Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!wuarchive!psuvax1!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: oracle@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Brian T. Coughlin) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: open communion Message-ID: Date: 1 Mar 90 07:51:30 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH Lines: 52 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu Re: Brian Finnerty In article , bfinnert@castor.usc.edu (Brian Finnerty) writes: >The Roman Catholic Church teaches that revelation ended with the >death of the last apostle. The Church sees itself as the guardian >of the faith that has been passed down to it from Christ. The Church >grows in its understanding of that faith, but the Church can not add >to that faith, and the Church cannot take anything away. > >Brian Finnerty Hi, Brian! (Nice name! :) ) I enjoyed your posting very much, but I have just one quick comment about the above. When you say that "the Roman Catholic Church teaches that revelation ended with the death of the last apostle", I think (?) you were referring to the fact that there haven't been any scriptural references to revelation since the death of the apostles, and thus a special KIND of revelation was lost. (Scriptural documentation was sort of difficult after the Bible was judged to be "complete", as such. There aren't many provisions for amending Scripture. :) ) However, I see no indication that the Church believes ALL revelation to be "deceased." It may be a matter of perspective. If you define "revelation" to be a literal "vision" from God that invades one's normal daily thoughts, then yes, I'd grant that those are not widely documented after about 100 AD. But I like to think that revelation hasn't died, but has instead CHANGED to adapt to a more mature people. I believe humanity to be a bit more socially mature than in times of Biblical Yore :), and I believe that actions taken by God are subtle, keeping with that change. The old saying goes, "Miracles will not appear to those that wish not to see them," seems (to me) to hint at the idea that miracles/revelations/et cet. are as flambuoyant or subtle as the time's people require. Thus, I don't think the Catholic Church has said Last Rites for Divine Revelation... I think the Church has given Revelation the Rite of Confirmation, welcoming Revelation into its adulthood, as such. I hope this helps! Take care! Sincerely, Brian Coughlin oracle@eleazar.dartmouth.edu