On the Journey

On the Journey with Matt and Ken, Ep. 54: Christian Authority – The Prominence of Peter

Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley continue to discuss how they went from Evangelical Christian understandings of authority to embracing what the Catholic faith teaches about the relationship between Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium.

What does the Bible tell us about Peter's role among the apostles, not only during the time of Jesus' public ministry, but after His ascension? Even setting aside the question of the development of the papacy in the early Church, it's clear from Scripture that Peter is meant to have a unique position among the apostles, having been set apart by Jesus Himself.

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On the Journey with Matt and Ken, Ep. 53: Christian Authority – Led by the Holy Spirit

Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley continue their discussion of how they wrestled with the question of Christian authority on their way into the Catholic Church.

Why is it reasonable to believe that the early Church continued to guard and keep the deposit of faith handed down by the apostles, even after the death of the apostles? Matt and Ken look at a number of reasons why it makes sense that the Church would have continued to be led by the Holy Spirit, including the most important reason: the fact that Jesus promised it would.

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On the Journey with Matt and Ken, Ep. 52: Christian Authority – Early Church Magisterium

Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley continue to discuss how they went from Evangelical Christian understandings of authority to embracing what the Catholic faith teaches about the relationship between Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium.

Moving on from the New Testament to the first generations after the apostles, Matt and Ken look at how Christian authority was preserved in the doctrine, life and worship of the churches the apostles founded. Just as in the Old and New Testaments, the early Church upheld a threefold understanding of authority that included Scripture, Tradition, and Magisterium.

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On the Journey with Matt and Ken, Ep. 51: Christian Authority – New Testament Magisterium

Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley continue their discussion of how they wrestled with the question of Christian authority on their way into the Catholic Church.

Last week, Matt and Ken looked at how authority functioned in the Old Testament. In the New Testament we find a similar pattern of authority: the writings of the Apostles (Scripture), the oral teaching of the Apostles (call it Tradition) and an ordained Magisterium comprised of the Apostles, the Elders or Bishops, with the Deacons.

 

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On the Journey with Matt and Ken, Ep. 50: Christian Authority – Old Testament Magisterium

Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley continue to discuss how they went from Evangelical Christian understandings of authority to embracing what the Catholic faith teaches about the relationship between Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium.

To better understand the Catholic take on authority, Matt and Ken unpack what the Catholic Church means by the word "magisterium," and look at the way authority functioned through law, tradition and teaching authority with God's covenant people in the Old Testament.

And while those who wielded that divine authority in the Old Testament were sometimes holy, and sometimes far from it, God never decides to abandon His chosen people due to their sinfulness and start from scratch with a new people.

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On the Journey with Matt and Ken, Ep. 49: Christian Authority – An Authoritative Church

Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley continue their discussion of how they wrestled with the question of Christian authority on their way into the Catholic Church.

This time, they look at the kind of Church that Jesus intended to establish, and what St. Paul says about how that Church is supposed to teach, lead, and unite believers with one another and with Christ.

As Evangelical Protestants, both Matt and Ken conceived of the church as an invisible reality, made up of all who believed that Jesus is God, and came to save us.

But the pages of the New Testament, and especially the teachings of Jesus Himself, show that it was always intended to be much more than that.

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On the Journey with Matt and Ken, Ep. 48: Christian Authority - Scripture Plus Tradition Makes Sense

Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley continue to discuss how they went from Evangelical Christian understandings of authority to embracing what the Catholic faith teaches about the relationship between Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium.

The Catechism tells us that "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other." (CCC 80) Tradition isn't an alternative authority, but an authority that only makes sense in light of Scripture, and vice versa.

And without Scripture and Tradition working together, each believer is left to figure out for themselves what it means to be a Christian, and the natural outcome is a deeply divided and individualistic Christianity.

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On the Journey with Matt and Ken, Ep. 47: Christian Authority - The Value of Tradition

Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley continue their discussion of how they wrestled with the question of Christian authority on their way into the Catholic Church.

In this episode, Matt and Ken look at the necessity of tradition when it comes to the interpretation of Scripture.

All Christians look to some kind of tradition when they approach the Bible, even if it's just their own personal set of experiences and priorities.

But if we want to access the tradition that best interprets the Scriptures, we should look to the early Church, those generations converted by the apostles themselves and entrusted with guarding and passing on that proper interpretation.

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On the Journey with Matt and Ken, Ep. 46: Christian Authority - What is Tradition?

Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley continue to look at the question of Christian authority, and the role it played in their own journeys to the Catholic faith.

This time around, they look at the way that the Catholic Church understands the role of Sacred Tradition. What is it? How is it different than the "traditions of men" that Scripture condemns? What the very existence of Sacred Scripture itself tell us about the need for Sacred Tradition?

Matt and Ken discuss some of the ways they came to understand what the Catholic Church teaches about the role of tradition in understanding Christian authority.

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On the Journey with Matt and Ken, Ep. 45: Christian Authority - What Is It?

Matt Swaim and Ken Hensley begin a new series on the question of Christian authority, and the role it played in their own journeys to the Catholic faith.

In this episode, Matt and Ken look at the classical twofold understanding of how God reveals Himself to us: through creation in General Revelation, and more directly through Divine Revelation.

And while Protestants and Catholics differ greatly on how to guard and interpret that knowledge of God, there are some surprising commonalities when it comes to what Christians of all backgrounds believe about the basic foundations of authority.

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