| The important thing is that there is no mention of discontinuity. The Church is portrayed as going about its business, saying its prayers, having its inquiries into canonization, electing its Popes, etc., without once "problematizing" it. The natural inference is that it is at least as continuous as, say, the 50 states are of the original Republic, or the Byzantine Empire as the surviving remnant of the Roman Empire. (The continuity portrayed is even greater, though). That is, there is no reason to question its historical continuity, according to accepted norms. The "anything is possible" tack is one of the most useless forms of argumentation I know of, since it takes what is not even plausible to try and create doubt. |
