Doctrine v. Novelty:
Doctrine v Novelty:
The Difference between Doctrine and Novelty.
Doctrine:
Catholic doctrine; the Deposit of Faith, is grounded in Eternal Truth, Divine Law and as found in
Scripture; God's commands. The Church accessed this at "source" at the right time (apostolic
times) and then built the Church (the Rock and Column of the Faith) under the guidance of God the
Holy Spirit, as reflected in Her sacramental economy and devotional prayers, and practices etc,
and, as necessity arose, down through the centuries, the protections put in place to safeguard the
Deposit of Faith, from heresies and from any adverse outside influences. The complete Deposit of
Faith.
This is attentive to and attached to Divine Law and Eternal Truth; is attentive to heaven. That which
is Eternal never changes, Divine law is always the same, no matter what mankind's own inventions
and own ideas might bring in the context of changing societal ideas and settings, down through the
centuries. Church doctrine reflects the Eternal, and is that which the Church has “bound and
loosed.”
Doctrine; this true Church teaching, is that which is held as “ex Cathedra teaching” that taught from
“the Chair” the Chair of St Peter. And Papal Infallibility relates directly to this;
Papal infallibility, defined by Vatican I as an Article of Faith, but held in the Church since the very
earliest times, pertains directly to Church teaching. Papal infallibility does not mean that a Pope is
personally infallible, still less on anything he might want to express a personal opinion upon. It
means instead that his teachings are infallible when he speaks “ex Cathedra”; “from the Chair”
(the Chair of St Peter) that is, when he expresses that which the Church has always held in the
Deposit of Faith. Thus in making any new doctrinal declaration or clarifying the existing it must be
shown very precisely how this accords with the Deposit of Faith; the Rock and Column of the Faith.
Novelty.
A novelty by-passes Doctrine and the Deposit of Faith in order to develop a specific agenda.
Novelty teaching is based on a personal theology agenda approach, it may have elements of
Church doctrine which it has taken into consideration, but essentially these are set only within a
personal framework of ideas. These ideas are then attached to authority that is held in order to try
to implement them as being formally authoritative.
Because personal theological views and teachings are novelty teaching, doors are continually
opened to develop further personal theology ideas and agendas from them; especially on the part
of those who agree with particular ideas, are trained in them, and/or are set to benefit personally
from them and from their development.
Vatican II documents and teaching contain many novelties and also facilitate the use of novelty.
Those who have read Vatican II documents cannot help but notice that they are different; that they
have a personal theology approach to them. And they are full of inconsistencies, ambiguities and
equivocation; the most pronounced example being that what is said in one part of a document can
find a contrasting approach in another part of the document, or leaves open the means for it to be
interpreted differently in different contexts.
Has the Vatican admitted to any of this, as to the inconsistencies in Vatican II documents? In a
real way yes it now has, and which is found in a statement made by [Cardinal] Walter Kasper in an
interview given to L'Osservatore Romano in April 2013; where he said:
“In many places [the Council Fathers] had to find compromise formulas in which,
often, the position of the majority are located immediately next to those of the
minority, designed to delimit them. Thus the conciliar texts themselves have a
huge potential for conflict, open the door for selective reception in either direction.”
(Walter Kasper. 2013.)
This is not a description of the Rock and Column of the Faith. It instead reflects what took place at
Vatican II; that in effect it turned into something of a theological 'free for all.' It was different to the
role of a general Council of the Church. The role of any general Council of the Church is to first protect
the Rock and Column of the Faith. Vatican II did not protect the Rock and Column of the Faith but produced
and facilitated the use of Novelty instead.
(see further Questions and Answers on Home Page and specifically as beginning a Question 25.)
Examples of Doctrine v Novelty.
Here are just two examples of Doctrine (Church teaching) v Novelty teaching:
The Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi (Doctrine) v False Ecumenism (Novelty.)
Church teaching is that Communicatio in Sacri (Worship in Common) and any worship outside of
the Church, is forbidden by Divine law and a sin against the Faith. This is linked directly to Eternal
Truth; that the way we worship must reflect what we believe (The Lex Orandi is the Lex Credendi;
the rule of worship is the rule of belief; the way we worship reflects what we believe) this is the
Divine law. To worship outside of the Catholic Church is to reflect whatever beliefs are held in that
different context. And, in the same way, to take part in worship in common is to reflect belief in an
ecumenical community.
And so False Ecumenism tries to by-pass Eternal Truth; Divine law, in order to follow a specific
Novelty agenda. It did this at Vatican II by introducing a clause into a document (see specifically
Questions and Answers (Q 38 ) saying that worship in common is permissible as long as it does
not affect the unity of the Church or involve the formal acceptance of error, aberration in the faith
and indifferentism.
And so the rule of Divine law; the Eternal Truth is of itself ignored. In effect by a Novelty remit and
one set to cause the very things that it claims to guard against (indifferentism towards the Faith,
loss of Faith, and more.) And because it is a novelty and, therefore, virtually uncontrollable, it
means that worship in common is now taking place in all sorts of contexts and ways. It also means,
of course, that those outside of the Church are simultaneously led to believe that they may as well
stay exactly where they are.
The second example: Extra Ecclesium Nulla Salus (No salvation outside of the Church.)
This Church teaching, bound and loosed by the Church from the start, is in line with Our Lord's
Words about His Church:
And I say to thee, thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church,
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give thee the keys
of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever thou shalt bind on earth shall be
bound in heaven; and whatever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in
heaven."[Mt 16:18-19]
The “Rock” St Peter on which He (Our Lord) will build. And so the Popes, down through the
centuries, have constantly affirmed this doctrine. And one of the most well known, as stated by
Pope Pius IX: In his Allocution: Singulari Quadem(1854) he writes:
"Far be it from Us, venerable brethren, to presume on the limits of the
divine mercy, which is infinite; far from Us, to wish to scrutinize the
hidden counsel and "judgments of God" which are "a great abyss"
(Ps. 35.7) and cannot be penetrated by human thought. But, as is
Our Apostolic Duty, we wish your episcopal solicitude and vigilance
to be aroused, so that you will strive as much as you can to drive
from the mind of men that impious and equally fatal opinion, namely,
that the way of eternal salvation can be found in any religion whatsoever." (Pope Pius IX)
And in his encyclical Singulari Quidem 1856:
"Teach that just as there is only one God, one Christ, one Holy Spirit, so
there is also only one truth which is divinely revealed. There is only one
divine faith which is the beginning of salvation for mankind and the basis
of all justification, the faith by which the just person lives and without which
it is impossible to please God and come to the community of His children
(Romans 1; Hebrews 11; Council of Trent, Session 6, chapter 8). There is
only one true, holy, Catholic Church, which is the Apostolic Roman Church.
There is only one See founded on Peter by the word of the Lord (St Cyprian,
Epistle 43), outside of which we cannot find either true faith or eternal salvation...
Outside of the Church, nobody can hope for life or salvation unless he is
excused through ignorance beyond his control." (Pope Pius IX)
Vatican II, whilst affirming that the Church is necessary for salvation, also, through the use of a
number of ambiguities, and novelties, also induces a novel (novelty) different approach. Two
novelty terms are involved in particular. The first is in the use of the term “subsists in.” The second
states of the Church that: “..elements of sanctification and truth are found outside of its visible
structure.” As stated in the document Lumen Gentium, which says:
The Church constituted and organized in the world as a society subsists in
the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by
the Bishops in communion with him, although many elements of sanctification
and truth are found outside of its visible structure. These elements as gifts
belonging to the Church of Christ are forces impelling toward Catholic unity. (LG 8(2)
The use of the term “subsists in” caused a level of uproar at and following Vatican II, and so the
Church sought to clarify “subsists in” by saying that it refers only to the Church Herself.
Nevertheless, as is clear, the term does not imply exclusivity, and has opened many a door for
interpretation since Vatican II, and also begs the question, why was the term used at all?
Secondly, the term “elements of sanctification and truth are found outside of its visible structure.”
What does this mean exactly? In effect it could mean anything at all but it can only really apply to
expression detached from belief. For example the saying of a prayer. But the reality is that
expression cannot be detached from belief and one expresses what one believes through prayer.
And the term cannot include that which the Church has already long excluded as being heresy.
Vatican II knew this of course and so stated that it is depended on the status of the Church or
community. It was only supposed to apply to the separated Eastern Churches in the extent that the
Church recognizes their Sacraments and Ecclesiastical structuring(clergy.)
But many who are outside the Church think it applies to them. And especially when coupled with
another Vatican II term: “Justification by Faith in Baptism.” This is not Catholic teaching, instead it
is of Lutheranism; of Luther's belief, and reflects a main protestant doctrine: “Justification by faith
alone.” This doctrine, which teaches in effect that nothing one does matters and that all relies on
belief in Christ (some protestants interpret it to mean a just a statement of faith)is rightly rejected by
true Catholic teaching as an abuse of (some of) St Paul's writings, it was not taught by Our Lord nor
by the apostles; indeed what we do matters and it matters a very great deal, the whole of scripture
tells us the same! It sets itself against the Sacramental economy (the grace bringing Sacraments of
the Church and against the transmission of the the Faith.) And against the beautiful Faith practices;
prayers, penance, mortifications, indulgences etc through which we strive to worship and to know
and please God, and live in accordance with His Will. It is a great merciful act of God that he allows
us to confess, do penance and mortifications for our sins; to help ourselves and to help others, very
much including the deceased.
The Mass is Our Lord's great Sacrifice (which was complete and for all time) but repeated;
in an unbloody form, everyday on the altar and with the faithful; both living and dead, benefiting
from Our Lord's precious Body and Blood and from the graces and merits won for us through His
great Sacrifice, and which He applies to us in measure accordingly.
Justification by Faith alone has always been rejected by the Church, and long before Luther promoted it,
for example, the Church rejected it when an early form of it emerged with Pelagianism (the Pelagian heresy.)
But this protestant teaching (a version of it) found its way in at Vatican II, through being attached as part of an
ecumenical (by definition protestant) agenda; a favoured personal theology approach.
And so following Vatican II there is Church doctrine and the Deposit of Faith on the one hand;
and there is the Vatican II agenda and with it building a false ecumenical (protestant) structure
alongside the Catholic Church!
(see further: Questions and Answers on Home page ( specifically on Vatican II beginning at
Question 25 ; also the warning from Pope Benedict XV as to “synthesizing heresy.”)
Angela St John.
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