tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595608247665759734.post6650486703847831154..comments2023-09-27T02:46:21.569-07:00Comments on Deacons Today: Musings on Diakonia and Diaconate: On "Magisterium": Who or What? UPDATEDDeacon William T. Ditewig, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11525431509279159558noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595608247665759734.post-26542190113499243292012-06-29T07:42:27.686-07:002012-06-29T07:42:27.686-07:00Brother Deacon,
I agree that there can be various...Brother Deacon,<br /><br />I agree that there can be various senses in which "magisterium" may be understood, as I indicated originally. However, "magisterium" as a term has undergone a paradigmatic shift in meaning, especially in more recent post-conciliar writing. I simply wanted to remind folks of its more ancient and Traditional understanding: that of a teaching office in which all the baptized participate in a variety of modalities. I also acknowledged the special responsibility of the ordained, and in particular the bishops, in that teaching office.<br /><br />I agree that the CDF document is very useful, but it doesn't rise to the same level of magisterial (teaching) authority of conciliar documents.<br /><br />God bless,<br />Deacon BillDeacon William T. Ditewig, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11525431509279159558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595608247665759734.post-698791548041226552012-06-29T07:19:21.892-07:002012-06-29T07:19:21.892-07:00Here is a quote from "Veritatis Splendor"...Here is a quote from "Veritatis Splendor" (27) [in turn citing Dei Verbum 10] which I think illustrates the important distinction between "the" Magisterium and any/every other kind of teaching authority in the Church: <br /><br />****In particular, as the Council affirms, "the task of authentically interpreting the word of God, whether in its written form or in that of Tradition, has been entrusted only to those charged with the Church's living Magisterium, whose authority is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ".41 *****<br /><br />God bless you,<br /><br />Deacon JRAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595608247665759734.post-87397318288163307612012-06-29T07:00:12.530-07:002012-06-29T07:00:12.530-07:00Brother Deacon:
With respect, I have to register...Brother Deacon: <br /><br />With respect, I have to register a certain disagreement regarding your definition of "Magisterium" as it relates to "Church". <br /><br />First, the term "magisterium" (as a common noun) means merely "teaching authority", and, second, when the term "Magisterium" (capitalized) is used in "Churchspeak" (Church documents etc.) I think it can be demonstrated that it refers specifically and usually only to a *particular* type of "teaching authority"--that belonging to the Apostles and their successors, the Bishops.<br /><br />This is why there is not merely just one "magisterium" of the Church but there are *multiple* forms of "magisteria"--or teaching authorities. <br /><br />As you point out, theologians have long be credited with holding a particular form of "teaching authority" (from which arises, for example, the "common teaching of theologians" in the Church as a distinct category of doctrinal certitude). Priests and deacons and lay catechists also have a certain "magisterium" or teaching authority when they teach publicly in the name of the Church. But this "authority" is not part of "the Magisterium of the Church" (capitalized and usually used in context as a term specifically referring to the authority of successors of the Apostles--and often amplified as "the *living* Magisterium of the Church")<br /><br />Maybe there is a bit of conflation of the term "magisterium" with the term "sensus fidelium" in your post (e.g., re the Holy Spirit given to all at Baptism)? In any case, while the "Church" is indeed "more than its episcopal leadership," when the term "the Magisterium" is used, it most definitely refers to the *unique* and exclusive kind of "teaching authority" held only by the Apostles and their successors--an authority they and only they possess within the Church.<br /><br />The 1990 document "On the Ecclesial Vocation of the Theologian" is a great resource for folks looking for more info...<br /><br />God bless you,<br /><br />Deacon JRAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595608247665759734.post-82566038497692390352012-06-28T18:43:16.228-07:002012-06-28T18:43:16.228-07:00Mr. Basso,
I'm simply reporting the official ...Mr. Basso,<br /><br />I'm simply reporting the official teaching of the Church. I think it's important that we understand what the Church actually teaches about things -- like "Magisterium" -- and the ideals we are to strive for.<br /><br />It also points out that there is greater diversity within the one faith than some people are ready to acknowledge. What do Christians universally profess? A good place to start is with the various Creeds themselves. Those are expressions that Christians have professed consistently from the very beginning up to the present.<br /><br />God bless,<br /><br />Deacon BillDeacon William T. Ditewig, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11525431509279159558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595608247665759734.post-90224862246879629322012-06-28T17:55:55.303-07:002012-06-28T17:55:55.303-07:00but deacon, the section from LG presupposes (and e...but deacon, the section from LG presupposes (and explicitly mentions) "universal agreement in matters of faith an morals." I propose, and I think the evidence bears this out, that the lay faithful in particular are so radically diverse in their beliefs regarding faith and morals that no such agreement exists. However, this notion of a Magisterium of all believers, taken out of the context of this universal agreement, would seem to encourage and validate all manner of dissident agendas, undermining the very notion of a Magisterium regardless of where it resides.Mr. Bassohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10975776118599873329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595608247665759734.post-65758218055903113632012-06-28T17:00:18.134-07:002012-06-28T17:00:18.134-07:00Dear Mr. Basso,
Actually, it reflects the very un...Dear Mr. Basso,<br /><br />Actually, it reflects the very unity and communio you mention. Here's a quotation from the "Dogmatic Constitution on the Church" (Lumen gentium):<br /><br />12. The holy people of God shares also in Christ's prophetic office; it spreads abroad a living witness to Him, especially by means of a life of faith and charity and by offering to God a sacrifice of praise, the tribute of lips which give praise to His name. The entire body of the faithful, anointed as they are by the Holy One,cannot err in matters of belief. They manifest this special property by means of the whole peoples' supernatural discernment in matters of faith when "from the Bishops down to the last of the lay faithful" they show universal agreement in matters of faith and morals. That discernment in matters of faith is aroused and sustained by the Spirit of truth."<br /><br />God bless,<br />Deacon BillDeacon William T. Ditewig, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11525431509279159558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595608247665759734.post-18212565450411252292012-06-28T15:26:08.182-07:002012-06-28T15:26:08.182-07:00if we are to embrace this magisterium of all belie...if we are to embrace this magisterium of all believers what happens to the unity, the characteristic "oneness" of the Church? What, exactly, is this magisterium teaching us? Does infallibility extend to this universal magisterium?Mr. Bassohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10975776118599873329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595608247665759734.post-6867802727889944872012-06-28T14:09:12.722-07:002012-06-28T14:09:12.722-07:00As Pope John XXIII uses the term, it seems that he...As Pope John XXIII uses the term, it seems that he is thinking of the doctrine which the Church presents even more than the teaching office by which it is presented.<br /><br />But whether conceived as the teaching office itself or as the doctrine it proposes, the magisterium of the entire people of God cannot be divided against itself. To be authentic, any would be magisterial act cannot be in opposition to that of the "'authentic teachers' of the apostolic faith." CCC §888, quoting Lumen Gentium 25.naturgesetzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15268507379933286863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595608247665759734.post-53968731625217015232012-06-28T14:03:36.569-07:002012-06-28T14:03:36.569-07:00Rick does a great job, as always! Another good so...Rick does a great job, as always! Another good source on the same subject is John P. Boyle's "Church Teaching Authority: Historical and Theological Studies".<br /><br />Deacon BillDeacon William T. Ditewig, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11525431509279159558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2595608247665759734.post-81341904406396221522012-06-28T12:05:05.424-07:002012-06-28T12:05:05.424-07:00I found Richard Gaillardetz's book BY WHAT AUT...I found Richard Gaillardetz's book BY WHAT AUTHORITY? very helpful in explaining the concept of the magisterium and its relationship to other issues of authority in the Church.Ronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16858192358085762357noreply@blogger.com