In other words, they are bound to accept it as infallible. It is idle to believe
that Christ’s command to teach all nations could be effectively
accomplished if the Church He established could at any time teach error on
vital matters of faith and morals.
Also, in St. Matthew 16:18-20 we read the words, “and the gates of Hades
will not prevail against it.” This is Christ’s promise that the Church will
survive all infernal assaults from within and without to remain faithful to
her Divine commission until the end of the world. On this basis it would
again be a mockery to contend that the Church has erred in any of her
dogmatic definitions, for if she has ever poisoned her children through the
teaching of formal error then the gates of hell have prevailed against her
and Christ’s promise has been rendered meaningless.
It is through the Holy Spirit that Christ’s perpetual assistance to the Church
against hell and error is conveyed: “And I will ask the Father, and he will
give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of
truth ... he abides with you, and he will be in you ... the Advocate, the Holy
Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything,
and remind you of all that I have said to you” (St. John 14:16-17; 26). The
Holy Spirit is responsible for the formal teaching of the Apostles and their
successors in the realm of faith and morals. The consciousness of the Holy
Spirit’s corporate assistance to the Church is evident in the expression used
by the Apostles during the Council of Jerusalem, “For it has seemed good
to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these
necessary things” (Acts 15:28). Consequently, as the Holy Spirit is
responsible for Church teaching it is impossible for the Church which is the
“Body of Christ” (Eph. 1:23) and the “pillar and foundation of the truth” (1
Tim. 3:15) to apostatize into error or be destroyed.
Second objection: “It was the Reformers of the Sixteenth Century
who restored true doctrine.”
The following two quotes from Martin Luther and John Calvin respectively
suffice as a response to such a claim:
“There are almost as many sects and beliefs as there are heads; this
one will not admit Baptism; that one rejects the Sacrament of the
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