Doctrine and Councils
1. What is the process for establishing and changing Catholic dogma?
This question is slightly misleading and is probably written this way due to a slight misunderstanding of Catholic doctrine and linguistics. The Catholic Encyclopedia defines Dogma as “a truth appertaining to faith or morals, revealed by God, transmitted from the Apostles in the Scriptures or by tradition, and proposed by the Church for the acceptance of the faithful.”
What this means, is the Dogma was established by God and never changes. Thus the Church cannot establish Dogma, only define it, which usually happens when there seems to be a need for it. They are defined by a council called by the Pope. The Pope himself cannot define dogma, rather he needs a major unity of the bishops.
For example, the Church had not dogmatically defined what books were to be included in sacred scripture until the Council of Trent in 1543. This was part of the vast counter-reformation, where the Church explained certain practices and did away with others (usually corrupt) in response to allegations from Protestants. The purpose of defining the books of sacred scripture was to counter the removal of the deuterocanonical books (which Protestants commonly know as the Apocrypha). Other dogmas more recently defined (though ancient in belief) are the infallibility of the Pope or the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary.
Dogma, also know as sacred Tradition (always with a capital T), is different than the tradition of man, customs, which is malleable. Customs includes such things as the celibacy of priests and the mass being spoken primarily in the vernacular. These are not statements of faith, rather things that are set a certain way that best fits the current culture and needs of the Church.
Catholic Dogma never changes, while customs are alterable to the age. One only needs to look at what the Church has infallibly declared to know that which is dogma. Everything else follows dogma and obeys it, but is not unchangeable.
2. How was this process established, and what are the theological backings behind it?
The first ecumenical council (or synod) was held in Nicaea in 325 AD. This first council was held in response to the Arianism heresy that Jesus was created by God and his divinity was a gift of God. The authority of the councils to declare what it declares comes from both the Pope calling or overseeing it and the sheer number of bishops present (318 at Nicaea). This authority gave the council the power to be the voice of the Church.
For the theological backings of the authority of the council we turn first to the authority of the priesthood. Christ says to peter that he “will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matt. 16:19). Later, when speaking to all the apostles (except Thomas) he says “ If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:23). From these verses we draw the authority of the priesthood, which then applies to the truth of Christ.
From the priesthood’s authority we can draw the Church’s authority. Additional verses also support this. Paul says “the church” is “the pillar and bulwark of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15).
The most telling support for the validity of an ecumenical council is found in Acts 15. Here some of the Christians were teaching that man needs to be circumcised in order to be saved. A gathering of the Church was then called in Jerusalem to determine the validity of this. This first ecumenical council (though it was not called such) laid down that circumcision is not necessary for salvation, thus paving the way for the future synods.
Further theological support for this position comes from the omnipotence of God. If he is capable of giving many prophecies to one man (as in the case of Isaiah) he is certainly capable of directing a few councils of His Church to reveal the fullness of his truth. “With God, all things are possible” (Matt 19:26).
This question is slightly misleading and is probably written this way due to a slight misunderstanding of Catholic doctrine and linguistics. The Catholic Encyclopedia defines Dogma as “a truth appertaining to faith or morals, revealed by God, transmitted from the Apostles in the Scriptures or by tradition, and proposed by the Church for the acceptance of the faithful.”
What this means, is the Dogma was established by God and never changes. Thus the Church cannot establish Dogma, only define it, which usually happens when there seems to be a need for it. They are defined by a council called by the Pope. The Pope himself cannot define dogma, rather he needs a major unity of the bishops.
For example, the Church had not dogmatically defined what books were to be included in sacred scripture until the Council of Trent in 1543. This was part of the vast counter-reformation, where the Church explained certain practices and did away with others (usually corrupt) in response to allegations from Protestants. The purpose of defining the books of sacred scripture was to counter the removal of the deuterocanonical books (which Protestants commonly know as the Apocrypha). Other dogmas more recently defined (though ancient in belief) are the infallibility of the Pope or the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary.
Dogma, also know as sacred Tradition (always with a capital T), is different than the tradition of man, customs, which is malleable. Customs includes such things as the celibacy of priests and the mass being spoken primarily in the vernacular. These are not statements of faith, rather things that are set a certain way that best fits the current culture and needs of the Church.
Catholic Dogma never changes, while customs are alterable to the age. One only needs to look at what the Church has infallibly declared to know that which is dogma. Everything else follows dogma and obeys it, but is not unchangeable.
2. How was this process established, and what are the theological backings behind it?
The first ecumenical council (or synod) was held in Nicaea in 325 AD. This first council was held in response to the Arianism heresy that Jesus was created by God and his divinity was a gift of God. The authority of the councils to declare what it declares comes from both the Pope calling or overseeing it and the sheer number of bishops present (318 at Nicaea). This authority gave the council the power to be the voice of the Church.
For the theological backings of the authority of the council we turn first to the authority of the priesthood. Christ says to peter that he “will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matt. 16:19). Later, when speaking to all the apostles (except Thomas) he says “ If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:23). From these verses we draw the authority of the priesthood, which then applies to the truth of Christ.
From the priesthood’s authority we can draw the Church’s authority. Additional verses also support this. Paul says “the church” is “the pillar and bulwark of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15).
The most telling support for the validity of an ecumenical council is found in Acts 15. Here some of the Christians were teaching that man needs to be circumcised in order to be saved. A gathering of the Church was then called in Jerusalem to determine the validity of this. This first ecumenical council (though it was not called such) laid down that circumcision is not necessary for salvation, thus paving the way for the future synods.
Further theological support for this position comes from the omnipotence of God. If he is capable of giving many prophecies to one man (as in the case of Isaiah) he is certainly capable of directing a few councils of His Church to reveal the fullness of his truth. “With God, all things are possible” (Matt 19:26).
posted by J.M.R. Burgard | 2:52 PM
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