Sometimes the comments to blog posts can be as interesting as the post. A recent post at Pray Tell - Disagreeing and questioning…in union with the Pope and bishops - had comments of that kind. Here are a few ....
Bill deHaas gave a link to an interesting article by Brit theologian Nicholas Lash - Teaching or Commanding?
Paul Inwood brought up the concept of sensus fidelium and gave the example that at least 85% of Catholics do not accept the Church’s magisterial teaching on artificial birth control - does their dissent mean they aren't really "Catholic"?
Jared Gosnell commented that people who dissent in this way may be Catholic, but they've committed a mortal sin.
Philip Endean SJ replied to this and brought up "conscience" ...No. Even if we assume the rightness of official teaching, a person who acts out of a sincere and thought-through conviction that the prohibition (for whatever reason) is wrong-headed, or does not apply in a particular situation, is at most guilty of a mistake, not a sin, and certainly not a mortal one.
Jared Ostermann commented that the assumption by those who put authority in official Catholic teaching is that the Holy Spirit guides the church in teaching and development of doctrine.
But Adam Wood mentioned personal revelation, and asked ... Is the Holy Spirit’s guidance limited to only speaking to and through ordained men who have attained a certain rank within the Hierarchy?
This reminded me of a 2006 article in the Australian EJournal of Theology - The Primacy of Conscience by Brian Lewis. I guess there's a tension between religious experience/conscience and the authority of the church. I'd rather err on the side of personal experience, though I suppose most would say there should be a balance between the two.
