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Can We Know God’s Truth Without the Church?

St. John teaches in 1 John 2:27 that we have no need of a man to teach us since we have the Holy Spirit. Is John denying the Catholic belief that Jesus gave us a magisterium (a living, teaching authority)? Karlo Broussard gives the reason why the answer is no, and explains what John means by this.

 

Transcript:

Protestants believe we have no need for a magisterium (a living, teaching authority) since, as they say, “the Holy Spirit will teach us the truth of God’s Word.” 1 John 2:27 is usually their go to text: “You have no need that any one should teach you; as his anointing [that is the Holy Spirit] teaches you about everything.”

Is John teaching the Protestant doctrine of the inner testimony of the Spirit and denying the need for a magisterium? Absolutely not!

We know John can’t be rejecting a living, teaching authority, because two chapters later in 1 John 4:6, he instructs his readers that listening to the apostles is the criterion for discerning the spirit of truth from the spirit of error: “Whoever knows God listens to us, and he who is not of God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” Notice union with God is contingent on obedience to the teaching authority.

So, if John is not affirming the Protestant idea that all we need to know God’s truth is the testimony of the Spirit, then what does he mean?

The context reveals that John is warning his readers against false teachers. In 1 John 2:19 he writes, “[Some] went out from us, but they were not of us.” If there are false teachers, that implies there are true teachers that Christians ought to listen to. The Spirit, or “the anointing,” teaches Christians the truth, but through the living teaching authority and not apart from them.

If you want to learn more about this topic and others like it, visit our website at catholic.com.

For Catholic Answers, I’m Karlo Broussard. Thanks for watching.

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