No more teachers, no more books...?

You do not need anyone to teach you.

So says today’s first reading (1 John 2:22-28).

As for you,
the anointing that you received from him remains in you,
so that you do not need anyone to teach you.
But his anointing teaches you about everything
and is true and not false;
just as it taught you,
remain in him.

So, do we fire all the teachers? What about the Magisterium?

For that matter, why did John bother writing this letter at all, if its recipients do not need to be taught by anyone?

John himself gives this answer, “I write you these things about those who would deceive you.”

John is primarily referring to those who denied that Jesus is the Christ: not only Jews who refused to recognize Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah, but even those who identified themselves as members of the community known as Christian (John refers to these latter as Antichrists).

Yes, faith is fundamentally a gift of God: an anointing that confers more than just a vague feeling of faith but also in a sense involves the content of faith.

Yet the gift of faith is often a fragile thing in the hearts of men. There are people in the world and even in churches who act as deceivers. We can also deceive ourselves or let ourselves be deceived. Sometimes it is just a matter of thinking that a particular doctrinal point or moral tenet is no big deal.

John writes to help people avoid or escape such deceptions. Likewise the Magisterium throughout the millennia has tended to make solemn pronouncements only when the content of the faith is dramatically challenged within the Body of Christ.

You and I need to beware of deceiving currents within the world, within the Church, and even within ourselves.

We should also take advantage of the teaching authorities God has given us.

Most importantly, you and I need to pray constantly for a greater, deeper and more powerful anointing from God, so that we may go forward together in the truth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.