THE “INFALLIBLE CHURCH” DECEPTION (Part 2)

Last month, we mainly dealt with 1 Timothy 3:15, which speaks of the church of Jesus Christ being the pillar and ground of the truth, and we addressed how the Catholic Church wrongly interprets this passage.  See Part 1 here:

https://answeringcatholicclaims.blogspot.com/2024/07/the-infallible-church-deception-part-1.html

This is just one passage that the Catholic Church uses to attempt to claim infallibility for itself.  But they also use a few other passages, like Ephesians 1:22-23 together with Colossians 2:9-10 to assert their infallibility and we will talk about these today.

Confusion of Terms

Let’s read the Ephesians 1 passage first.  The author of this epistle (the apostle Paul) says:

v. 22 – And [God] hath put all things under his [Jesus’] feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 

v. 23 – Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

Ok, so we have here a passage saying that the Father has put all things under Jesus’ feet (that is, under His control) and He appointed Jesus as Head over all things, including the church.  Then Paul says that the church is the “body of Christ” and it is the “fullness of Christ.”  Catholics will also tie this in to Colossians 2:

v. 9 – For in Him [Jesus] dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily

v. 10 – and ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power [or, “which is over every ruler and authority” - NASV].

And somehow, they take this to mean that the Church therefore has infallibility.

This is the logic of at least one popular Catholic apologist, John Martignoni, in his newsletter, “Apologetics for the Masses” #352.  This particular newsletter is, for the most part, about the “infallibility” of the Catholic Church and Martignoni goes on to reason this way:

1) The church is the body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23)

2) Jesus Christ is the Head of that body (Ephesians 1:22-23)

3) Jesus is also the Head of all rule and authority (Colossians 2:10)

4) Therefore, the Church IS all rule and authority (which gives them infallibility)!

See the article here:

https://www.biblechristiansociety.com/newsletter/466-apologetics-for-the-masses-352-problems-with-protestantism-1

But this logic is utterly ridiculous.  This is like saying that a business owner has/owns two separate shops in two different places.  One is a bait shop and the other is a flower shop.  But it would be absolutely wrong to assume that the two shops are one and the same just because he is the owner/head of both.  It just doesn’t follow. 

Headship over multiple things does not make all of (or even any of) those things equal.  God is Head over the animal world on earth just as He is Head over all the galaxies in space, but they are certainly not the same in any sense.  Likewise, Jesus is the Head over the church, and He is also Head over all rule and authority, but that in no way makes these two things equal.

There is nothing in these verses about infallibility for the church, either explicitly or implicitly.  It is amazing the length that Catholic apologists will go to in their desperation to exalt Mother Church!

Is the Church Christ?

Catholic apologist Tim Staples, writing for Catholic Answers, tells us:

“In Ephesians 1:22-23, Paul tells us that the Church is Christ, extended in this world” (Emphasis in original).  See here:

https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/mary-saves

No, I’m sorry, but Paul is not telling us that the church is Christ. 

Maybe Staples is just meaning that Jesus is giving us authority to spread the gospel truth.  That would be true.  Perhaps he means that the church is an extension of Christ’s will, behavior, character, etc.  Maybe he’s saying that the church is closely related to Christ.  These are all true.

But then again, maybe he is saying that the (Catholic) Church IS actually Christ or that the Church has become Christ, as it states in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC #795).  And of course, this would bolster their concept of Church infallibility, but this is certainly not biblical. 

See this article:

https://answeringcatholicclaims.blogspot.com/2017/05/can-we-become-christ.html

The Fullness of Christ

At any rate, the Catholic Church makes much of the phrase concerning the Church being “the fullness of Christ.”  But in what sense is the body (the church) the fullness of Christ?  What does that even mean?

Just as Jesus (the Son) is the full and true expression of the Father in Heaven (John 14:9), the church (when it is functioning correctly and properly responding to God’s Word) is also the full and true expression of Christ on earth. 

As I mentioned in Part 1 of this series, Jesus (the Head) is indeed infallible, but the body (the church) is not, since it is not always functioning correctly and not always properly responding to God’s Word.  Even when members of the church are indeed functioning as God wants them to, it is still not infallible.  So, being the “fullness of Christ” has nothing to do with church infallibility in the contexts of Ephesians 1 and Colossians 2.

A “Concrete Application”?

Another passage that the Catholic Church uses to try and bolster their claims of infallibility is Acts 15:1-31.  This is about the very first church council (the Jerusalem Council), which involved the question of the Law of Moses and justification (i.e., “Must a person follow the Mosaic Law in order to be saved?” Acts 15:1, 5).  Catholics will claim that this debate in the Jerusalem Council is a prime example and a “concrete application” of the need for an infallible church. 

I beg to differ.

Catholics want to compare this Jerusalem Council in the very early church to the modern Catholic Church’s councils and their operations (and claims).  Catholics are claiming that we must have an infallible church today to be able to interpret Scripture correctly and to provide the world with true and authoritative doctrine with certainty, just like they did in Jerusalem.  Catholics will say that the Jerusalem Council is the example to follow for the church today.  Furthermore, they’ll emphasize that the Holy Spirit agreed with the decision of the Council (Acts 15:28), so if the Holy Spirit agreed, then it must have been an infallible decision, right?

No, although the early church described in Acts 15 could indeed claim to have a certain level of infallibility, it was only an infallible decision because there were APOSTLES present in this Council (v. 7, 12, 13).  In other words, the church in that day was still receiving new divine revelation from God, and this was only because apostles and prophets were still around then, who enjoyed at least some measure of infallibility.   

But we don’t have apostles and prophets today who operate in the same capacity as they did back then in the early church.  Furthermore, why should the Holy Spirit’s agreement with that specific church council prove the concept of church infallibility for today?  The Holy Spirit “agrees” with anyone who proclaims biblical principles, but that doesn’t imply infallibility for that person or group in the post-apostolic church.  Again, the difference is the Holy Spirit working through apostles and prophets in the early church.

As I said, the post-apostolic church does not have the benefit of receiving new divine revelation like the early church did.  Even the Catechism of the Catholic Church would agree with me on that (CCC #66).

So, the Jerusalem Council simply does not prove the need for an infallible church today.  The only infallible source of truth we have today is the Holy Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16-17), so there is no need for infallible Tradition, nor for an infallible Magisterium.  Interestingly, the Catholic Magisterium only claims to be infallible on very rare occasions, but Scripture is infallible ALL the time.

Conclusion

There are more passages that the Catholic Church would call upon to attempt to demonstrate that their Church is infallible.  We’ve only covered a few of the main ones here.  Of course, we haven’t forgotten Matthew 16, which is probably their main argument.  But this chapter has been dealt with elsewhere on this blog.  See here:

https://answeringcatholicclaims.blogspot.com/search?q=matthew+16

https://answeringcatholicclaims.blogspot.com/2016/09/ 

https://answeringcatholicclaims.blogspot.com/2016/08/

 Other passages might include John 21:15-17, where Jesus asks Peter to “feed My sheep.”  But feeding His sheep applies to all pastors, not just Peter.  Not a word about infallibility here.

They also refer to Matthew 18, concerning “binding and loosing,” but that topic is covered in the Matthew 16 links just above.

There is also Luke 22:31-32, where Jesus prays for Peter’s faith.  Jesus did this because He knew that Peter would be weak in his trial and end up denying Him.  But Jesus intercedes for all of us, myself included, but that certainly does not make me infallible.

They sometimes also use John 16:13 to say that “… when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth.”  That is true, but is there any one person or group who actually, literally, possesses “all truth”?  No, that’s not what the verse is saying: Jesus is telling us that when the Holy Spirit comes, He will give you all the truth you NEED for any particular occasion.  I think it is safe to say that God has never given any single human being “all truth,” i.e., every bit of truth in Heaven and earth in human history.  Not even the Bride of Christ, the whole church collectively, has this level of knowledge, but only the Trinity.

I’m sure that there are other passages that I haven’t mentioned, but I believe that what we have shared is sufficient to show that, according to Scripture, the concept of an “infallible church” is truly a deception, a mere figment of the Catholic Church’s imagination.

 

THE “INFALLIBLE CHURCH” DECEPTION (Part 1)

In the Catholic/Protestant debate arena, I have seen Catholics try to “bait” Protestants with a question, and the question Catholics ask is:

“What is the pillar and foundation of the truth?”

Often, this question is intended to trick the Protestant into saying “the Bible,” since many, if not most, Protestants hold the Bible as the ultimate source of truth in spiritual matters.  So, if the Protestant answers this way, the Catholic will respond that the correct answer to this question (according to the Bible, itself) is the Church:

“But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground [foundation/bulwark] of the truth.” (1 Timothy 3:15 – emphasis added)

It is unfortunate that some Protestants will answer the question wrongly.  But anyone who has been saved for a while and is familiar with the Bible should be acquainted with this verse and what it actually means.

However, in a footnote in its Catechism, the Catholic Church uses this particular verse to advance the idea that it is the Catholic Church who is “the pillar and bulwark of the truth,” who “faithfully guards the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (CCC 171) – and somehow, this idea leads to the “infallibility” of their Church.  Infallibility means that the Church is incapable of error (under certain conditions).  But is the biblical passage in question really saying that?  Are Protestants missing something? 

Catholics will fight hard against the teaching of Sola Scriptura, i.e., the concept of “the Bible alone.”  The doctrine of Sola Scriptura, believed by most Protestants, teaches that the Bible is the only infallible source of truth for the church today, as 2 Timothy 3:16-17 indicates.  But Catholics will use 1 Timothy 3:15 to try to say otherwise, to demonstrate that the Church has infallibility, also.

To maintain this interpretation, the Catholic logic goes something like this:

“Pillars and foundations are made to hold up something and keep it from crashing down.  In the case of this verse, this pillar/foundation is holding up the truth.  If the truth would somehow collapse, it would be lost.  But Jesus told us in Matthew 16:18 that the gates of Hell would not prevail against the church.  For this victory against the gates of Hell to be true, the Church should not be able to err in its teachings, therefore, it must be infallible.  Furthermore, the fact that Jesus Christ is the Cornerstone of this foundation (Matthew 21:42; 1 Peter 2:6) and the Church is the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27), these things assure us of the infallibility of the Church.”

At least, that’s pretty much how they come to this conclusion.

An Analogy

But the Catholic interpretation of 1 Timothy 3:15 is like a son who is admonished by his father:

“Son, you are aspiring to be a doctor and it is of the utmost importance that you maintain the highest medical and ethical standards and responsibilities.  You must study to become the best possible doctor that you can be!”

And then the son concludes from this short speech:

“Dad says that I am the best doctor there is – I can do no wrong!”

Of course, this was not at all what Dad was really saying.  The son, in his quest for greatness, was obviously mistaken in interpreting his father’s message to him.  The father’s words were spoken to impart responsibility and nothing more.  But they were twisted by his son into suggesting some sort of infallibility.

This is exactly the same mistake that the Catholic Church is committing when they claim infallibility from Paul’s admonition to Timothy in this passage.   

The man’s son was wrongly emphasizing his exaggerated ability above his critical responsibility in his chosen field.  In the very same way, the Catholic Church is taking this verse out of context to wrongly emphasize a supposed special ability over and above its critical responsibility to uphold the gospel truth.

Again, the emphasis of the apostle Paul was on Timothy’s (and his local church’s) responsibility to behave and to uphold the truth in the household of God – not on some imagined infallibility.  This is indeed an incredible leap of logic for the Catholic Church which violates the context of this passage.

“The Church” Really Means Something Else

By the way, when Catholics say “the Church,” they are referring specifically to the Catholic Church, and often, to its “Magisterium” (i.e., its leaders).  But this is an unbiblical definition, as I show elsewhere on this blog.  Absolutely nowhere in the Holy Scriptures does the term “the church” ever refer to a Magisterium.  As the old saying goes, “It just ain’t there!”

See these articles:

https://answeringcatholicclaims.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-origin-of-truth.html

https://answeringcatholicclaims.blogspot.com/2024/05/is-noahs-ark-symbol-of-catholic-church.html

https://answeringcatholicclaims.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-catholic-mindset.html

All About Responsibility!

But let’s look at the passage again, starting with the previous verse:

v. 14 -These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly:

v.15 - But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. (1 Timothy 3:14-15 - Emphasis added)

Notice the “ought” in v. 15.  This is about what the members of the church should be doing.  The apostle Paul is telling Timothy and his congregation how to conduct themselves when the church assembly (Greek, “ekklesia”), or “house of God,” is gathered together.  But again, Catholics take this passage completely out of context.  They love to inject a whole new meaning into it.

Once more, the whole chapter (1 Timothy 3) is about the RESPONSIBILITIES, OBLIGATIONS and EXPECTATIONS of the leaders within the church, and NOT about any infallibility or special authority. 

No, the chapter is about church leaders needing to be careful in their behavior (v. 1-15) and their teachings (v. 2, 9), since it is their responsibility to safeguard and uphold the gospel message and not be a stumbling block in the way they conduct themselves.  This was actually more of a limitation on church leaders, rather than about their exaltation.

But Catholics try their hardest to make it about special Church authority and privileges of the Magisterium, when it is not about that at all.   

Guarantee of Infallibility?

Like I said, there is no infallibility here for the church.  The universal church of Jesus Christ, as a whole, is the pillar and foundation (metaphorically speaking) of the truth.  The church is not the truth itself and the truth doesn’t originate from the church, but Paul is saying that the church has the responsibility to uphold and support the truth through the faithful preaching of the gospel – not that it is a guarantee of infallibility for anyone in the post-apostolic church.

Has the church always been effective in fulfilling its mission of upholding the truth?  No, there are certainly times when members of the church have deviated from the truth.  This is exactly the reason why most of the New Testament epistles are corrective in nature, that is, the authors are correcting false teachings or improper behavior.  So we shouldn’t be surprised if we see apostasy in the church today.  After all, Paul warns us in the very next chapter that some would abandon the faith, and it would get worse as time goes on (1 Timothy 4:1-2).

Of course, this has not been a total apostasy, since Jesus said that the gates of Hell would not prevail against the church (Matthew 16:18).  You see, God has always had a faithful remnant.  But apostasy did indeed (and still does) exist, at different levels and in different places, throughout church history.

But the point here is that the church doesn’t have to be infallible to maintain the message of 1 Timothy 3. 

Do You Really Want to Say That?

When you say that the church cannot err, exactly what church are you talking about?  If Catholics are using the word “church” in a biblical sense, they are saying either:

1) that the local assembly (altogether) cannot err, or

2) that the universal, worldwide community of true believers (altogether) cannot err. 

But it is highly unlikely that they would ever say this about either of these two groups.  This is because they so often use the term “the Church” in an unscriptural sense.

The only way that you can force the Catholic interpretation onto the text of 1 Timothy 3:15 is by assuming an infallible Magisterium to start with. 

Catholics will sometimes stress the idea that, since the Church is the foundation, “whatever is built upon a foundation cannot be greater than that foundation – in other words, the foundation is always greater than what it supports.”  But hold on!  That may be true in the fields of architecture and construction, but are they implying that the Church (foundation) is greater than the very truth it upholds?  This is both arrogant and blasphemous!  Once again, the church can only be the pillar of truth IN THE SENSE OF BEING OBLIGATED TO UPHOLD THAT TRUTH!

There are always some in the church that can err in doctrine.  The Head (Jesus) cannot err, but the body (the church) certainly can.  Just because Jesus is identified with the church does not mean the church is infallible like He is.  The church is supposed to emulate Him in its character and its fruit (Galatians 5:22-25).  Christians have some of His characteristics, but we certainly don’t have His immutability, His omniscience, His omnipotence, His omnipresence, nor His infallibility.  Those are reserved for the Trinity alone.

What is a Household?

In 1 Timothy 3:15, the apostle Paul calls the church the “house” or “household” of God.  A family household is not always comprised of parents only, but also of children.  In the same way, the household of God does not contain leaders only, but it also includes “the laity” (the common man in the pew).  So, if the Church is indeed the household, and you want to maintain the Catholic interpretation of this passage, you’d have to say that everyone in the Church is infallible!  And I don’t think that anyone would want to say that.

Bad News

If being an infallible pillar of truth is automatic for Magisterial leaders, simply by reason of their office (as Catholics seem to think), then why do we have all the warnings from Paul toward church leadership (1 Timothy 3:1-13; 4:16; 5:21-22) and why such a concern for apostasy – even from leaders (Acts 20:28-31; Timothy 4:1)?  Furthermore, we often forget that Jesus, Himself, also warned His churches – including leaders (Revelation chapter 2 and 3). 

There should be no need for these warnings if infallibility is “automatic.”  In fact, these firm warnings (along with other biblical principles) exclude the possibility of such a gift for the post-apostolic church.  Otherwise, Jesus’ and Paul’s threats would be irrelevant. 

The truth is, being a biblical pillar/foundation is something that you choose to do, it is what you ought to do, so that you fulfill your responsibility as a leader or member of the church.  It doesn’t automatically happen because of the position you hold in your church.

At the risk of being redundant, the bottom line, once again, is that the apostle Paul (in context) was telling Timothy, “You NEED to be a pillar of the truth,” not, “You are guaranteed to be an infallible pillar of the truth.”  Thankfully, the church does not need to be infallible in order to effectively share and uphold this gospel truth.

The burden of proof is on Catholics to prove that infallibility is spoken of here (1 Timothy 3).  Once again, I would assert that this concept is simply being forced into this passage. 

The bad news for the Catholic Church is this: Not only do you have a wrong interpretation of 1 Timothy 3:15 (and therefore, do NOT have infallibility), but you also are NOT the pillar and foundation of the truth, as long as you are neck-deep in false doctrine.

So, I would assert that the concept of an “infallible church” is indeed a deception and that the doctrine of Sola Scriptura remains unscathed!

We will continue this topic next time in Part 2…