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Question

Mine is not a request in regards to a doubt of faith but on the contrary it is the demand for a reason that concerns precisely my faith in the Church and that, perhaps, might sound a little bit excessive. I’ll make myself clear.

Why, in order to give authority and value to an affirmation of the Magisterium, is it necessary to resort to the Sacred Scripture?

I think that the true value of the  Sacred Scripture depends on the Church and not vice versa; it is the Church that established the canon. It is on the basis of the supernatural nature of the Church and her magisterium that we believe in the Bible; certainly this is the word of God in a human format, but everything begins with the Church and her being in the truth. There is no sense in referring to the Sacred Scripture as the absolute truth  and relativizing the Church which is the basis of such assumption.

Protestants give value to the Bible as if it had suddenly appeared from heaven while it is the Church that has indicated how in the Bible the Spirit of God  inspires the human words.

If so, it does make sense that the Magisterium promulgates dogmas (to preserve and seal the truths of faith in time) and that the biblical references to which the dogmas relate are sometimes humanly questionable or otherwise not obvious (as in the case of Marian dogmas, but also for the Trinity, which is never clearly spoken of in the sacred text), because everything originates from the faith in the Church founded by Christ. (…).

I believe that today there is an excess of latria towards the Sacred Scripture (isolated and hypostatized) forgetting, I repeat, that everything is based on the authority of the Church in continuity with Christ who founded and established it in Peter.

Thank you. 

Your service is invaluable and you perform it brilliantly (I often benefit from the answers already published).

The Priest’s answer

Dear friend,

1. It is true that the Magisterium of the Church is the rule and norm of faith. But it is a regulated norm. While the Divine Revelation is a regulating norm.

In these four words: regulated norm and regulating norm there is everything.

2. I could also say that the Magisterium of the Church is the norm closest to faith because what we must believe is presented to us precisely and infallibly by the Magisterium.

But the Magisterium is not the first source of our faith.

The Magisterium is a source derived and founded from the Divine Revelation.

3. Moreover, going further, we find even greater differences.

The Divine Revelation is the Word of God. And, even on its own, it has an efficacy so to speak which is sacramental.

It is a word capable of producing and communicating  divine life in us.

It is a word that puts us in direct relationship with God.

4. The Magisterium of the Church is not the Word of God. It is a human word.

Of course, it is not just any human word because it is guaranteed by the Highest.

Nonetheless, it still remains a human word.

5. The Sacred Scripture has God as its author. Sacred writers have transmitted what God has inspired them.

They wrote all that and only what God wanted.

The Magisterium of the Church has men as its author. It is not directly inspired. It is guaranteed but it is not inspired.

Indeed it must be welcomed confidently and respectfully precisely because it is guaranteed by the Highest.

Still it is not on the same level as the Divine Revelation.

6. It is true what you say: “it is the  Church that has indicated how in the Bible the Spirit of God  inspires the human words.”

 It is certainly true because the Church derives this power directly from Christ, from the Holy Scriptures and from Sacred Tradition.

7. The Catechism of the Catholic Church writes: “The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written word 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. This means that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome” (CCC 85).

“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 it devotedly, guards it with dedication, and expounds faithfully. All that it proposes for belief as being divine revealed is drawn for this single deposit of faith”  (CCC 86).

8. Of course, “Sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture and the Magisterium of the Church, by God’s wise disposition, are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the others. Working together, each in its own way, under the action of one Holy Spirit, they all contribute effectively to the salvation of souls.” (CCC 95), but they are not on the same level.

9. For this reason, “the Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures as she venerated the Body of the Lord: both nourish and govern the whole Christian life”. (CCC 141).

By its very constitution the Sacred Scripture is not just a code of truth guaranteed from above. This could be said instead of the Magisterium.

In the Sacred Scripture there is God who gives himself to man as bread of life.

Particularly in the Gospel, Jesus Christ  gives himself to us through his person, in all the acts and words of his life.

This is why Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus was able to write: “But it is from the Gospels that I find most help in the time of prayer; from them I draw all that I need for my poor soul. I am always discovering in them new lights and hidden mysterious meanings” (Story of a soul, 83).

10. In a word: the Sacred Scriptures are like the soul of our spiritual life.

With all respect, we cannot say it of the Magisterium except indirectly (because it transmits us the Divine Revelation) and secondarily (because its authority derives from the Sacred Scriptures).

This is why believers going to Mass, even every day, are taken to the pastures of the Holy Scriptures and not that of the Magisterium.

I thank you for the encouragement you have given us, I bless you and I remember you in prayer.

Father Angelo