How the Faith Is Taught

Steve Mirarchi recommends Magisterium: Teacher and Guardian of the Faith, by Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J.

MAGISTERIUM: TEACHER AND GUARDIAN OF THE FAITH

by Cardinal Avery Dulles, S.J.

Sapientia Press, 2007

190 pages, $12.95

To order: http://71.149.198.161/shop/

1-888-343-8607


Imagine if religion were like a mystery novel: secrets of salvation hidden in benighted catacombs, furtive clerics aspiring to domination, and we, the tortured heroes, unsure of what to believe at any turn.

Such esoterica does not lead to heaven; like the fate of the star-crossed detective embroiled in such a miasma, it drowns in its own chaos.

Thankfully, religion is not a mystery. We are certain and sure of what we believe, and we trust those who teach us — right?

Therein lies the heart of this volume from Cardinal Avery Dulles, one of the foremost experts on why we trust those who teach authoritatively in Christ’s name. A weighty subject indeed, yet the book is both approachable enough for inquisitive believers and footnoted enough for those who keep a Catechism by the bedside.

Cardinal Dulles begins with two oft-overlooked truths about the magisterium, ordinarily the College of Bishops with the Pope as their head (CCC §880). First, the magisterium is the servant of the Word of God. No bishop may “make up” a law, directive or dogma; everything necessary for the salvation of mankind has been revealed through Christ. The Church’s hierarchy, therefore, serves the whole Church across time and space, transmitting the saving truth of the Gospel to every creature.

How, then, is the Gospel preserved from contamination, error-prone as humans are? A crucial question, and for the answer Cardinal Dulles points to the Incarnation.

“In establishing the magisterium,” he writes, “Christ responded to a real human need. People cannot discover the contents of revelation by their unaided powers of reason and observation. … If God deems it important to give a revelation, he will make provision to assure its conservation.

As the title of this book heralds, the magisterium guards the deposit of faith it teaches, clarifying beliefs and making moral certainties explicit for every generation. The salvation of souls can never be a matter of mystery, for Christ promises us the eternal assistance of the Holy Spirit, who guides our priests in teaching, sanctifying and ruling.

The cardinal’s extensive experience at conferences and synods shines through his writing. He imagines his readers around a Harkness table following right along with him. As we rightly expect, Cardinal Dulles draws freely from Tradition and Scripture, highlighting especially the patristic sources that make pellucid the irrefutable origins of apostolic faith. When the cardinal progresses into daunting topics such as dissension and natural law he achieves an engaging combination of the conversational and the academic, at once succinct and profound.

And like that full-on press to snag the professor after class, readers are going to want more. With the main text coming in at only 113 pages, many discursive inroads remain unexplored.

If the book’s brevity is its shortcoming, it prompts the cardinal to update his aging tome Models of Revelation, a perfect companion for Magisterium.

Buttressing the cardinal’s momentous treatments is an anthology of document excerpts relevant to the topic of teaching authority in the Church. Collected in appendices, the treasury of works allows the reader to investigate subtopics from infallibility to non-definitive teaching.

Mystery novels make for good entertainment, but as Cardinal Dulles reminds us, every believer has the right to know and rejoice in the absolute truth of the Gospel. Case closed.


Stephen Mirarchi

writes from Saint Louis.

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