Catholic Apologetics Online

Questions and answers on Catholicism and Protestantism

Given from the Catholic Broadcasting Station 2SM Sydney Australia

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Guidance of the Church necessary

526. Do you ask us to believe in a Church which will perish rather than in the Word of God which will endure forever?

No. We ask you to continue to believe in the Word of God, but completely; and therefore to believe in a Church that will not perish. For, according to the Word of God, Christ said, "I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." You must therefore believe in that imperishable Church; and the Catholic Church alone can be that Church.

527. Do you imagine that the Catholic Church only has arrived at a true understanding of the Gospels?

That is not a correct presentation of the Catholic position. There is no question of the Catholic Church "arriving at" a true understanding of the Gospels. Before a line of them was written, Christ had established His Church, taught her His essential doctrines, sent the Spirit of Truth upon her at Pentecost, and commissioned her to go and to teach all nations orally and with authority, just as He had taught orally and with authority. Later on, under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, the Books of the New Testament were written. Now, as one and the same Holy Spirit could not contradict Himself, it is certain that nothing in the Gospels will contradict the official teachings of the Catholic Church. If independent people arrive at an interpretation of the Bible which conflicts with the official teaching of the Catholic Church, then they are mistaken, and have arrived at a wrong meaning.

528. Why can't Catholics he trusted to read the Bible for themselves?

They can be, and they are. But they are warned that their interpretation of what they read will be wrong unless it be in harmony with the teachings of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is the one safe guide as to what Scripture means.

529. Are not Catholics mentally intelligent enough to decide for themselves?

No degree of merely natural mental fitness is a guarantee that one will be able to discern for himself the correct sense of all that is contained in the Bible. That should be evident from the conflicting conclusions at which even highly educated men arrive concerning its meaning. St. Paul says clearly, "We speak, not in the learned words of human wisdom, but in the doctrine of the Spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man perceiveth not these things which are of the Spirit of God; for it is foolishness to him, and he cannot understand, because it is spiritually examined." 1 Cor. II., 14. Natural intelligence is not capable of comprehending supernatural truth. And the teaching of the Catholic Church is the only real safeguard as to the meaning of Sacred Scripture. Ever we must come back to that in the end.

530. You can no more interpret Scripture for me than you can eat my dinner for me.

It is true that I can no more make you assimilate mentally and spiritually the true doctrine contained in Scripture thanI can make food nourish you when you yourself do not eat that food. But, as a qualified cook could prepare food for you better than you could prepare it for yourself, so I am able to put the truth of Scripture before you as you could never discover it for yourself. I at least have given years to the study of Scripture, both privately and under qualified professors, after a long training in cognate subjects. And I have the authentic decisions of the Catholic Church always at hand for constant reference. Would you say to a trained attorney, "You can no more interpret the law for me than eat my dinner for me"? Yet the interpretation of the revealed Law of God is more difficult than the interpretation of civil law. You must remember, too, that even though it is my duty to know the authoritative teachings of the Catholic Church, I am as subject to the authority of that Church as anyone else. I do not speak in my own name, but in that of the Catholic Church; nor do I ask others to do that which I am not obliged to do myself. It is not really a question of your being taught by me. We must both be taught by the Catholic Church.

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