The Pope Has A 'Get-Out-of-Jail-Free' Card

The concept of infallible doctrine

Imagine having the power to create truth out of thin air. That’s what the Catholic Church has done.

In the 1800s, the Church realized it needed to defend teachings that didn’t make sense. As people became more knowledgeable, they were beginning to doubt some of the concepts.

Even some Bishops were questioning teachings that didn’t stand up to changes in society. Members of their flock were asking difficult questions and they didn’t know how to respond.

It’s no wonder people were confused. When I was young, I was confused by the idea of immaculate conception. I understood where babies came from, so it was hard to believe someone could get pregnant without having sex.  

The Church decided that certain teachings were Infallible Doctrine. This idea is something that members of the Catholic church accept, even though it’s not written in the Bible. 

Here’s how the argument goes.

1. The teaching is accepted because the Pope declared it to be true.

2. The Pope is considered incapable of making an error. 

Two well-known teachings are the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption. Different Popes have declared that these concepts are infallible doctrines.

• The Immaculate Conception is the belief that a woman could conceive a child without having sex.

• The Assumption is the belief that Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, died, and her body didn’t go through the natural process of physical decay. Instead, her body was “assumed” into heaven to meet up with her soul.

The concept of infallible doctrine or dogma in the Church came into existence the first time a Pope declared that a teaching was true, without direct evidence to support his assertion.

A Pope could also use this concept to override something found in the Bible. The worship of images is an example.

In the late 6th century Pope Gregory decided that using religious images in churches wasn’t idolatrous. He decided sacred paintings and mosaics were ‘books’ for the poor and illiterate. He felt that they were a good way to teach the Scripture and so their existence was acceptable. That decision overrode one of the Ten Commandments that prohibits the worshipping of images. 

A Pope didn’t have any formal authority to make these decisions about doctrine. So the Church decided to protect the Pope from making errors. This preservation from error was eventually called Papal infallibility and it allowed a Pope to choose which teachings were to be believed and widely taught.

Then there was a proposal to make Papal Infallibility a formal doctrine. The final decision was based on the authority given to the Church by Peter. In his writings, he had promised to support the Church no matter what it did. The powers that be decided that made the Church infallible. Next, they extended the concept of Papal Infallibility, making every decision error-free.

Bishop R.H. Brom sets out the case for the infallibility of a Pope:

“As Christians began to more clearly understand the teaching authority of the Church and of the primacy of the Pope, they developed a clearer understanding of the Pope’s infallibility. This development of the faithful’s understanding has its clear beginnings in the early Church. For example, Cyprian of Carthage, writing about 256, put the question this way, “Would the heretics dare to come to the very seat of Peter whence apostolic faith is derived and whither no errors can come?” (Letters 59 [55], 14).

The Church is considered infallible because followers believe that the Holy Spirit preserves the Church from errors that would corrupt its essential doctrines.

Bishop R.H. Brom discusses this concept:

“Christ instructed the Church to preach everything he taught (Matt. 28:19–20) and promised the protection of the Holy Spirit to “guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13). That mandate and that promise guarantee the Church will never fall away from his teachings (Matt. 16:18, 1 Tim. 3:15), even if individual Catholics might.”

The infallibility of the Church led to a situation where the Pope was declared infallible, and this subsequently allowed the Pope to declare other teachings of the Church to be infallible. 

It’s a circular argument

If you find a piece of blue pottery in a tomb you might declare that blue pottery has religious significance. Then when someone finds similar pottery at an archaeological site, they could declare that the room or building at that site also has religious significance.

Here’s the two-step process a Pope follows to decide if a certain belief is infallible:

1. Is the concept widely believed? In the past, the Pope surveyed the opinion of every Cardinal to determine if their followers had a strong belief in a particular idea. If the large majority of followers believed, then the Pope moved to the second step.

2. Does the concept support the main faith or beliefs of the Church? Here’s an example. If a belief in a life after death is preferred by the Church, and the concept in question is the Assumption, then it may be decided that it is an Infallible Doctrine as it supports and generally encourages faith in the Church.

As I researched this concept and read the various justifications given by leaders in the Church, I rolled my eyes in disbelief. While I understood the leaders felt the need to validate these strongly held beliefs, I was surprised that they had the nerve to simply declare something to be true when they knew it was not. 

The blanket authority and freedom from mistakes is a genuine ‘get out of jail free’ card for both the Church and the Pope.

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I asked NotebookLM to consider this idea. Such an interesting discussion!

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