Because a particular answer was in harmony with Scripture and tradition and therefore orthodox, Rome [i.e., in the days of the early church] supported it. Invert this and you have the foundation of papal infallibility. Because Rome supported an answer, it was in harmony with Scripture and tradition and therefore orthodox. —Jaroslav Pelikan, The Riddle of Roman Catholicism, p. 40.
[Before you protest, Pelikan was a Lutheran when he wrote this work.]
Substitue "I" for "Rome" in the last sentence and we see the current situation among the Protestants.
ReplyDeleteTrent
"In Protestantism, the fundamental principle of papism is brought to life by each man individually. After the example of the infallible man in Rome, each Protestant is a cloned infallible man, because he pretends to personal infallibility in matters of faith. It can be said: Protestantism is a vulgarized papism, only stripped of mystery (i.e., sacramentality), authority and power." Fr. Justin Popovich
The odd thing, though, Trent, is that there is no way around the exercise of private judgment (which is being decried). For example, you became Orthodox and left Lutheranism how? Precisely by exercising your private judgment that held that Orthodoxy had preserved the ancient faith. But this was a very "papist" action, no? By which you set yourself up as arbiter and cast the vote with the East. And since you have no charism of infallibility, you might well have erred in your decision. My point is just that Popovich's argument ignores the fact that everyone at some fundamental level ends up rendering a verdict of personal judgment. As a Lutheran, I do so, but I also readily acknowledge that I also d not have a charism of infallibility.
ReplyDeleteIt is *formally* true that the decision to become Orthodox is an exercise of private judgment and, as such, is the same as a decision to be Protestant. At the end of the Civil War, had RE Lee decided to maintain hostilities it would have been formally the same as his decision to cease them. But in terms of content, it makes all the difference in the world to surrender one's private judgment once for all to the judgment of the Church, rather than continuing to maintain it as a principle of conduct.
ReplyDeleteBut Father, Lutherans do not continue to maintain it. We also submit to the Symbols as the judgment of the Church, no?
ReplyDeleteThat was not my experience, and that experience was one of the reasons I am no longer Lutheran. As you know, I tried for 22.5 years to make the LCMS into a place that genuinely subscribed quia to the Confessions. It was a constant battle. Since July 23, 2005 the battle has been over for me.
ReplyDeleteI know... But the battle goes on for me, and there are days that I think it is actually advancing! Pax!
ReplyDeleteI think someone invited the weird old uncle out of the attic to the family table...
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