Papal Infallibility
The following comes from my favorite Catholic apologetics book, David B. Currie's Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic (pgs. 89-94, Ignatius Press). It has the gentle presentation typical of a Protestant convert, who loves where he came from but now believes he is home. Currie's chapters on the Real Presence, scriptural authority, church authority, Mary, and his own journey to conversion are all very good. What follows is one of my very favorite sections. It teaches on the infallibility of the pope, who we Catholics believe is the direct successor of St. Peter and the leader of Jesus' church.
One other issue concerning the pope needs to be clarified for most Evangelicals. It relates to the claim of papal infallibility. Catholics do not believe that the pope is perfect, or faultless, or sinless, or even necessarily good, holy, wise, or nice. There have certainly been popes who have made foolish mistakes, enacted ruinous policies, or been bona fide scoundrels. There is one thing, however, that no pope has ever done in all history, from Peter to the present day. No pope has ever taught heresy.
Catholic belief in the infallibility of the pope is much the same as Evangelical belief in the infallibility of Scripture. When the pope, as head of the Church, proclaims doctrine, he will not be mistaken in his teaching. This does not mean he cannot be mistaken in his teaching. This does not mean he cannot make mistakes concerning other topics. This does not mean his teaching will be as good as it could be. This does not mean he will always have the wisdom or courage to teach the truth when he should. What it does mean is that the teaching that is done will never be in error (heretical).
(...)
This belief of the Catholic Church is not taught explicitly anywhere in Scripture, but it is historically rooted in the Matthew passage already discussed:
"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:13-20)
If Peter is able to bind things in heaven itself, be enlightened by God the Father himself, and lead the Church in such a way that she will never be overcome by evil, then infallibility is an extremely modest conclusion to these promises. If the highest office of the Church taught error as truth, then how could it be claimed that hell had not succeeded against Christ's Church? Infallibility is rooted in the promise of Jesus and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
As an Evangelical, I had always taught that the claim of papal infallibility was a power grab on the part of the pope. It would give any pope the power to fashion things just to his liking. What I came to see, however, is that the truth could not be more opposite. Infallibility is an entirely conservative doctrine. It means that no present or future pope can change (contradict) any dogma that has been accepted by the Church throughout her history. The teaching regarding the infallibility of the popes in faith and morals really gives the most power to the first pope, where it belongs. Each succeeding pope has slightly less latitude than his immediate predecessor. In an era when people have come to desire change for its own sake, this teaching assures us that the original dogma of the Church will be protected through the ages.
When we look for confirmation of this doctrine in history, we find it. Rome emerges as the only bishopric of the ancient sees that never taught heresy. Below is a chronological list of the bishops of four ancient sees for just a few hundred years. I have included Constantinople as an ancient see even though some people might not. Notice the frequent leadership of heretics in the other sees. Only Rome has always remained faithful to the original deposit of faith given to the apostles.
The date refers to the year the bishop took office. I have omitted any pretenders. Names of bishops in heresy I have put in [bold]; and the heresy is denoted as follows: AR = Arianism, MP = Monophysitism, MT = Monothelitism, and NE = Nestorianism. (Evangelicals would agree that these teachings are in fact heretical.) Those bishops in schism from the Roman Church I have indicated with the date in [bold]. The bulk of this list is taken from the best Church history I have ever read, the History of Christendom series by Warren H. Carroll (Christendom Press).
| Comparing the Orthodoxy of Ancient Sees |
|
| Rome |
Antioch |
Alexandria |
Constantinople |
| Silvester I 314 |
Eustathius 328 |
Athanasius 328 |
Alexander 317 |
|
Paulinus 330 AR |
|
Eulalius 330 AR |
|
Euphronius 332 AR |
| Mark 336 |
Flaccillus 335 AR |
| Julius I 337 |
|
|
Paul I 337 |
|
|
|
Eusebius 339 AR |
|
Stephen I 343 AR |
|
Macedonius 342 AR |
| Liberius 352 |
Leontius 344 AR |
|
Eudoxius 358 AR |
|
Ammonius 359 AR |
| Damasus I 366 |
Meletius 361 |
|
Eudoxius 360 AR |
|
Paulinus 362 |
|
Evagius 370 |
|
|
|
Demophilus 370 AR |
|
|
Peter II 373 |
Gregory 379 |
| Siricius 384 |
Flavian I 381 |
Timothy I 381 |
Nectarius 381 |
|
Evagrius 388 |
Theophilus 385 |
| Anastasius I 399 |
Flavian I 393 |
|
John IC 398 |
| Innocent I 401 |
Porphyrius 404 |
|
Arsacius 404 |
|
Alxander 413 |
Cyril 412 |
Atticus 406 |
| Zosimus 417 |
Theodotus 417 |
| Boniface I 418 |
|
|
Sisinnius I 426 |
| Celestine I 422 |
John I 428 |
|
Nestorius 428 NE |
| Sixtus II 432 |
|
|
Maximan 431 |
| Leo I 440 |
Domnus 441 |
Dioscorus I 444 MP |
Proclus 434 |
|
Maximus 449 |
|
Flavian 446 |
|
Basil I 456 |
Proterius 452 |
Anatolius |
|
Acacius 458 |
Timothy III 460 |
Gennadios 458 |
| Hilary 461 |
Martyrius 460 |
| Simplicius 468 |
Julian 471 |
|
Acacius 471 |
|
John IIC 477 |
|
Stephen II 478 |
| Felix II 483 |
Calendion 481 |
John IT 482 |
Fravitas 489 |
| Gelasius I 492 |
Palladius 488 MP |
|
Euphemius 490 |
| Anastasius II 496 |
Flavian II 498 |
John IIH 497 MP |
Macedonius II 496 |
| Symmachus 498 |
Severus 512 MP |
John IIIN 505 MP |
Timothy I 511 MP |
| Hormisdas 514 |
|
Dioscorus II 515 MP |
|
Paul II 519 |
Timothy IV 519 MP |
John IIC 518 |
| John I 523 |
Euphrasius 512 |
|
Epiphanius 520 |
| Felix II 526 |
Ephraem 526 |
| Boniface II 530 |
| John II 533 |
| Apapitus I 535 |
|
|
Anthimius 535 MP |
| Silverius 536 |
|
Theodosius I 536 MP |
Mennas 536 |
| Vigilius 538 |
Domnus III 545 |
Paul C 538 |
|
|
Zoilus 542 |
| Pelagius I 556 |
Anastasius I 559 |
Apollinaris 551 |
Eutychius 552 |
| John III 561 |
Gregry 570 |
John IVP 570 |
John IIIS 565 |
| Benedict I 575 |
|
|
Eutychius 552 |
| Pelagius II 579 |
|
Eulogius 581 |
John IVF 582 |
| Gregory I 590 |
Anastasius I 593 |
|
Cyriacus 595 |
| Sabinian 604 |
Anastasius II 599 |
| Boniface III 607 |
|
Theodore S 607 |
Thomas I 607 |
| Boniface IV 608 |
Athanasius 611 MP |
John VA 609 |
Sergius I 610 MT |
| Adeodatus I 615 |
| Boniface V 619 |
|
George 620 |
| Honorius I 625 |
John III 631 MT |
Cyrus P 631 MT |
Pyrrhus 639 MT |
| Severinus 640 |
| John IV 640 |
|
|
Paul II 641 MT |
| Theodore I 642 |
|
| Martin I 649 |
| Eugenius I 655 |
|
As is quite obvious from even this short list of bishops, the only sure way for the Christian to know that his doctrine was orthodox was to remain in agreement with the See of Rome. Take the years 512 to 518 as an example. Every bishopric succession except Rome had been overtaken by heresy. Why? Jesus made a promise to Peter, and he can be counted on to keep it.
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