Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!aplcen!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: daemon@garage.att.com (Joseph H. Buehler) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: open communion Message-ID: Date: 4 Mar 90 02:12:01 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 29 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu Brian Coughlin wrote: > 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. It is a belief of the Roman Catholic Church that the public deposit of Faith was complete at the death of the last Apostle. My theology reference says that this has not yet been definitively decided by the Church, but that it is a certain theological conclusion. A reference given by the book is from a decree of the Holy Office in 1907, dealing with the errors of a heresy called Modernism. The following idea was condemned: Revelation, constituting the object of Catholic faith, was not terminated with the Apostles. Since the Apostles, nothing new has been revealed by God that every Catholic has to believe has been revealed by God. Joe Buehler (jhpb@granjon.att.com -- header address is bogus for a while yet.)