John Joy on Joseph Kleutgen and the Authority of the Ordinary Magisterium
. . . Kleutgen
anticipates two objections. Firstly, many fathers and eminent doctors have
expressed the principle that one must await the judgment of the Church before
accusing a dissenter of heresy, from which it would seem to follow that
Catholics are not strictly obliged to believe anything beyond what is found in
the judgments of the Church (as Hirscher holds). In response to this, Kleutgen
argues that the principle applies only to cases of questions legitimately
disputed by the faithful children of the Church . . . In these cases, where the
truth was not sufficiently clear in Scripture or Tradition, or where contrary opinions
were defended by eminent figures on both sides, it was necessary to await the judgment
of the Church before accusing one’s opponents of heresy. But according to
Kleutgen not every dispute is of such a nature. The co-equal divinity of the
Father and the Son was not a matter of legitimately disputed by faithful children
of the Church but rather a matter wherein the truth could be adequately known
from the general faith of the Church.
A second objection arises
from the fact that even with regard to heretics such as Arius or Nestorius, the
Church did in fact issue judgments, and one would not want to hold that these
were unnecessary. Kleutgen’s reply to this is to say that all the judgements of
the church were and are necessary, but not all in the same way. In some cases, indeed,
the judgment of the Church may be necessary for ascertaining the true doctrine
of the Church (as it is necessary in questions of legitimate dispute); but in
other cases, its purpose may be simply the solemn proclamation of doctrine already
known and believed. Or again, Kleutgen says; “the doctrine of the innovators,
in the main, could be spotted with certainty as erroneous and yet for the
identification of many individual points the advice of the fathers was
desirable ([Die Theologie Der Vorzeit] 1st ed., 48; 2nd
ed., 100). Then he continues:
Something can be
generally taught and believed in the Church as revealed truth, and therefore
the error opposing it can be rejected with certainty as heretical, and yet even
about this matter a judgement of the Church can be necessary. Namely, when the
innovators succeed in winning a following, and in seducing even a single
prominent member of the Church or other men of great prestige, so that it is,
especially for the multitude of the faithful, slightly doubtful upon which side
the truth lies. And this, basically, is the true story of all heresies. So we
do not deny that, in order to identify the doctrine of the faith with
certainty, the explicit judgment of the Church is necessary in some questions
and in some times; we deny only that it is necessary in all questions and at
all times. ([Die Theologie Der Vorzeit] 1st ed., 48-49; 2nd
ed., 100)
In other words, the
true doctrine of the Church – infallibly taught by the ordinary magisterium - may
be adequately knowable in itself, but inadequately known to some members of the
faithful. In such cases the judgement of the Church is not necessary for making
the truth identifiable in itself, but it is necessary for making the truth
known to those shaken by doubt.
For Kleutgen,
therefore, unlike Ratzinger and Bertone, there appears to be no restriction o
the extraordinary magisterium to innovative definitions – to definitions of
questions open to legitimate dispute; nor does the necessity for an
extraordinary judgment regarding a matter already taught infallibly by the ordinary
magisterium arise from (or imply) any inadequacy in the teaching of the
ordinary magisterium itself; rather, it arises from an inadequate grasp of its
teachings on the part of some of the faithful. What must not be overlooked,
from Kleutgen’s point of view, is that the extraordinary magisterium – like the
Church itself – is primarily pastoral in nature: solemn judgments that merely
confirm or reaffirm existing Catholic doctrine are indeed unnecessary for the
advance of theology; but they may be necessary for the salvation of souls. (John
Joy, On the Ordinary and Extraordinary magisterium from Joseph Kleutgen to
the Second Vatican Council [Studia Oecumenica Friburgensia 84; Münster:
Ashendorff Verlag, 2017], 50-52)
