The Church's Infallibility and Christ's Teaching Authority

DAY 303 CHALLENGE “Why should I think the Church can teach infallibly?” DEFENSE Reflection on Christ’s teaching reveals why. Christ did not reserve teaching authority to himself but established a teaching authority (Latin, magisterium) in his Church (see Day 281). This authority was originally vested in Peter and the apostles, and when they passed from the scene it was inherited by their successors, the pope, and the bishops (cf. 1 Tim. 3:2, 2 Tim. 2:2; Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3:3:1; CCC 861–62). Christ willed his Church to endure to the end of the world (Matt. 16:18), and teachin...