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Infallibility

The quality of not failing or misleading — used of Scripture (it will not deceive in faith and practice) and, in Catholicism, of the Church's defined teaching under set conditions.

Not To Be Confused With

Two distinct uses: (1) Scripture's infallibility (it cannot fail in what it teaches for salvation); (2) papal/Church infallibility — a specifically Catholic claim that the Magisterium is preserved from error when defining doctrine. Don't conflate them.

Of Scripture, infallibility means it will not lead astray in what it teaches. Of the Church, the First Vatican Council (1870) defined that the pope teaches infallibly under strict conditions (ex cathedra, on faith or morals) — a claim Orthodox and Protestants reject, bound up with the authority debate.

Related Terms

Seen In These Debates

Infallibility — Definition | Theologos Media