Two more articles on the Church infallibility

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diff --git a/faith/holy_protestant_tradition.rst b/faith/holy_protestant_tradition.rst
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+The Holy Protestant Tradition?
+##############################
+
+:date: 2017-08-06T11:14:39
+:category: faith
+:tags: blogComment, Catholics, ecumenism, Bible, theology
+
+(written originally as a comment to the blogpost “`How Many
+Theologians Does it Take To Define Infallibility?`_” by Melinda
+Selyms)
+
+I am a Protestant, so I am not entitled to bring much to this
+discussion, but we were yesterday with my wife in Wittenberg, so
+I cannot resist to add this quote:
+
+    “Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or
+    by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in
+    councils alone, since it is well known that they have often
+    erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the
+    Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the
+    Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it
+    is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. [Here
+    I stand, I can do no other.]  May God help me. Amen.” It is
+    almost 500 years old, but I find it refreshingly actual
+    whenever I hear it.
+
+As I understand it, Sola Scriptura originally did not mean (or it
+should not mean, I don’t see inside of the Luther’s head)
+something like “Just give me my Bible and ten minutes and we,
+with the Holy Spirit, come with better solution than two thousand
+years of people a way more holy, certainly a way more smart than
+me, who dedicated their whole lives to dealing with such
+questions full time”. Yes, some Protestants seem to understand it
+this way, but it seems to me they are more full of that horrible
+combination of ignorance and arrogance than of the Holy Spirit
+and wisdom. Heck, we have now even 500 years of tradition of
+creating the church without any tradition! You just cannot get
+rid of it!
+
+Now, the real question is, how to find out in this cacophony of
+thoughts quite often contradicting (as Luther correctly noted)
+what is the right answer for the question at hand. Catholic idea
+of having somebody appointed who will decide (bishops, pope, or
+the council) is not that bad, but, again, it has its limitations.
+Obviously some councils are now more persuasive than others, some
+are outright problematic (I won't name any, so we don't fall into
+the endless hole discussing particular decisions of particular
+council), answers provided by some are obviously dated. I do
+sincerely believe that the Second Vatican Council was the work of
+the Holy Spirit in the given moment. However, even accepting
+that, I can clearly see an effect of more than fifty years since
+it finished. Some questions which are now hotly debated it didn’t
+address at all (e.g., Humanae vitae was published three years
+after it finished), some answers seem to be limiting the church
+now (that’s for example what I hear from my Catholic friends,
+theologians, on the issues of ecumenical relations with
+Protestants), and some answers were not brought into action yet
+(one Czech Catholic theologian rembered couple of months ago in
+the newspaper `The Pact of the Catacombs
+<http://www.pro-konzil.de/english-text/>`__; … yes, it was not
+an official decree of the council).
+
+However, as a Protestant I obviously believe that the decisions
+made by the hierarchy are not the only solution of making sense
+of the said cacophony. Whatever the solution is, however,
+returning to the theme of Sola Scriptura, it should certainly
+include The Holy Scripture as the guide and map for our life with
+God. And yes, that is not a simple solution either, because then
+we get into another swamp, the interpretation of the Scripture.
+
+.. _`How Many Theologians Does it Take To Define Infallibility?`:
+    http://www.patheos.com/blogs/catholicauthenticity/2017/08/many-theologians-take-define-infallibility/
diff --git a/faith/rules_in_faith_community.rst b/faith/rules_in_faith_community.rst
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+Yet another on the infallibility in the Church
+##############################################
+
+:date: 2017-08-09T21:02:04
+:category: faith
+:tags: blogComment, Catholics, ecumenism, Bible, theology
+
+(written originally as yet another comment to the blogpost “`How Many
+Theologians Does it Take To Define Infallibility?`_” by Melinda Selyms)
+
+First of all: thank you, these are very good questions, which actually made me
+think (doesn’t happen that often on blog comments).
+
+1. Certainly, some rules are necessary even unavoidable, “Ubi societas, ibi
+   ius” (“where there is society, there is a law”). However, these are rules
+   mostly about organizing the community, dispute resolution, etc., not what
+   people should believe (e.g., Immaculate Conception) or what they should do
+   outside of the group (e.g., no sex before marriage, unless sexual
+   intercourse is part of the community activity ;), yikes!).
+
+2. There are probably some rules about what makes the group the Christian one.
+   They should not limit membership (I am strong believer in “belonging before
+   believing”, so even unbelievers should be members of the community, although
+   with some limited rights), but they should define the spirit and direction
+   of the community. I am a member of the international Protestant congregation
+   in Prague, Czechia, so members of our church come from a very wide
+   denominational background. We have members from American Episcopalians and
+   Norwegian Lutherans on one side to Pentecostals from Africa with people from
+   Philippines, all around Europe and many other types of Christians in
+   between. So for me the definition of who is a proper Christian is rather
+   loose. I guess I would keep the basic Creeds of the Church (Apostles’ Creed,
+   Nicene Creed, etc.), but not sure who further I would like to limit. I would
+   certainly welcome Roman Catholics and Orthodox, even to the celebration of
+   the Lord’s Supper and other sacraments, but I am afraid they prefer their
+   own communities.
+
+3. I really don’t see, why I would have to have 100% trust in the human
+   leadership of the community. I do believe in leadership of the Holy Spirit
+   over whole Church (“gates of hell won’t prevail over it”), but I do not
+   identify this whole Church with any particular humanly-visible institution.
+   For any such institution (be it a denomination or particular congregation)
+   I don‘t expect more certain leadership than for my family. And it is more
+   important for me as a husband that I am willing to accept my mistake (or
+   sin), ask God for help, and retarget. That is more important (and more
+   useful) than having 100% certainty that I am always right (I am not, and
+   I believe pope/bishops/priests/etc. are not either). It is probably worthy
+   of emphasizing I believe in the Universal Priesthood of all believers, so
+   I don‘t see any substantial difference between so called priests and so
+   called lay people. Of course, pastor is somebody who has calling from God to
+   work as an authority in the Church and I expect him to have proper training
+   etc. However, he is no different than a brain surgeon in his job. Of course,
+   I wouldn’t question his expertise (without really strong reasons and
+   evidence, perhaps even second opinion) and if I was his subordinate, then
+   I should submit to his authority. Besides “[…] all things must be done
+   properly and in an orderly manner.” (1Co 14:40), so every rebellion in the
+   Church is prima facie suspicious.
+
+   Sorry, that was a bit tangential, but what I wanted to say is that I don‘t
+   expect from the Church leadership more certainty than in my decision as
+   a father of family. Of course, in the end, my trust in the Church not being
+   prevailed by the gates of hell is based on the mercy of God, not on 100%
+   infallibility of the Church leadership.
+
+.. _`How Many Theologians Does it Take To Define Infallibility?`:
+    http://www.patheos.com/blogs/catholicauthenticity/2017/08/many-theologians-take-define-infallibility/