How Do Orthodox Christians View the Pope?

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Since my own personal conversion to Christ as a child, St. John the Evangelist has always been my favorite …

I read something the other day…why not St. John named Pedra instead of Peter because he loved Christ, and understood the depths of His parables…will try to look it up…

1beleever…what is missing as the new poster said…it is the Holy Spirit that is animating us, not mortal to mortal. Our Lord said He knows His sheep and His sheep know Him. It is not about us, but about the Holy Spirit, Who proceeds Christ at Pentecost Who animates us, Who confirms in our entire being when we hear a mortal cleric speak truth…or in each other…that resonates our entire being with Christ.

That is why I said the communion we are called to enter…in the authentic nature and mission of the Church…where so many of us have fuzzy ideas or think it is about the community of faith we share with those immediately around us…rather it is our affirming faith in Christ in the Holy Spirit, this mystical communion that is unknown to the world who gives us life in the Spirit that we experience church…The Church is truly more about you coming to God rather than you coming to a group of men, or seeing men run the Church…I do not even consider gender.

When I hear a true teaching of Christ, I am not even paying attention to the gender of the man in the cloth. Instead I am hearing God come to me as Man through His Church, those conscrated in spirit and truth, the Lord providing us secure steps along the way…
 
1beleevr said:
There’s no doubt about Peter’s greatness in serving the Lord, even in light of his denial, and him along with the other disciples falling asleep. But whatever became of his wife? I remember Jesus healed his mother-in-law. And, I read where Mary Magdelene was the first eyewitness to the risen Saviour!👍
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Tradition has it that St. Peter’s wife was martyred with him in Rome.
 
1beleevr said:
And I respect your choices to follow this mere mortal man, who has been voted in by a group of MEN! There is nothing I have read, that tells me that the pope is my leader. That title belongs to Jesus Christ, who is my King. He and He alone will I follow. I would definitely address the pope with the respect due him, were I to meet him in person. I would call him “sir,” but would not kiss his ring, nor would I address him as Holy Father, a title reserved ONLY for God, my Holy Father!😉
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pls whats the point in overemphasizing the mere man chosen by men, u just refused to talk about the holy spirit. Again u missed the meaning of the title, lastly u should read history and check the kissing of ring. Maybe u know this but catholic follow christ, even to the extent of truly admitting that the church is the pillar of truth and christ is truth, authour and finisher of our faith. U really seem to have made a bad knot of catholic believes or u dont understand them or dont know them. U may want to start new threads about your thoughts of catholicism.
Ubenedictus
 
1beleevr said:
My belief in the Deity and Lordship of Christ is not derived from any catholic perspective! It comes from believing in Him and the One who sent Him! The pope is the pope, appointed leader of the catholic church. I do not buy into the vicar of Christ theory; as all Christians, regardless of following, are the hands and feet of Christ, His representatives to the world. So, do not tell us noncatholics, that the pope represents us. If we wanted to follow the pope, we would be catholic. We have chosen to follow Jesus… you know that song, don’t you; “I have decided to follow Jesus, I have decided to follow Jesus…”?😉
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Again i ask where do u get the idea that catholic dont follow Jesus. Or do u think they have substituted pope for jesus. Pls do these opinions ever end?
Ubenedictus
 
1beleevr said:
Man, I love it; you are as stubborn as I am!😃 My devotion to Christ(stronger now than ever before) has no ties to or relevance to catholicism! You see, when we all get to Heaven, it will not matter what denomination you were part of on this earth. We will ALL be dressed in His righteousness, all equally His children, none greater than another. Just because I do not believe in the extent of the pope’s authority, as you do, does not mean that I do not respect the man. When I do my ministries, I meet many people who embrace a position sometimes radically different than the Truth that I hold sacred! But, because of the love of God, I am able to smile at them and witness of His incredible grace and mercy. So, the bootom line is this: the pope is a man, supposedly ordained to lead the ENTIRE Christian nation, but he has to settle for just the catholics. don’t get me wrong, he is a good man, and is very learned, but he is still just a man!:cool:
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allow me to add to your qualities of the pope i hear good, learned, may i add devinely inspired and end with 'well he is still a man like everbody. Is that ok?
Ubenedictus
 
Mickey said:
Christ is the Head.
Indeed.The keys are inextricably linked to binding and loosing of which all the Apostles were given such power.
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The keys is linked to and goes beyond the power of binding and losing. Take a look at the bible again u may also check the ECF. I recently read someone an ECF who used the word supremacy.
Ubenedictus
 
1beleevr said:
One thing I have realied in my Christian walk, which is nearing 45 years, is that like Jesus’s disciples, I am able to have a personal relationship with my Saviour! And like the disciples, because of His death on the Cross, and my acceptance of His forgiveness, and my surrendering my life to Him, I too have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit! Philippians 4:13 says,“I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!” No human mediator necessary, my King is my Advocate, my Way to the Father! 👍
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U sounded catholic in the beging but lay your conclusion on a… No human mediation is neccessary but we all need it at some point. Maybe someone is praying for u right now or maybe u’re praying for me. Why are we xtians if we cant ‘mediate’ for eachother.
Ubenedictus
 
KathleenGee said:
I would interpret supremacy as one of headship…you cannot arbitrate between two heads…and the Church has always had its patriarchs, jurisdictions…Rome in the past was called upon to settle disputes as the final word…for the time.

I would not see ‘Peter’ as inherently superior in an ego sense…but more in maintaining the work of unity of oneness…the primary mark of Catholicism.
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i love this.
Ubenedictus
 
ConstantineTG said:
Yes, this is more in agreement what Eastern Catholics are working for and what even some Orthodox would accept. The Pope has primacy in the Church and has some authority over the entire Church. But he does not have universal jurisdiction in the sense that he can meddle directly with the affairs of other Churches. Having the power to arbitrate is separate from the power to rule over. Even in modern day democracies this is evident with the power to rule that goes to the Executive Branch, and the power to arbitrate goes to the Judicial Branch.
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Pls i do not understand the use of the words ‘rule’, ‘meddle with individual church’, how does he meddle?
Ubenedictus
 
Ubenedictus said:
Pls i do not understand the use of the words ‘rule’, ‘meddle with individual church’, how does he meddle?
Ubenedictus
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Many claim that the Pope can change or suppress Eastern Liturgies if he wants to. Or that he can remove bishops from any Eparchy at a whim. Or put his nose on internal affairs. Micromanaging is another word for it.
 
Ubenedictus said:
The keys is linked to and goes beyond the power of binding and losing.
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Scripture tells us they are linked to binding and loosing.
Ubenedictus said:
Take a look at the bible again
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I have looked many times.
Ubenedictus said:
u may also check the ECF.
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Okay.

“He has given, therefore, the keys to His Church, that whatsoever it should bind on earth might be bound in heaven, and whatsoever it should loose on earth might be loosed in heaven; that is to say, that whosoever in the Church should not believe that his sins are remitted, they should not be remitted to him; but that whosoever should believe and should repent, and turn from his sins, should be saved by the same faith and repentance on the ground of which he is received into the bosom of the Church.”
St Augustine
 
I can’t speak for all Catholics in the Anglican communion but only for myself and the predominant attitude of my parish. We tend to view the Pope as “first among equals” of all the Bishops in the Apostolic succession. “First” in the sense that the Bishop of Rome is the lead Bishop in the fight to defend and advance the Catholic faith - primarily through education and outreach. Contrary to what some members of the Roman communion have been mislead to believe, when an Anglican uses the term, “Bishop of Rome”, it generally used as a term of respect, not an attempt to reopen the argument of Papal Infallibility. Were this not the case, we would not pray for Holy Father Benedict in many of our weekly masses.
 
KathleenGee said:
1beleever…

If Christ thought only He was necessary to start His church, in part He would not have apostles…You have to look at Christ and what He designated Peter to be and do…the prominence of Peter in the Gospels…so much of it his own humanity we can all identify with.

Our lives are centered on Christ, He is our life and our illumination. Without Him we are lost.
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You’re so cute, Kathleen! Of course we know that Jesus didn’t NEED Peter to start His church; He was entirely capable of doing that on His own. His church stretches worldwide and consists of Christians of all ages, colors, creeds and levels of belief. When we get to Heaven, we will all be the same, saints, claked in His righteousness, worshipping Him forever. And the jury is still out, as to what He meant by, “upon this Rock!”👍
 
1beleevr said:
You’re so cute, Kathleen! Of course we know that Jesus didn’t NEED Peter to start His church; He was entirely capable of doing that on His own. His church stretches worldwide and consists of Christians of all ages, colors, creeds and levels of belief. When we get to Heaven, we will all be the same, saints, claked in His righteousness, worshipping Him forever. And the jury is still out, as to what He meant by, “upon this Rock!”👍
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Jesus did not need Peter. In fact, he needed no one. If anything, he didn’t even need to give us any traditions or any scripture. But he used Peter. He used the Apostles. He gave us our Sacred Tradition and, with the Holy Spirit, inspired the creation of the Holy Bible.

And thus, we need the Bible.
We need our Tradition.
We need the Apostles.
And we need Peter.

Jesus does not need them, but we do. 🙂
 
1Beleever,

You should go to other threads and see to the degrees other religions and denominations go in defining God and man. Or look at the early church and how there were many teachers and writers and early theologians…before the science of Christology.

You have people out there with profound theological and philosophical orientation who have the same intensity of faith in God as you do…their minds go 24/7. And they write and they share…and they want to imprint their insights on other believers.

As in the case with Origen, some of his writings went out into the public, people began absorbing them, but it was against his own conviction…De Principiis…his writings were always under the approval of the Church…not some invisible group of men not accountable to anyone…more like a self serving power base…there were consecrated ecclesiastics, those with acknowledged authority by the rest of the Church who were given the gift of discernment of spirit.

Origen always started his treatises and philosophies…De Principiis…submission to ecclesiastical preaching, ecclesiastical teaching, and ecclesiastical rule of faith…the tradition of the faith being passed down through the power of the Holy Spirit to affirm that which is of the Lord and that which is of man.

Every single Early Church Father, theologian, writer and teacher – all of them held and proposed heretical ideas that would not bring us to the truth of Christ in the particular time we live in…and many theologians at work would test these writings to discern spirits.

Look at Christianity in America today…so many fragmented sects…the prejudice among Christians, the strange ideas, people making alot of money off of simple people, proposing to them empty promises by their manipulation of a few phrases of Scripture…

It is not the Lord’s will that His sacred Word be misused and made into something it is not…

It is very clear in Scripture that the Lord said upon the rock, Peter, He would build His church…

Otherwise we are all divisive, self opinionated wind bags…instead of unified in the Holy Spirit as one, holy, universal, and apostolic. True faith has certitude…not disputes and protest and dissension…dissension on par with witchcraft and other forms of rebellion against God and His lawful authority working in the Church and society.

He never left us orphans. And we can’t have two heads…and one head must work within his own boundaries in communion with the whole. The Council of Trent successfully redefined parameters of papal jurisdiction, that were addressed but didn’t get through, and subsequently we had the dis mantling of Christianity. A certain pope was preparing more clear and workable parameters but then he passed away…

The times prior to the Reformation, the issues involved between the Papacy and the Eastern jurisdictions is most complex and there were in those days missives in communication that further led to the Schism.
 
But they’re not all catholics, are they? I can’t bring myself to believe that Jesus’s desire was for us all to be catholic. Saved, yes, catholic, not so sure! And I don’t believe that the apostles and early Christians were catholic, they were believers in Christ as we are today. You see, the need for a religious title, is very important to many people. It gives them a sense of belonging, Me, I belong to Jesus; He purchased me with His blood. Therefore the nondenominational prefix, if you will. Child of God, believer, disciple in the making!👍👍🙂
 
I don’t know for sure; did He? Was He His own faith? Did He ever use the word catholic? Like I told Kathleen Gee, I share the same thing with Jesus as His disciples did; a close, and very personal relationship. Every day, because of His sacrifice, I am able to come to Him, fellowship, share hurts, doubts, anxieties, and joys with Him(Hebrews 4:16) No mediator needed, just humbling myself to be comfortably in His presence, friends forever! And no religious title necessary!👍😉
 
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