On Authority, Faith, and the Right to Ask Questions

By Cliff Potts

Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines — May 31, 2026

What I Am—and What I Am Not

I am not a priest.
I am not a theologian in the academic sense.
I do not speak for the Catholic Church.

That needs to be said at the beginning, not buried at the end.

What I am is a Catholic layman—one who has returned deliberately, thoughtfully, and without illusions. I do not claim apostolic authority by proxy. I do not claim that my questions are doctrine. I do not claim that my conclusions bind anyone but myself.

What I do claim is the right—and the responsibility—to ask questions.

Authority Is Not Volume

Christian history is not a clean line of divine dictation. Scripture was gathered, debated, translated, codified, revised, and interpreted by human institutions operating in specific historical contexts. The Catholic Church has never denied this. It is one of the few Christian traditions willing to say it plainly.

Authority in Catholicism does not come from individual certainty. It comes from continuity: apostolic succession, councils, canon law, tradition, and a long memory that includes mistakes as well as insight. Even then, authority is exercised cautiously, incrementally, and often imperfectly.

That matters, because much of modern Christianity behaves as if authority comes from confidence alone—who speaks loudest, who quotes most fluently, who treats the Bible as a personal possession rather than a communal inheritance.

I reject that model.

Questioning Is Participation

Questioning theology is not rebellion. It is participation. Paul instructed Timothy to study—not Paul’s letters, which were not yet scripture—but the existing writings and traditions concerning God. Study was assumed. Wrestling was expected. Certainty was never promised.

Scripture itself acknowledges this tension. We do not possess original manuscripts. We possess copies, translations, and traditions preserved by fallible people. To pretend otherwise is not faith; it is denial.

The Limits of Transmission

This does not mean God does not exist.
It does not mean revelation did not occur.
It means human beings are involved in transmitting meaning—and humans are limited.

As a Catholic, I accept that the Church holds teaching authority through apostolic succession. I also accept that I am not part of that hierarchy. My role is not to pronounce judgment. My role is to think, to question, and to speak honestly about what I see.

What This Is—and What It Is Not

Nothing I write here is magisterial.
Nothing I write here replaces doctrine.
Nothing I write here demands assent.

But silence is not holiness, and unasked questions are not faith.

Why I Stay

If belief requires pretending there are no cracks in the record, belief collapses the moment life applies pressure. If faith cannot survive examination, it was never faith to begin with.

I remain Catholic not because I have fewer questions, but because this tradition has survived people asking them for two thousand years.

That is authority enough for me.

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