In my reading of Augustine I found the following devastating blow against the lie that Eastern Orthodox and Catholics teach concerning the supposed equality between Scripture and Tradition, and the necessity of the Church to come with an authoritative interpretation of both. I make comments in between:
In Chapter Three of his second book
On Baptism, Against the Donatists:
But who can fail to be aware that the sacred canon of Scripture, both of the Old and New Testament, is confined within its own limits, and that it stands so absolutely in a superior position to all later letters of the bishops, that about it we can hold no manner of doubt or disputation whether what is confessedly contained in it is right and true;
Hmmm, that does not sound like Augustine thought there was an authoritative oral tradition, Magesterium of the Church, or anything else. But, just in case you think we are taking Augustine out of context he continues:
but that all the letters of bishops which have been written, or are being written, since the closing of the canon, are liable to be refuted if there be anything contained in them which strays from the truth
Anything written since the closing of the Canon, according to Augustine, is liable to be refuted. How is this consistent with modern Roman Catholic Dogma that the Ecunemical Councils and the Pope can make statements that, like Scripture, are inerrant? Augustine continues:
either by the discourse of some one who happens to be wiser in the matter than themselves, or by the weightier authority and more learned experience of other bishops, by the authority of Councils; and further, that the Councils themselves, which are held in the several districts and provinces, must yield, beyond all possibility of doubt, to the authority of plenary Councils which are formed for the whole Christian world; and that even of the plenary Councils, the earlier are often corrected by those which follow them...
What?!?! Ecumenical Councils can err and be corrected by ones that follow them?
"Objection," says Mr. Catholic. "He said 'plenary,' not 'ecumenical.'"
According to the
Catholic Encyclopedia:
The ecumenical councils or synods of the Universal Church are called plenary council by St. Augustine (C. illa, xi, Dist. 12), as they form a compete representation of the entire Church.
Wow, Augustine must really hold a much higher view of Scripture than do many modern Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, who compare Scripture's authority as equivalent to Councils, Bishops, and Apostolic Tradition reported second hand by them.
