Hi all-

OC wrote:
"The ratification of the Holy Father protects the Church from error, since the office of St. Peter, the papacy, was promised the protection of the Holy Spirit against error, lest the Church be "overrun by the gates of hell" (Matthew 16: 18 - 19).
--and--
"Two interesting stories relating to the protection of the Holy Spirit to the office of the Holy Father.
--[snip]--
"Only the current Holy Father and ST. ATHANASIUS ("Athanasius contra munda -- "Athanasius against the world") were defenders of the Faith orthodox which insisted that Jesus Christ was both truly God and man.
--[snip]--
"A fasciniating story, but one that proves to me that the Holy Spirit is quite capable of overriding the most stubborn person when it comes to the theological safety of the Church."

Given the foregoing I have three questions:
1- Do you intend, and if so, to what extent, the implication that the Pope is protected from error because the Office is protected from error? (I'll try to read yuour link to Armstrong's writing sometime today....)
2- Why, if the Holy Spirit protects both the Office and Pope against error, have there been only two Popes who were "defenders of the Faith orthodox which insisted that Jesus Christ was both truly God and man" ?
3- Isn't what you've presented an indictment against the Holy Spirit's capability to "override" a quite long list of "stubborn" people?

I really am interested in giving you an opportunity to explain what, for me, is a glaringly inconsistent statement of what the Holy Spirit has promised and what you admit as historical fact, especially since you cite what you interpret as a Scriptural promise to the contrary.

[Personal note: There is some importance in this discussion for me because I have an RC friend that is new to her faith and she has raised these same questions in our sometimes lengthy, but always very cordial, conversations about RCism and how it differs from my beliefs as a Protestant.]

--HC