Course Lecturer: Dr. Joy is the Dean of Faculty at St. Ambrose Academy in Madison, Wisconsin. Prior to this, he served as the Senior Theologian to the Bishop and Director of Evangelization and Catechesis for the Diocese of Madison. He studied theology at Ave Maria College (Michigan), the International Theological Institute (Austria), and the University of Fribourg(Switzerland). His publications have appeared in Antiphon, New Blackfriars, and the Seminary Journal; and he is the author of On the Ordinary and Extraordinary Magisterium from Joseph Kleutgen to the Second Vatican Council, Studia Oecumenica Friburgensia, 54 (Münster: Aschendorff, 2017).

Course Description: In this ten-part series of lectures, Dr. Joy explores the wide-ranging topic of the magisterium in great depth and detail. Along the way he weighs in on many current controversies relating to the magisterium, including how many times the pope has spoken infallibly “from the chair of St. Peter” (ex cathedra), the degree of authority of the documents of Vatican II, the possibility of error in authoritative documents of the magisterium, etc.

Course Outline:
1. The Biblical and Historical Foundation for the Magisterium
2. The State of the Question in Catholic Theology Today
3. The Ordinary and Universal Magisterium of the Church
4. The Object of the Magisterium
5. Papal Canonizations and the Minor Censures.
6. The Infallible Magisterium of the Roman Pontiff
7. Disputed Questions on Papal Infallibility, Part I
8. Disputed Questions on Papal Infallibility, Part II
9. The Infallible Magisterium of Ecumenical Councils
10. The Non-Infallible Magisterium of Popes, Councils, and Bishops