Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!bcm!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: plains!umn-cs!LOCAL!meuer@uunet.uu.net (Mark V. Meuer) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Bible the word of God? Message-ID: Date: 21 Nov 90 06:01:08 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, CSci dept. Lines: 31 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In ok@goanna.cs.rmit.oz.au (Richard A. O'Keefe) writes: >It's worth bearing in mind that there are Catholics saying (for example) >that homosexual behaviour is wrong, and there are Catholic priests who >say not only that homosexual behaviour is excellent but that people >_can't_ be celibate (I have a particular book in mind in the Catholic >bookshop down the road). Can _both_ of these groups be presenting the >authentic message of the Holy Spirit for today with the authority of >the Church? If one of these groups is right, aren't ordinary people >who listen to a priest from the other camp in exactly the same kind of >danger as people who listen to a Protestant pastor? Yes and no. The Catholic Church never claims that individuals speaking in the name of the Church could never fall into error. It says that the official, traditional teaching set in place by the bishops over the centuries will not contain error. >The Catholic Church may plausibly claim that it has always _overcome_ >error _in the end_. But for someone sitting in a pew _this_ Sunday, it >can provide no guarantee that _this_ sermon will be orthodox. That is true. That is one of the reasons why the Church places so much emphasis on education, so that the members of the congregation will know what orthodoxy is and not be misled. But I agree, there is no ironclad guarantee. -mark -- Mark Meuer | Geometry Supercomputer Project | meuer@geom.umn.edu "Scientists have determined that the world's fastest animal, with a top speed of 120 ft/sec, is a cow that has been dropped from a helicopter." - Dave Barry