop of Rome in a special way. The First Vatican Council (1869-1870) decreed: 

…we teach and define as a divinely revealed dogma that when the Roman pontiff speaks ex cathedra, that is, when, in the exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of all Christians, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole church, he possesses, by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, that infallibility which the divine Redeemer willed his church to enjoy in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals. —First Vatican Council

Speaking ex cathedra literally means speaking from the chair of authority. This means that when the Pope speaks as the supreme teacher of the Church, Roman Catholicism holds that he does not and cannot teach false doctrine. For this reason the dogmatic teaching of the Pope cannot be called into question: The Roman Pontiff, head of the college of bishops, enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his office, when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful…he proclaims in an absolute decision a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals. For that reason his definitions are rightly said to be irreformable by their very nature and not by reason of the assent of the Church, in as much as they were made with the assistance of the Holy Spirit promised to him in the person of blessed Peter himself; and as a consequence they are in no way in need of the approval of others, and do not admit of appeal to any other tribunal. —Second Vatican Council

However, even when the Pope is not making a dogmatic and thereby infallible pronouncement, Catholics are expected to obey him without question [892, 2037, 2050]: 

This loyal submission of the will and intellect must be given, in a special way, to the authentic teaching authority of the Roman Pontiff, even when he does not speak ex cathedra in such wise, indeed, that his supreme teaching authority be acknowledged with respect, and that one sincerely adhere to decisions made by him…. —Second Vatican Council

A BIBLICAL RESPONSE

Despite the bishops’ claim to absolute teaching authority over the Church, Catholics today are thinking for themselves as never before. Many are educated, open-minded, and independent. As to faith and morals, the beliefs of some are so diverse that the term Cafeteria Catholics has been coined to describe the way they pick and choose what they believe. As one person expressed it, “I’m Catholic by my definition, which is the only one that counts.” Regardless, the Vatican has no intention of relinquishing its claim to “supreme teaching authority.”

Quite the contrary, in recent years the Church’s hierarchy has been ever more emphatic that its definition of Catholicism is the only one that counts [2039]. And that definition is one that is becoming increasingly conservative and traditional. The present direction of the Church is largely due to the leadership of John Paul II. During the first 15 years of his pontificate, John Paul appointed over 1600 new bishops, roughly 40 percent of the present total number of bishops and archbishops. An internal Church document describing the guidelines that the Vatican has been using to select candidates for promotion to the office of bishop was recently leaked to the press. Among the criteria were “daily celebration of the Mass,” “Marian piety,” “convinced and faithful adherence to the teaching and magisterium of the church,” “obedience to the Holy Father,” “faithfulness to true church tradition,” “commitment to Vatican II and the renewal that followed it, according to papal instructions,” and support for Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical prohibiting the use of all artificial means of birth control [2366-2372].

In view of the conservative direction of the Vatican and the absolute claims of the Church’s hierarchy to teaching authority, the focus of this book, as stated in the prologue, was chosen to be mainline, traditional Roman Catholicism as taught by the Magisterium. In this chapter we will examine the teaching of the Magisterium regarding its own authority. Here it will be shown that contrary to Roman Catholic doctrine, the Bible teaches that— 

• Scripture, not the Magisterium, is the Christian’s infallible guide to the interpretation of Scripture. 

• The Holy Spirit, not the Magisterium, is the Christian’s infallible and authoritative teacher. Scripture Is the Christian’s Only Infallible Guide 

The primary argument used by the Roman Catholic Church in presenting its case for the infallible teaching authority of the Magisterium is one of inheritance. It rests upon two premises. First, Christ gave the apostles, with Peter as their head, teaching authority over the Church and the gift of infallibility [890-891]. Second, the apostles gave “their own position of teaching authority”to bishops as their successors. As for the first premise, all can agree with at least this much: The apostles taught with authority. Scripture tells us that the first Christians “were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:42). Scripture does not, however, suggest that the apostles were infallible except in their inspired writings. The Roman Catholic Church points to a long list of verses in its attempt to prove apostolic infallibility.

 Most of these Scriptures, however, are so obliquely related to the subject that without explanation it would be difficult to see any connection whatsoever. The apostle Paul certainly did not think he was infallible. Neither did he want others to think that he was incapable of error. He told the Galatians: 

But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed. —Galatians 1:8 

He then added, leaving little room for the infallibility of Peter or anyone else: As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed. —Galatians 1:9

Paul taught that no one’s teaching should be accepted without careful evaluation: “But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). John taught the early Christians to be suspicious of anyone who claimed to speak for God: 

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. —1 John 4:1 

The standard of measure for examining teaching in the early church was not Peter or the apostles, but the Scriptures. Originally the Old Testament served in this capacity. Later the inspired writings of the apostles and their associates took their place alongside the Hebrew Scriptures.

 Even the apostles themselves submitted to the supreme authority of Scripture. For example, at the Council of Jerusalem, after much debate, Peter gave his opinion. James concurred by saying, “And with this the words of the Prophets agree, just as it is written…” (Acts 15:15). He then quoted Amos 9:11,12. James compared Peter’s counsel with that of Old Testament prophecy, found agreement, and knew that the consensus that the apostles and elders had reached was correct. Only then was James prepared to state his conclusion (Acts 15:19). 

Apostolic submission to Scripture can also be seen in the teaching of Paul. Though he was an apostle and had received revelation directly from the Lord (Galatians 1:12; Ephesians 3:3), he nevertheless regularly added the words “as it is written” to his writings. He would then quote a relevant Old Testament text as confirmation that what he was saying was truth from God. In his letter to the Romans, Paul makes 45 such references to Scripture. He knew that the Christians of first-century Rome expected all new teaching to be confirmed through comparison with earlier revelation.

(The Gospel According to Rome)