Replies

I am well aware of the passages

"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."[47] This means that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome.

LINK

To the Catholic Church the interpretation of the Word of God is not by the Holy Spirit, but by man.

The Popes are not very good at playing God.

I'll take my personal revelation from the Holy Spirit, thank you.

Not knocking the Catholic Church as an insitution, but if it gets it's moral authority from the Pope rather than the Word of God, no wonder it can't clean it's own house.

To the Catholic Church the interpretation of the Word of God is not by the Holy Spirit, but by man.

Since the link you insert is to the Catechism, to be honest, at the least you need to include the paragraphs which precede what you inserted:

81 "Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit."[42] "And [Holy] Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits it to the successors of the apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound and spread it abroad by their preaching."[43]

82 As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, "does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honoured with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence."[44]

And, what follows what you cite:

86 "Yet this Magisterium is not superior to the Word of God, but is its servant. It teaches only what has been handed on to it. At the divine command and with the help of the Holy Spirit, it listens to this devotedly, guards it with dedication and expounds it faithfully. All that it proposes for belief as being divinely revealed is drawn from this single deposit of faith."[48]

Before you cited the Catechism, you stated that the Catholic Church would not agree that St John 17:18 and St Luke 22:29-30 were partial bases for the source of moral authority. Again I ask, why?

Catholics are asked to humble themselves and accept that their own interpretation might actually be selfish, rather than in-Spired, and that the authoritative UNIFYING interpreation of the Church will be protected from error and in-Spired.

If we are all individaully inspired, nothing can logicallyy prevent the situation we have today in which homosexuality is biblically fine some and not with others. Funny how you would think that YOUR inspired interpretation has to be right - just as much as Rosie O'Donnel thinks hers is right.

"If the Church gets its moral authority from the Pope rather than the word of God, no wonder it can't clean its own house"

You need a little history lesson, my friend. The Church existed long before the first letter of the first gospel or first epistle was written. Just where was its moral authority coming from during the period before and during the writing of the gospels, the last of which was not even completed until after 90 A.D. And who do you think determined that the Gospel of John was inspired and that the apochryphal Gospel of Thomas, for example, was not. I will tell you where the Church gets its moral authority: From the lips of Jesus Christ himself: Take a good look at Matthew 16:18-19. "You are Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church....What you declare bound on earth shall be bound in heaven, what you declare loosed on earth shall beloosed in heaven." Your personal revelation, as you call it, is just that. It has absolutely no assurance of moral rectitude in the sight of God. The Church declared which books of the Bible were divinely inspired and you, in the face of Christ's clear instruction, deny it the right to interpret the scripture and contend it lacks moral authority, because the authority reposes, by Christ's command, in His vicar on earth. So be it.

The point that you and many others fail to understand is that the Church, as an institution, is both divine and human. Because it is human, its followers will sin. This does not lessen its moral authority, because this authority comes from Christ and is not dependent on whether you or the Gallup Poll or any other human being judges it to be hypocritical. If you don't agree with its teachings, you are free to reject it. But don't use the argument that the Church is composed of sinners as an excuse for doing so.

As I said, the Church is both Divine(Jesus)and human(His followers). It is thus a blend of light and darkness. It radiates enough light for those who want to see and enough darkness for those who don't.

To the Catholic Church the interpretation of the Word of God is not by the Holy Spirit, but by man.

In light of Mike Fieschko's post #73, would you care to amend this statement? (Assuming you actually read what you linked us to.) Do you agree that you were incorrect in your statement, at least according to the source you cited?

If you do agree that you were incorrect, did you just not read the entire passages where you linked to?