Is Christianity Subject to Private Opinion?

Christianity is not a matter of private individual's opinion. It pre-existed every person and group of persons who cling to or deny its claims. We are all therefore in a position of having to receive the testimony of those to whom its message was entrusted (apostles) or those to whom it has been handed all the way down to us in the 21^st century. This is what tradition is all about and hopefully with a measure of thought, its significance can readily be seen.

We cannot decide what Christianity is: we simply are not in a position to do so. Its rightful guardians and messengers put before us the positive claims of what it is and we are then in a position to either accept or reject their witness and its content. So, along with the authenticity of the message is the authority of the messenger that is proposed to us for belief. This is the message of the Catholic Church.

Its identity is that of the rightful guardian and messenger of the life and teachings of Jesus.  The truth of its (Christianity's) claims is not dependent upon whether or not they make sense to the individual. Just as the first century listener could not reject the message of the apostles and still rightfully claim to be Christian, so also the 21^st century audience cannot reject the teaching of the apostle’s successors and still rightfully claim to know the fullness of Christianity.