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I am not Roman Catholic, and I am not convinced that Peter was the rock on which Christ built His church -- but to my thinking, the fact that Peter was not perfect is no disqualifier. Paul persecuted Christians, yet became the greatest evangelizer the church has ever known. David was a...

Are you saved, or is it too soon to so declare? Paul's writings can support either view -- either salvation by present justification, or salvation by future events or states post-justification. I doubt I can improve on David Nienhuis' summary in “Reading James, Rereading Paul,” in The Early...

I wonder if the author of Matthew's gospel overheard Jesus, or had some written Aramaic account of what Jesus said to Peter and then put it into Greek. If the author of Matthew was one of the original Twelve apostles I would tend toward the former. That, of course, is hotly debated in academic...

How did we shift the OP topic from Peter to Mary? This Mary stuff deserves its own post.

Why is this important, if -- as I think we can safely assume -- Jesus addressed Peter in Aramaic? Shouldn't we first be looking at whether Aramaic recognizes the same distinction you show in the Greek? Because if it doesn't, the author of Matthew has made an interpretive leap in quoting Jesus!

Let's not confuse the Eastern churches' agreement with Rome on doctrinal matters and their acknowledgement of Rome's authority in doctrinal matters. There were often disagreements in the first three centuries. But there was never acknowledgement of Roman authority by the Eastern churches. My...

By "Roman Catholic Church" is normally meant the denomination headquartered in Vatican City and led by the Pope. These days, and indeed for over a thousand years, dropping the "Roman" would have deceived nobody, as everyone understood the phrase "Catholic Church" to refer to that same...

It's a good exercise to go through, but I am hesitant to conclude that if it isn't found on newadvent.org, it wasn't taught or believed by any of the early church fathers. (Not that the compilation in newadvent.org isn't very good. It is. But anyone who claims to have recovered EVERY SINGLE...

Well, the arrival of the Kingdom of God can be inferred from what is seen -- just as Jesus' status as Messiah could be inferred from Jesus' deeds. Matt. 11:3-5.

No. What did you think of the article?

That has been a subject of inquiry by scholars for quite some time. I might recommend the attached article if you want to take a deep dive here.

Right. So, how do you know all of the "Oral" made it into the "Writing"? (I note in passing John 21:25's admonishment that "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be...

Well, then I guess there was no Foundation of the Church for the first 20+ years after Pentecost, before the first of the NT letters and gospels got written. How in the world did the Church ever manage to survive?!

I won't argue "Calvin's critique of the papal system" with you." I WILL argue apostolic succession with you if you wish -- provided you can separate one from the other. As I said earlier, they are two different things. Let's leave the Pope out of the discussion, shall we? I am Episcopalian...

Think about Romans 9:20: " But who indeed are you, a human being, to argue with God? Will what is moulded say to the one who moulds it, ‘Why have you made me like this?'"

You may be confusing Papal authority with apostolic authority -- two different things. Apostolic succession, as its name implies, is concerned with the latter. The apostles' appointed successors exercise an authority truly their own, independently of the Papacy. Even Rome acknowledges this...

I have. But they are generally on irrelevant factual points, not on the basic theological points.

Just curious: was your NIV the 1978 version or the 2011 version?

Well, sometimes a kernel of truth can be found in the strangest places!

I am not a Jehovah's Witness.