Subject Area
Theology
Description
This paper proposes 1) that Matthew 16:19 refers to the practice of halakha (in Judaism, the application of the Torah’s moral, legal, and ceremonial precepts to real-life cases), and thus confers on the apostles—and their successors in the Catholic Church—the authority to apply and adapt Christian moral teaching to new situations and 2) that the rules and norms of halakha provide the Catholic Church with a way of reconciling development and even revision of Catholic moral teaching with the Church’s claim to infallibility in matters of faith and morals. Especially given the recent controversies regarding the German Synodal Way, my paper may serve as a means of bridging the seemingly irreconcilable positions of the German bishops and the Vatican. My paper will start by establishing the connection between Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:19 and halacha. Then, it will explore how Orthodox and Conservative Jewish organizations have navigated the tension between halakhic “tradition and change.” After that, the paper will draw from the Orthodox and Conservative perspectives to provide a philosophy of revision to Jewish law (i.e., a justification for revising previous halakhic rulings): namely, that more information always leads to a more precise moral judgment (i.e., a more precise application of the moral law). From there, my paper will demonstrate how Jewish communities in ancient and medieval times applied and elaborated upon this philosophy, and how the Catholic Church can apply this philosophy without either undermining its claims to infallibility or “rashly revising” its moral teachings.
Publisher
Providence College
Date
Fall 2022
Type
Article
Format
Text
Language
English
Included in
Biblical Studies Commons, Catholic Studies Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons
