Fredricks:
Did the early Christian church think that Peter had a successor who was in charge of the whole church? Did they think the Bishop of Rome specifically was that person?
The understanding of the Petrine ministry developed over time in the early Church. St. Irenaeus of Lyons who had learned the faith from St. Polycarp, a man who was a disciple of the apostle John, provides us with a list of the Bishops of Rome, stretching right back to St. Peter himself, and he finishes by writing: “In this order, and by this succession…the tradition from the apostles and the truth has come down to us.”
Cyprian of Carthage (251AD )was probaly the first to spell out the petrine office as it is understood today:“The Lord says to Peter: ‘I say to you,’ he says, ‘that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it. . . . ’ [Matt. 16:18]. On him [Peter] he builds the Church, and to him he gives the command to feed the sheep [John 21:17], and although he assigns a like power to all the apostles, yet he founded a single chair [cathedra], and he established by his own authority a source and an intrinsic reason for that unity. . . . If someone [today] does not hold fast to this unity of Peter, can he imagine that he still holds the faith? If he [should] desert the chair of Peter upon whom the Church was built, can he still be confident that he is in the Church?” (The Unity of the Catholic Church 4; first edition [A.D. 251]).
Fredricks:
This is particularly important. Notice that Irenaues said that Rome has authority, undoubtedly a controversial view but he certainly felt that way as did others at that time, but look at the reason why. Not because Peter had a specific successor but their adherence to the Apostles teachings(which we also believe as well, this is preserved in the Bible). Notice also Peter and Paul again.
The bible itself says not all teaching is contained in itself The Gospel proclamation began as oral tradition. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us.” (2 Th. 3:6; see also 2:15. As the tradition was being conveyed orally, it was also being written down by the apostles and others and sent throughout the church. As the various local churches received these writings they weighed them against what had been taught orally. Many writings were circulating at the time, some of which falsely carried the names of apostles. The major test for the authenticity of these writings was whether they accurately reflected the apostolic tradition as taught in the churches.
Not all oral teaching was written down in either the Old or New testaments, Christ himself used Jewish oral teaching in his teachings. Scripture also does not tell you how to intepret it, the classic example is Christ teaching from scripture and having to tell his audience even learned scribes the meaning of them.
The Church Fathers, who were links in that chain of succession, regularly appealed to apostolic succession as a test for whether Catholics or heretics had correct doctrine. This was necessary because heretics simply put their own interpretations, even bizarre ones, on Scripture
Pax
Brian
