I don't quite know If I agree with this catholic teaching. I definitley agree with Peter being established the authority of the christian Church by Jesus himself. but that his authority has been passed on until this day???? I don't know. and that the pope 100% authentically interprets scriptures??? according to my belief the popes screwed up a couple times ( ascension of mary, venial and mortal sins ect.) but in any case here it isApostolic authority Peter and The papacy In the OT, when God established his covenat with the nation of isreal, He provided for a living, continuing authority in the mosiac priesthood. 11 "Amariah the chief priest will be over you in any matter concerning the LORD, and Zebadiah son of Ishmael, the leader of the tribe of Judah, will be over you in any matter concerning the king, and the Levites will serve as officials before you. Act with courage, and may the LORD be with those who do well." ( 2 Chr 19:11) 7 "For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, and from his mouth men should seek instruction—because he is the messenger of the LORD Almighty. ( Mal 2:7) This authority did not end when the OT scripture was written; rather, it continued as the safeguard and authentic interpreter of sacred scriptureWhen Christ established his Church, the New Isreal, He set up a living, continuing authority to teach, govern, and sanctify in His name This living authority is called "apostolic". Thi is because it began with the twelve apostles and continued with thier succesors. It was this Apostolic Authority that would preserve and authentically interpret the Revelation of Jesus Christ This same apostolic authority determined the canon of the bible , and will preserve the teachings of Jesus Christ in all thier fullness, and uncorrupted from error, until the end of time Among the twelve apostles, St. Peter is clearly the head. We learn so in Mathew 16: 13-19. 13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" 14They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" 16Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ,the Son of the living God." 17Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." ( Mathew verses 18-19) Jesus changes Simons name to Peter which means "rock" ( in aramic not in greek, changed to Kepha not Petra) Our lord says this Rock will be Gods way of preserving the church from corruption until the end of time. Our Lord Knew St. Peter would be dead by A.D 70. Therefore Christ must have intented the office of Peter to lst until the end of time. St. Peter is given the " keys to the kingdom of heaven."This is an awesome gift. To nobody else does Christ give this ruling power. We should reflect on this unique privilege instead of trying, by verbal acrobatics, to explain away the title of "Peter". Why would Jesus give this tremendous authority to St. Peter and not intend it to be passed on. If the early Christians needed an authoritative leader, later Christians would need one even more. After all many of the early christians heard the gospel from Christ himself and knew the apostles personally. After all the apostles died the church would have even greater need of the power of the keys when enemies would try to corrupt the teachings of christ.Although all the apotles as a group were given the power " to bind and to loose in Mt 18:18, St. Peter recieved this power individually at the time he was given "the keys." Jesus would not have guranteed to back up the doctrinal teachings of St. Peter and his succesors unless He was going to protect them from teaching false doctrine in thier official capacities as sheperds as the church In luke 22: 31-32 Jesus prays that Peters faith would not fail; Peter in turn would strenghthen the other disciples. 31"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you[a] as wheat. 32But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." ( Luke 22: 31-32)and In John 21:15-17 Jesus clearly makes Peter the sheperd of his church. 15When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?" "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs." 16Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep." 17 The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. ( John 21:15-17)So St. Peter is the rock on which Jesus build his church. He is given the keys of the kingdom and he is made the sheperd of christs flock: solid biblical evidence that Jesus Made St. Peter the first Pope. The popes are heads of christ church while christ is the invisible and supreme head. Acts 15 gives an account of the first church council, the council of Jeruselum. Called at the request of St. Paul, this council met to decide wheter the geniles had to follow the law of moses as well as the law of Christ. The Council at Jerusalem 1Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved." 2This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. 3The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the brothers very glad. 4When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them. 5Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, "The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses." 6The apostles and elders met to consider this question. 7After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: "Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? 11No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are." 12The whole assembly became silent and they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. 13When they finished, James spoke up: "Brothers, listen to me. 14Simon[a] has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself. 15The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: 16" 'After this I will return and rebuild David's fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, 17that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things' 18that have been known for ages.[c] 19"It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath." ( a portion of acts 15.)Notice that there was much discussion among the apostes and the presbyters. However after peter spoke the assembly fell silent His statement ended the discussion. This council obviously considered St. Peters authority final. Some protestants claim that acts 15 shows that James, not peter was the head of the church. Since James the Less( Not James, the brother of John.) gives the concluding remarks at the council of Jeruselum and also recomends some marriage amd dietary regulations for the gentiles, They conclude that James must be the head of the church.To debate this we turn to the gospels, Where St. Peter is unmistakably presented as a leader among the apostles whereas St. James the less is not. Read the first twelce chapters of acts. Every Chapter ( except 6 and 7, which describe Stephens martyrdom) shows St. Peter in a leadership postition while St. James appears only briefly and never in a leadership role. In Galalations 1:18-19 we are told that Paul went to Jeruselum after his conversation specifically to confer with Peter. He stayed with Peter for 15 days. In contrast Paul visited James only briefly during this time. 18Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter[a] and stayed with him fifteen days. 19I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord's brother. ( galation 1:18-19)At the council of Jeruselum in Acts 15, it was St. Peters statement that settled the serious doctrinal dispute that was the reason for the council. As we saw earlier St. Peters statements silenced the assembly of presbyters and the apostles ( including James)We know from Church History that James was the bishop of Jeruselum and, As acts 21: 15-25 describes, he was concerned for Jewish Christians in Jeruselum who felt thier ancient customs threatened by the great number of Gentile converts. This background explains why St. James made the concluding remarks at the council and asked the Gentiles to respect certain Jewish practices. People are grasping at straws when they claim that act 15 proves that James, instead of Peter, was the head of the church.People will often cite 1 peter 5:1 to claim Peter was not the head of the church.1To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed
1 Peter5:1)They note Peter, in addressing some elders ( church leaders) calls himself a fellow elder. They therefore conclude that Peter had no more authority than any other elder. But this is just like the president of the united Staes saying " my fellow americans." This certainly would not indictate that the president has no more authority than an ordinary citizen. As an apostle Saint Peter certainly considers his authority greater than that of an ordinary elder. After all Peter goes on to teach these "fellow elders" as one having authority over them in 1 peter 5: 2-42Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; 3not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.( 1 Pet5:2-4)In calling them fellow elders , St. Peter is simply acknowledging the obvious: like himself they are also church leaders. For people to insist that peter, as an apostle, had no greater authority than an ordinary elder, shows how little they apprectiate what the scriptures says about the great office of Apostle.Many people quote Gal 2:11-14as well trying to show that peter was not infallible and that paul did not consider him the head of the church. 11When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. 12Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. 14When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? ( Gal 2:11-14) This position is not supportable. First of all if they think Peter was not infallible, why do they accept his two leeters as inspired and therefore infallible? We must accept that all the apostles are infallible. After the apostles, the popes individually and the bishops as a group in union with the pope are infallible. St. Paul correcting Saint Peter for weak Behavior is no different from Saint Catherine of Siena correcting weak popes in the middle ages. There was no doctrine involved. St. Peter himself settled the doctrinal point at the council of Jeruselum. St. Paul correct Peter for being unwilling to confront the Judaizers from Jeruselum. Remember, St. Paul was among those who fell silent at the council of Jeruselum when Peter spoke. Consider this question. Suppose that the owner of a company had called all the employees together and announced that he was going to be gone for a while. During his absence he was going to give the keys of his company to his vice president John Doe, and whatever John Doe commanded would be backed by him. Would you have any dbout that John Doe was going to be the boss is away. Then Why can't we accept that this is exactley what is described in Mt:16-13-19Like I said I don't fully agree with this, so I'm going to have to ask my fellow catholics on this board to challenge us other christians.your brother in christRyan Fitz
1 Peter5:1)They note Peter, in addressing some elders ( church leaders) calls himself a fellow elder. They therefore conclude that Peter had no more authority than any other elder. But this is just like the president of the united Staes saying " my fellow americans." This certainly would not indictate that the president has no more authority than an ordinary citizen. As an apostle Saint Peter certainly considers his authority greater than that of an ordinary elder. After all Peter goes on to teach these "fellow elders" as one having authority over them in 1 peter 5: 2-42Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; 3not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.( 1 Pet5:2-4)In calling them fellow elders , St. Peter is simply acknowledging the obvious: like himself they are also church leaders. For people to insist that peter, as an apostle, had no greater authority than an ordinary elder, shows how little they apprectiate what the scriptures says about the great office of Apostle.Many people quote Gal 2:11-14as well trying to show that peter was not infallible and that paul did not consider him the head of the church. 11When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. 12Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. 14When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? ( Gal 2:11-14) This position is not supportable. First of all if they think Peter was not infallible, why do they accept his two leeters as inspired and therefore infallible? We must accept that all the apostles are infallible. After the apostles, the popes individually and the bishops as a group in union with the pope are infallible. St. Paul correcting Saint Peter for weak Behavior is no different from Saint Catherine of Siena correcting weak popes in the middle ages. There was no doctrine involved. St. Peter himself settled the doctrinal point at the council of Jeruselum. St. Paul correct Peter for being unwilling to confront the Judaizers from Jeruselum. Remember, St. Paul was among those who fell silent at the council of Jeruselum when Peter spoke. Consider this question. Suppose that the owner of a company had called all the employees together and announced that he was going to be gone for a while. During his absence he was going to give the keys of his company to his vice president John Doe, and whatever John Doe commanded would be backed by him. Would you have any dbout that John Doe was going to be the boss is away. Then Why can't we accept that this is exactley what is described in Mt:16-13-19Like I said I don't fully agree with this, so I'm going to have to ask my fellow catholics on this board to challenge us other christians.your brother in christRyan Fitz
