J
JRKH
Guest
Catholics and protestants argue the Matthew 16 :18 and whether it makes Peter pope etc.
Maybe I haven’t read enough on this but I would like to place this argument before the group for comment.
The passage from Matthew goes as follows (from KJV)
17And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
18And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven
Whether or not you accept that Jesus was speaking directly to Peter or to all the apostles, does it not follow that he gave them the authority to "Bind and Loose?
Using this authority were not the apostles “Binding and Loosing”, that is excersizing their God given authority) when they established bishops in new places?
By establishing bishops ane investing them with apostolic authority did the new bishops not also attain this “Bind and Loose” authority?
It follows then that the Apostles, invested with the authority from Jesus to “Bind and Loose”, that is earthly authority to make decisions regarding the visible church did so by establishing and passing on this authority to the various bishops.
These bishops then determined, as the Church grew, that greater control and consistancy was needed. They communicated, gathered, discussed, and developed the church traditions, teachings and heirarchy for 300 years before they finally put together the canon of the Bible.
This is a long way around to saying that the authority of the Church doesn’t necessarily rest on the "Big Rock/little rock argument, but on the authority to the apostles to bind and loose granted by Jesus Himself.
I’m no theologen, - just a bible reader trying my best.
Comments and discussion on this are appreciated.
Peace
James
Maybe I haven’t read enough on this but I would like to place this argument before the group for comment.
The passage from Matthew goes as follows (from KJV)
17And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
18And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven
Whether or not you accept that Jesus was speaking directly to Peter or to all the apostles, does it not follow that he gave them the authority to "Bind and Loose?
Using this authority were not the apostles “Binding and Loosing”, that is excersizing their God given authority) when they established bishops in new places?
By establishing bishops ane investing them with apostolic authority did the new bishops not also attain this “Bind and Loose” authority?
It follows then that the Apostles, invested with the authority from Jesus to “Bind and Loose”, that is earthly authority to make decisions regarding the visible church did so by establishing and passing on this authority to the various bishops.
These bishops then determined, as the Church grew, that greater control and consistancy was needed. They communicated, gathered, discussed, and developed the church traditions, teachings and heirarchy for 300 years before they finally put together the canon of the Bible.
This is a long way around to saying that the authority of the Church doesn’t necessarily rest on the "Big Rock/little rock argument, but on the authority to the apostles to bind and loose granted by Jesus Himself.
I’m no theologen, - just a bible reader trying my best.
Comments and discussion on this are appreciated.
Peace
James