by rusmeister » January 22nd, 2007, 3:29 am
Not if you have already decided what you believe and where Christ's Church is.
Need to clarify 'absolute judge'. The Orthodox Church would require an Pan-Orthodox Ecumenical Council to say anything new at all. If all of the Bishops say, "This is the way it is; this is what that means", then that is what the Church has said. As with all objections to hierarchy, it is necessary to understand that they have no authority over us unless we voluntarily accept their authority. They can't go about adding to, subtracting from, or changing the Faith. They spend their time learning, teaching, and clarifying what the Faith is, what it says.
If you cannot acknowledge a point where your reason is not enough in understanding an infinite God and that a Church with 2000 years* of experience is wrong and you are right, then that sounds like a pride problem to me (pride in intellect). I can more readily understand objections to proclamations by a single man (such as the Catholic Church, in theory, possesses). But even so, we need to keep a humble attitude towards our reason. There are many things where I can say, "I may be wrong, but..." - because I am the final authority. But when it comes to Church dogma, I can defend it dogmatically, because it has been pronounced and explained by the Church, and it fits (must fit) in with the existing Faith. I imagine Lewis had doubts as to where the Church of Christ really was, and so does everyone who relies on self as an ultimate authority, an interpreter of Scripture and the Faith.[/quote]
* If your church has only 100-200, or even 400 years of experience, it is also understandable to doubt its authority.
"Eh? Two views? There are a dozen views about everything until you know the answer. Then there's never more than one."
Bill "The Blizzard" Hingest - That Hideous Strength