{"id":25431,"date":"2018-10-25T11:46:48","date_gmt":"2018-10-25T15:46:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?p=25431"},"modified":"2018-10-25T11:46:48","modified_gmt":"2018-10-25T15:46:48","slug":"infallibility-of-papal-encyclicals-etc-irreformable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2018\/10\/infallibility-of-papal-encyclicals-etc-irreformable.html","title":{"rendered":"Infallibility of Papal Encyclicals, Etc. (&#8220;Irreformable&#8221;)"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-25434\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2018\/10\/PaulVIRomero.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"455\" height=\"400\"><\/p>\n<p>It is incorrect to say that the pope does not possess the gift of infallibility in and of himself when (in proper circumstances) he exercises that gift, and this is contrary to the proclamations of Vatican I and Vatican II. Though the pope in fact almost always acts in concert with the bishops, it is not\u00a0<i>intrinsically required<\/i>\u00a0that he do so, and they are always subject to his supreme authority.<\/p>\n<p>A clear example of this is\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2017\/10\/humanae-vitae-1968-infallible-teaching-contraception.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><i>Humanae Vitae<\/i>: an infallible document<\/a> that not only was not produced in\u00a0<i>concert<\/i>\u00a0with the bishops, but whose truth was\u00a0<i>denied<\/i>\u00a0by many bishops and priests, as a current post on this board details. To deny the charism of papal infallibility for the pope alone is the medieval<a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2018\/08\/conciliarism-orthodox-option-in-medieval-catholicism.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0heresy of conciliarism<\/a>. Conciliar infallibility (also considerably developed by Vatican II) applies\u00a0<em>only<\/em><b>\u00a0<\/b>when a council is subject to the\u00a0<em>pope<\/em>, and his approval in all respects. Thus,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.vaxxine.com\/pjm\/vaticanI.htm\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Vatican I\u00a0stated<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Therefore, faithfully adhering to the tradition received from the beginning of the Christian faith, to the glory of God our savior, for the exaltation of the Catholic religion and for the salvation of the Christian people, with the approval of the Sacred Council, we teach and define as a divinely revealed dogma that when the Roman Pontiff speaks EX CATHEDRA, that is, when, in the exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of all Christians, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole Church, he possesses, by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, that infallibility which the divine Redeemer willed his Church to enjoy in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals.\u00a0<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Therefore, such definitions of the Roman Pontiff are of themselves, and not by the consent of the Church, irreformable<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>So then, should anyone, which God forbid, have the temerity to reject this definition of ours: let him be anathema.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Accordingly, Fr. William G. Most wrote:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>C)\u00a0Third Level:\u00a0Pius XII, in\u00a0<i>Humani generis<\/i>:<\/p>\n<ul>Nor must it be thought that the things contained in Encyclical Letters do not of themselves require assent on the plea that in them the Pontiffs do not exercise the supreme power of their Magisterium. For these things are taught with the ordinary Magisterium, about which it is also true to say, \u2018He who hears you, hears me.\u2019 [Lk 10. 16]. . . If the Supreme Pontiffs, in their acta expressly pass judgment on a matter debated until then, it is obvious to all that the matter, according to the mind and will of the same Pontiffs, cannot be considered any longer a question open for discussion among theologians.<\/ul>\n<p>We notice: (1) These things are protected by the promise of Christ in Lk 10. 16, and so are infallible, for His promise cannot fail . . . (2) Not everything in Encyclicals, and similar documents, is on this level \u2013 this is true only when the Popes expressly pass judgment on a previously debated matter, (3) since the Church scattered throughout the world can make a teaching infallible without defining \u2013 as we saw on level 2 -then of course the Pope alone, who can speak for and reflect the faith of the whole Church, can do the same even in an Encyclical, under the conditions enumerated by Pius XII. Really, on any level, all that is required to make a thing infallible is that it be given definitively. When a Pope takes a stand on something debated in theology and publishes it in his Acta, that suffices. The fact that as Pius XII said it is removed from debate alone shows it is meant as definitive.\u00a0(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.catholicculture.org\/culture\/library\/most\/getwork.cfm?worknum=4\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">\u201cHierarchy of Truths and Four Levels of Teaching\u201d<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div>* * * * *<\/div>\n<p>This is reiterated in\u00a0Vatican II,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.vatican.va\/archive\/hist_councils\/ii_vatican_council\/documents\/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><i>Lumen Gentium<\/i>, III, 25<\/a>, which cites the earlier definition and expands upon it:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>And therefore his definitions,\u00a0<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">of themselves, and not from the consent of the Church<\/span>, are justly styled irreformable, since they are pronounced with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, promised to him in blessed Peter, and therefore they\u00a0<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">need no approval of others<\/span>, nor do they allow an appeal to any other judgment. For then the Roman Pontiff is not pronouncing judgment as a private person, but <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">as the supreme teacher of the universal Church,\u00a0in whom the charism of infallibility of the Church itself is individually present<\/span>, he is expounding or defending a doctrine of Catholic faith.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div>\n<div class=\"separator\"><\/div>\n<p>* * * * *<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Further clarifications on what infallibility does and doesn\u2019t mean:<\/p>\n<p>The pope must always act consistently with received Tradition. That\u2019s a given in Catholic ecclesiology (theology of the Church). He can never declare something out of the blue that has no precedent whatsoever. It has to be in line with the apostolic deposit, that goes all the way back to Jesus and the apostles.<\/p>\n<p>The Church is not ultramontanist. That position was shot down in 1870,<i>\u00a0if<\/i>\u00a0by it (people sometimes disagree on its definition) someone means that absolutely everything (or even a great deal of what) the pope says is infallible, even going beyond the constriction of such decrees having to do with faith and morals. This is not true. There are carefully defined, strict conditions when his words are to be regarded as infallible.<\/p>\n<p>The Catholic doesn\u2019t accept every word a pope utters as Gospel Truth.<\/p>\n<div dir=\"ltr\">We mustn\u2019t deny the special charism given to Peter alone (both\/and, not either\/or), simply because something like it was also given to others.\u00a0<i>Lumen Gentium<\/i>\u00a0stated, to the contrary:<\/div>\n<blockquote dir=\"ltr\">\n<div dir=\"ltr\">. . . they are pronounced\u00a0<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, promised to him in blessed Peter<\/span>, and therefore they need no approval of others, . . .<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>There are many <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2015\/10\/50-nt-proofs-for-petrine-primacy-the-papacy.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">indications in Scripture that Peter<\/a> and by implication also later popes receive a special charism unique to them:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>1) He alone is given the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Matt 16:19).<\/p>\n<p>2) All the apostles were given the power to bind and loose, but only Peter received it by name (Matt 16:19).<\/p>\n<p>3) Peter is regarded as the Chief shepherd (Jn 21:15-17; cf. 1 Peter 5:1).<\/p>\n<p>4) Jesus prays for Peter in particular, that his faith would not fail (Lk 22:32).<\/p>\n<p>5) Peter is exhorted by Jesus to \u201cstrengthen your brethren\u201d (Lk 22:32).<\/p>\n<p>6) Peter alone is told that he has received divine knowledge by a special revelation (Matt 16:17).<\/p>\n<p>7) Peter utters the first anathema (on Ananias and Sapphira), which is confirmed by God: they were killed (Acts 5:2-11).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>We gain nothing good by watering-down the prerogatives and charisms of the Holy Father, which are unique in the Church. Nor does the orthodox Catholic deny conciliar infallibility. I wrote above:<\/p>\n<blockquote dir=\"ltr\"><p>Conciliar infallibility (also considerably developed by Vatican II) applies\u00a0<em>only<\/em><b>\u00a0<\/b>when a council is subject to the\u00a0<em>pope<\/em>, and his approval in all respects.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I not only acknowledged conciliar infallibility (rightly understood) but even noted that it was developed by Vatican II. This was emphasized by <a href=\"https:\/\/hardonsj.org\/biography\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Servant of God Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J.<\/a> in his catechism that I was required to read when I was received into the Church by him.<\/p>\n<p>The medieval heresy of conciliarism, on the other hand, held that the council was the supreme authority in the Church, not the pope. The Church declared against this.<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p>(originally 8-4-08)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Photo credit:<\/strong> <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">St.\u00a0\u00d3scar Arnulfo Romero y Gald\u00e1mez with Pope St. Paul VI (6-21-78)<\/span> [public domain \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:%C3%93scar_Arnulfo_Romero_with_Pope_Paul_VI_(4).jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Wikimedia Commons<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is incorrect to say that the pope does not possess the gift of infallibility in and of himself when (in proper circumstances) he exercises that gift, and this is contrary to the proclamations of Vatican I and Vatican II. Though the pope in fact almost always acts in concert with the bishops, it is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":25434,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[138],"tags":[164,1029,1420,2028,1531,1851,4559,140,6046,6810,2464,813,3002,32,36,2985],"class_list":["post-25431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-papacy-infallibility","tag-catholic-authority","tag-church-authority","tag-church-government","tag-church-infallibility","tag-conciliar-infallibility","tag-first-vatican-council","tag-humanae-vitae","tag-infallibility","tag-levels-of-infallibility","tag-ordinary-magisterium","tag-papal-authority","tag-papal-infallibility","tag-pope-paul-vi","tag-rule-of-faith","tag-three-legged-stool","tag-vatican-i"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Infallibility of Papal Encyclicals, Etc. (&quot;Irreformable&quot;)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It is incorrect to say that the pope does not possess the gift of infallibility in and of himself when (in proper circumstances) he exercises that gift. This is contrary to Vatican I.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2018\/10\/infallibility-of-papal-encyclicals-etc-irreformable.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Infallibility of Papal Encyclicals, Etc. (&quot;Irreformable&quot;)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It is incorrect to say that the pope does not possess the gift of infallibility in and of himself when (in proper circumstances) he exercises that gift. This is contrary to Vatican I.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2018\/10\/infallibility-of-papal-encyclicals-etc-irreformable.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-10-25T15:46:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2018\/10\/PaulVIRomero.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"455\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dave Armstrong\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dave Armstrong\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2018\/10\/infallibility-of-papal-encyclicals-etc-irreformable.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2018\/10\/infallibility-of-papal-encyclicals-etc-irreformable.html\",\"name\":\"Infallibility of Papal Encyclicals, Etc. (\\\"Irreformable\\\")\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-10-25T15:46:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-10-25T15:46:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e\"},\"description\":\"It is incorrect to say that the pope does not possess the gift of infallibility in and of himself when (in proper circumstances) he exercises that gift. This is contrary to Vatican I.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2018\/10\/infallibility-of-papal-encyclicals-etc-irreformable.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2018\/10\/infallibility-of-papal-encyclicals-etc-irreformable.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2018\/10\/infallibility-of-papal-encyclicals-etc-irreformable.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Infallibility of Papal Encyclicals, Etc. (&#8220;Irreformable&#8221;)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/\",\"name\":\"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism\",\"description\":\"Catholic biblical apologetics\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e\",\"name\":\"Dave Armstrong\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/820e6db89734ae7a9e5dac8d498f5ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/820e6db89734ae7a9e5dac8d498f5ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dave Armstrong\"},\"description\":\"Dave Armstrong is a Catholic author and apologist, who has been actively proclaiming and defending Christianity since 1981, and Catholicism in particular since 1991 (full-time since December 2001). Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \\\"This Rock\\\" (now called \\\"Catholic Answers Magazine\\\"), \\\"Envoy Magazine\\\" (Patrick Madrid), \\\"The Catholic Answer,\\\" \\\"The Coming Home Journal,\\\" \\\"Gilbert Magazine\\\" (American Chesterton Society), and \\\"The Latin Mass.\\\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \\\"The Michigan Catholic\\\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \\\"Catholic Answers Live\\\" (twice), \\\"Faith and Family Live\\\" (Steve Wood), \\\"Kresta in the Afternoon,\\\" \\\"Son Rise Morning Show,\\\" \\\"Catholic Connection\\\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \\\"The Catholics Next Door.\\\" His large and popular website, \\\"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\\\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \\\"index\\\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \\\"Surprised by Truth\\\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \\\"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\\\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \\\"The Catholic Verses\\\" (2004), \\\"The One-Minute Apologist\\\" (2007), \\\"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\\\" (2009), \\\"The Quotable Newman\\\" (editor: 2012), and \\\"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\\\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \\\"The New Catholic Answer Bible\\\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \\\"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\\\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \\\"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\\\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \\\"Quotable Wesley\\\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Infallibility of Papal Encyclicals, Etc. (\"Irreformable\")","description":"It is incorrect to say that the pope does not possess the gift of infallibility in and of himself when (in proper circumstances) he exercises that gift. This is contrary to Vatican I.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2018\/10\/infallibility-of-papal-encyclicals-etc-irreformable.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Infallibility of Papal Encyclicals, Etc. (\"Irreformable\")","og_description":"It is incorrect to say that the pope does not possess the gift of infallibility in and of himself when (in proper circumstances) he exercises that gift. This is contrary to Vatican I.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2018\/10\/infallibility-of-papal-encyclicals-etc-irreformable.html","og_site_name":"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","article_published_time":"2018-10-25T15:46:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":455,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2018\/10\/PaulVIRomero.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dave Armstrong","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dave Armstrong","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2018\/10\/infallibility-of-papal-encyclicals-etc-irreformable.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2018\/10\/infallibility-of-papal-encyclicals-etc-irreformable.html","name":"Infallibility of Papal Encyclicals, Etc. (\"Irreformable\")","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-10-25T15:46:48+00:00","dateModified":"2018-10-25T15:46:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e"},"description":"It is incorrect to say that the pope does not possess the gift of infallibility in and of himself when (in proper circumstances) he exercises that gift. This is contrary to Vatican I.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2018\/10\/infallibility-of-papal-encyclicals-etc-irreformable.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2018\/10\/infallibility-of-papal-encyclicals-etc-irreformable.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2018\/10\/infallibility-of-papal-encyclicals-etc-irreformable.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Infallibility of Papal Encyclicals, Etc. (&#8220;Irreformable&#8221;)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/","name":"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism","description":"Catholic biblical apologetics","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e","name":"Dave Armstrong","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/820e6db89734ae7a9e5dac8d498f5ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/820e6db89734ae7a9e5dac8d498f5ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dave Armstrong"},"description":"Dave Armstrong is a Catholic author and apologist, who has been actively proclaiming and defending Christianity since 1981, and Catholicism in particular since 1991 (full-time since December 2001). Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \"This Rock\" (now called \"Catholic Answers Magazine\"), \"Envoy Magazine\" (Patrick Madrid), \"The Catholic Answer,\" \"The Coming Home Journal,\" \"Gilbert Magazine\" (American Chesterton Society), and \"The Latin Mass.\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \"The Michigan Catholic\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \"Envoy Magazine.\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \"Catholic Answers Live\" (twice), \"Faith and Family Live\" (Steve Wood), \"Kresta in the Afternoon,\" \"Son Rise Morning Show,\" \"Catholic Connection\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \"The Catholics Next Door.\" His large and popular website, \"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \"Envoy Magazine.\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \"index\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \"Surprised by Truth\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \"The Catholic Verses\" (2004), \"The One-Minute Apologist\" (2007), \"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\" (2009), \"The Quotable Newman\" (editor: 2012), and \"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \"The New Catholic Answer Bible\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \"Quotable Wesley\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).","sameAs":["https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}