Tag Archives: infallibility

Hula Hoops, Fads, and the Consensus Patrum

Posted on 3 November 2021 by Fr Aidan Kimel

Who remembers the hula hoop? Released in 1958 by Wham-O, it swept the country. I was six years old and I had to have one, just like all the other kids in my neighborhood. And not just little kids. Even … Continue reading →

Posted in Theology, Universalism and Eschatology | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Orthodoxy, Dogma, and the Neuralgic Question of Doctrinal Development

Posted on 19 July 2020 by Fr Aidan Kimel

The debate on apokatastasis inevitably raises the question: Has Orthodoxy definitively, infallibly, irreversibly, dogmatically rejected the universalist hope? Must Christians believe that some, perhaps many or even most, will—or as some prefer to say may—be eternally damned? Is it constitutive … Continue reading →

Posted in Sergius Bulgakov, Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 36 Comments

Reversible Infallibility: When a Dogma Becomes Irrelevant

Posted on 12 February 2019 by Fr Aidan Kimel

Once a second-order doctrine is recognized by the Church as infallibly constitutive of the Christian faith, must it be considered irreformable under all conditions and circum­stances? Historically, as George Lindbeck notes, this question “is not traditional, and therefore there are … Continue reading →

Posted in Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 45 Comments

May an infallible dogma lose its infallibility?

Posted on 10 February 2019 by Fr Aidan Kimel

Surely the question posed in the title is absurd. How can a dogmatic statement deemed essential to the integrity of the Christian faith—that both guarantees and is guaranteed by the religion—ever be apprehended by Christians as dispensable, perhaps even meaningless? … Continue reading →

Posted in Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

The Infallibilities of Christ Pantocrator

Posted on 5 February 2019 by Fr Aidan Kimel

Of all the religions of the world, George Lindbeck avers, “Christianity is the most abso­lutely–or outrageously–infallibilist, and therefore the one least capable of surrendering the notion of infallible dogmas” (“The Infallibility Debate,” in The Infallibility Debate, p. 120). This is … Continue reading →

Posted in Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Gospel, Grammar, and the Infallibility of Dogma

Posted on 27 January 2019 by Fr Aidan Kimel

Dogmas are the constitutive doctrines that define the Christian faith. Such dogmas must be believed by Christians, because they articulate essential dimensions of God’s self-revelation in Christ and thus norm the Church’s proclamation of the gospel. I have found Lutheran … Continue reading →

Posted in Theology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 30 Comments

St Vincent of Lérins: Are Ecumenical Councils Infallible?

Posted on 28 August 2014 by Fr Aidan Kimel

It is now time to get down to cases. How does St Vincent of Lérins envision the practical resolution of doctrinal disputes? How does the Church go about distinguishing between profectus and permutationes? In the beginning of the Commonitorium, Vincent … Continue reading →

Posted in Robert Jenson, Vincent of Lérins | Tagged , , , , | 22 Comments