Some guys didn't just come up with this to satisfy their desire for ecclesial domination; it's the other way around: the Catholic Church today has legitimate jurisdiction over you and me because the fledgling Church recognized this authority right away. He's the Church's visible principle of unity.
The right of private interpretation, and the rejection of ecclesial authority based upon it, has no reasonable limit, in principle. That's why I had written of an Abyss of Relativism; it was the logical end of the principle consistently applied. You have to see the horror of it to have the guts to question the principle.
This is not to say the Bible is opaque, and that we can't read it, or shouldn't. In fact, we should read it as much as we can. But it means that whatever we discern is not ours; we offer it to God, and to the Church. If it is in harmony with what the Magisterium has said, well and good. We then edify our brethren in accord with our ability and position.
The right of private interpretation, and the rejection of ecclesial authority based upon it, has no reasonable limit, in principle. That's why I had written of an Abyss of Relativism; it was the logical end of the principle consistently applied. You have to see the horror of it to have the guts to question the principle.
This is not to say the Bible is opaque, and that we can't read it, or shouldn't. In fact, we should read it as much as we can. But it means that whatever we discern is not ours; we offer it to God, and to the Church. If it is in harmony with what the Magisterium has said, well and good. We then edify our brethren in accord with our ability and position.
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