Victor R. Claveau, MJ
Those of us who wish to spend eternity with God in heaven require three things: a cartographer, a roadmap, and a map key or legend. Insofar as God abides in heaven, we must seek Him as our cartographer. History tells us that he sent his only Son, Jesus, to provide us the roadmap (The Bible and Sacred Tradition) and the map legend,[1] which is the Magisterial Authority of the Catholic Church; she, alone, was given inspiration by the Holy Spirit to interpret the Bible and Sacred Tradition. God Himself has assured us that, provided we follow his narrow path, we will one day enjoy our heavenly home with him for all eternity at the end of our journey.
Here is the issue: Did Christ establish an agency or authority to preserve, explain and disseminate his doctrines?
The Catholic Church proposes that He did; Jesus set up a way by which his divinely revealed teachings were to be propagated and preserved in their entirety and with integrity down through the ages. Catholics refer to this as the “Magisterium.” The Magisterium is the teaching authority of the Catholic Church. It is the power given by Christ to the Church together with the seal of infallibility by which the Church teaches authoritatively the revealed truth of the Holy Scriptures and Sacred Tradition.
During the days of Christ and his Apostles, the Christian Church imperceptibly began to exercise what would become a powerful influence upon the Palestinian civilization of the period. What began as a small Christian nucleus in Jerusalem spread in concentric waves until it reached and affected even the pagans of Rome.
Within the Christian Church, there was conversion of unbelievers, an improvement in morals and the betterment of the social status of women and slaves, all due in great measure to the miracles performed through the intercession of the Holy Spirit.
Without divine intervention, the Christian religion could not have secured a foothold in a world conquered by pagan philosophies and idolatry. Unaided by the extraordinary works performed by Jesus and his disciples, Christianity could not have survived the crucifixion of it divine author. Unassisted by the Holy Spirit, the Church that Christ founded on Saint Peter would have been summarily swept from the earth by the multitudes of idolaters in their midst and by those who sought their lives.
Even with the supernatural advantages, the earliest generations of Christians were many times on the verge of extermination. They were often pursued to mountains, caves and desolate places to escape massacre at the hands of the Pharisees, Sadducees and pagan Romans. Although there were times of relative peace and security for the early Christians, mild to severe persecutions continued until the time of Constantine, under whose wise reign Christianity was allowed to endure and Christians were protected.
[1] A map key or legend is a small box or table placed on a map image to unlock it. It gives you the information needed for the map to make sense.