"The main reason I'm Catholic: If nobody since Christ is infallible under any conditions, then religion is a matter of opinion. That makes divine revelation *as such* epistemically inaccessible. But divine revelation as such is epistemically accessible. Ergo..." --Michael Liccione
If divine revelation is epistemically accessible, it must be accessible by certain means. What are those means? They would be the basis of the agreement between Catholics and Protestants, in this case. The Ecumenical Councils of Nicea and Chalcedon. There are two roads we can take with this: 1) The Council has authority as such; or 2) the Council's conclusion is correct, but it has no authority as such. Interesting question: How do we assert its veracity over against alternatives, if it is not an authority in itself? What is the principled basis upon which to do this? Can we account for this becoming the orthodox position without, quite frankly, the bald imposition of ecclesiastical fiat? I do know one thing: We cannot, in a principled way, agree with the Council Fathers on other terms than the ones they offer and still call ourselves "creedal." We owe it to them, not just to ourselves and some notion of consistency. And that's why I'm Catholic.
If divine revelation is epistemically accessible, it must be accessible by certain means. What are those means? They would be the basis of the agreement between Catholics and Protestants, in this case. The Ecumenical Councils of Nicea and Chalcedon. There are two roads we can take with this: 1) The Council has authority as such; or 2) the Council's conclusion is correct, but it has no authority as such. Interesting question: How do we assert its veracity over against alternatives, if it is not an authority in itself? What is the principled basis upon which to do this? Can we account for this becoming the orthodox position without, quite frankly, the bald imposition of ecclesiastical fiat? I do know one thing: We cannot, in a principled way, agree with the Council Fathers on other terms than the ones they offer and still call ourselves "creedal." We owe it to them, not just to ourselves and some notion of consistency. And that's why I'm Catholic.
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