council_or_creed

First Vatican Council

Era: 19th century
Location: Rome
Discovered: AD 1869–1870

Note on contested claims: Scripture nowhere promises infallibility to any human office (Ps 118:8–9; Jer 17:5). The apostles submitted their teaching to the test of Scripture and encouraged others to do the same (Acts 17:11; 1 Thess 5:21; 1 John 4:1). Weigh Vatican I's claims by these texts.

Roman Catholic council that formally defined papal infallibility — the teaching that the pope, speaking ex cathedra on faith or morals, cannot err.

The find

Vatican I taught that the pope, when he "speaks ex cathedra" as universal shepherd, "possesses that infallibility which the divine Redeemer willed His Church to enjoy" and that his definitions are "irreformable of themselves and not from the consent of the Church" (Pastor Aeternus, ch. 4). Protestants and Eastern Orthodox reject this: Scripture assigns infallible authority to God's word (Ps 19:7; John 17:17; 2 Tim 3:16), not to any single office; the Bereans were commended for testing even Paul (Acts 17:11); Peter himself was publicly corrected by Paul when he was wrong (Gal 2:11–14); the only universal Shepherd is Christ (1 Pet 5:4).

Why it matters

Vatican I is the high-water mark of centralized papal authority. Understanding it is necessary for making sense of modern Roman Catholicism and of Protestant and Orthodox objections to it.

Cross-linked Scripture

Acts 17:11— The Berean test
Galatians 2:11-14— Paul corrected Peter to his face
1 Peter 5:4— The Chief Shepherd is Christ

Doctrine check

Sources