Protestants: Is Peter the first Pope?

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mercygate:
This is always a hurdle for us converts. For my :twocents: , infallibility rises out of the concept of the indefectibility of the Church. It is one of those logical processions that develops as the Church lives her life through the ages. For me, the idea of having a house of bishops without Peter in it was the clincher. “Upon this rock:” to be out of communion with Peter is (to my mind) incompatible with the doctrine of Apostolic Succession.
There’s no doubt that separation from the See of Rome is unfortunate. But as I’ve said elsewhere, for Anglicans and other moderate Protestants this is hardly something that we are fully responsible for. The statement “communion with the See of Rome is important” does not necessarily translate into “the See of Rome can set whatever conditions it wants to for communion.”

Edwin
 
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Contarini:
Rome is not the only See that can show a line of succession from apostolic times.
This is one I’ve not heard. Which Church besides the Roman Catholic Church can show unbroken apostolic succession? Please identify the church specifically and list the successors, as has been done here. Thank you.
 
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Contarini:
There’s no doubt that separation from the See of Rome is unfortunate. But as I’ve said elsewhere, for Anglicans and other moderate Protestants this is hardly something that we are fully responsible for. The statement “communion with the See of Rome is important” does not necessarily translate into "the See of Rome can set whatever conditions it wants to for communion."

Edwin
When people set aside the terms of Communion, they separate themselves. Rome doesn’t need to make up new “conditions.” If I decide to object to a key doctrine of the faith, I automatically put myself out of communion. Of course the Church sets the “conditions.” That’s her job. Who else?
 
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Contarini:
Bible Reader,

Your allegorical interpretation is interesting, and I have no problems with such interpretation as a means of edification. But I’m afraid that Christian tradition is quite clear that doctrine can’t be proven through allegory.

E.E.N.S.,

Rome is not the only See that can show a line of succession from apostolic times. So this is hardly an argument for infallibility. It’s simply irrelevant.

Edwin
Hi, Edwin. All typology does is focus on the types which God Himself saw fit to build into Scripture, and which Christ Himself made use of in preaching the Kingdom of Heaven. Viewed as a totality, the effect of those types is overwhelming. In light of this, I doubt that I would be persuaded by a “doctrine” from “tradition” instructing us to be unpersuaded by God’s Own ideation.

I suggest that you focus-in on typology with us over in “Sacred Scripture.” You might be surprised by its power.

It is interesting that to contradict the Bible you resort to “tradition.”
 
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BibleReader:
Hi, Edwin. All typology does is focus on the types which God Himself saw fit to build into Scripture, and which Christ Himself made use of in preaching the Kingdom of Heaven. Viewed as a totality, the effect of those types is overwhelming. In light of this, I doubt that I would be persuaded by a “doctrine” from “tradition” instructing us to be unpersuaded by God’s Own ideation.

I suggest that you focus-in on typology with us over in “Sacred Scripture.” You might be surprised by its power.

It is interesting that to contradict the Bible you resort to “tradition.”
Yo, BibleReader! I’ll never forget the day (before I came into the Church) when I was reading Luke 5 and came to verse 5: Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

The words: “which was Simon’s” pounded me into powder. Jesus teaches from Simon’s boat. I was done for.
 
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YADA:
Jesus here is quoting Hebrew scriptures. What did Peter and the apostles hear. They heard Issiah Chapter 22:20-24.



Notice, here in Issiah we have the House of David (David is long dead but his house lives on). We have the office of Prime Minister, an office. Offices are not left vacant, but filled upon vacancy. What tis prime minister opens remains open, what he shuts remains shut. How do the people know and refer to this position? Abba, Father or in Italian Papa (Pope). From those humble beginnings (if one call call being the Prime Minister to the Davidic Kingdom humble) is th office of ad primacy of the “Chair of Peter” It is not an invention of the middle ages, dark ages or a “Catholic Plot” It is not an invention of the early Christian writers, it is a fulfillment of God’s covenant.

Pax Christe
Thank you, YADA, for your post!

See, Wormwood, I didn’t just “make that up”.:yup:

Peace,
javelin
 
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cjaubert:
This is one I’ve not heard. Which Church besides the Roman Catholic Church can show unbroken apostolic succession? Please identify the church specifically and list the successors, as has been done here. Thank you.
Whether or not any local church can demonstrate unbroken succession is not the question. Apostolic Succession is unbroken and does not depend upon locale. Any validly consecrated bishop stands in the apostolic line. The Avignon captivity, for example, did not deprive “Rome” of her bishop.
 
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mercygate:
Yo, BibleReader! I’ll never forget the day (before I came into the Church) when I was reading Luke 5 and came to verse 5: Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

The words: “which was Simon’s” pounded me into powder. Jesus teaches from Simon’s boat. I was done for.
Thank you for saying that. It had the same effect on me.
 
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sandusky:
I am willing to wait a few days, or longer, up to a week, for you to list those “more like” 150 separate N.T. verses. :eek:
Sorry for the late reply, RyanL did a fine job, better than I would have attempted. I would simply have re-asked you to do a word search and do the reading yourself, but Ryan went the extra mile, again, thank you Ryan.
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sandusky:
I am not disputing that Peter was the leader of the 12. Anyone who reads the Gospels should acknowledge that, and if they don’t they are not reading carefully, IMHO.
In fact, the grammar is such that Peter could very well be the rock; whether or not he is, is not the issue for me.
The issue is that of the establishment of a papacy, and a papal line. The scriptural evidence is flimsy, IMHO. The historical is strong, and is not sufficient for me to believe it.
150 verses concerning Peter as Pope is what I understood Tom to say. That is impossible, so I will withdraw my statement about waiting to see them. I was not challenging him, anyway; I was just curious to see them. In his zeal, he probably did misspeak.
Sandusky, I’ve read many of your posts and know you are a very knowledgeable and sincere Christian. I simply ask you to step back from the argument of traditions for a moment, pray for the Holy Spirits guidance. Forget the title “Pope”, it’s simply a title, which implies the head or leader of the Apostles, and no, you won’t find the word “Pope” in Scripture. Feel free to call him any title you like, we choose Pope, if you’d prefer CEO fine. The title is semantics. Carefully re-read all of these posts, especially those against Peter as being the first “Pope”. The preponderance of evidence is that he is indeed the CEO, there is no evidence he is not or that anyone else possibly could have been. At the very least you can understand our contention that the pope is indeed the appointed leader of the Church. I know it’s hard to accept after all of your training, but don’t fear, admitting he is the first CEO doesn’t make you a dreaded Catholic. I hope you know that last comment was in brotherly love.
May the peace and love of our Lord, Jesus the Christ, be with you always,
Tom
 
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Tom:
RyanL did a fine job, better than I would have attempted… Ryan went the extra mile, again, thank you Ryan.
Thank you, my brother, but I can only take so much credit - it was entirely comprised of material from www.scripturecatholic.com . You are too kind, and humble me with your humility.

May God bless you and keep you,
RyanL
 
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BibleReader:
Hi, Edwin. All typology does is focus on the types which God Himself saw fit to build into Scripture, and which Christ Himself made use of in preaching the Kingdom of Heaven. Viewed as a totality, the effect of those types is overwhelming. In light of this, I doubt that I would be persuaded by a “doctrine” from “tradition” instructing us to be unpersuaded by God’s Own ideation.
If you want to disregard a clear teaching of the Fathers, that’s your concern. But then don’t come trying to tell us Protestants that we should be Catholics because you guys follow the Fathers. The Fathers were quite right and quite sensible on this point. Allegory (I don’t buy the alleged distinction between “allegory” and “typology”–I follow de Lubac rather than Danielou on this one) is simply too subjective to be used to prove doctrine. If something cannot be demonstrated from the literal sense of Scripture somewhere (bearing in mind that “literal sense” in traditional Christian theology is not the same thing as the sense determined by modern historical criticism), it cannot said to be authoritatively taught in Scripture. Don’t argue with me. Argue with Augustine and Aquinas.
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BibleReader:
I suggest that you focus-in on typology with us over in “Sacred Scripture.” You might be surprised by its power.
That’s unlikely, since I’ve been studying allegorical interpretations of Scripture for years and am quite aware how powerful they can be.
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BibleReader:
It is interesting that to contradict the Bible you resort to “tradition.”
It’s interesting (and rather disturbing) that you resort to the tired fundamentalist canard that disagreeing with your rather wacky interpretation of Scripture is “contradicting the Bible.” Don’t you accept the authority of the Fathers? How can you call yourself a Catholic if you despise your own tradition?

Proving doctrine from allegory is simply a no-no, and has been ever since Origen’s example showed how wacky and dangerous such an approach can be.

Edwin
 
I, too, agree that there is no worthwhile distinction between typology and allegory. The distinctions are nonsense.

And, it IS ironic that you are preferring the Fathers over Christ’s and the Holy Spirit’s Own approaches in Scripture.

By the way, you KNOW that the Fathers made errors, right? They frequently squarely disagree with each other, enabling folks seeking to escape the implications of infallible Scripture to employ the “cafeteria” approach.

“Hey, man, Augustine and Aquinas will defend me against those uncomfortable Petrine implications of the infallible Bible. Whew! Thank Heavens!”
 
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YADA:
Forgive me if this has already been addressed.

When Jesus asks 'who do men say I am, and Peter responds with the Christ, the Son of the Living God" We have the discourse that follows where Simon is renamed Peter, the Rock. Peter becomes the Rock upon which the Church will be built. Peter is given the ‘Keys’ of heaven. With these keys Peter is promised that what is “bound on earth will be bound in heaven, what is loosed on earth will be loosed in heaven” Peter (and the Church by extension) are promised that the gates of Hell will not prevail against him (the Church).
**I tend to think of Matt 16:18 like Augustine. Obviously the “unanimous consent” of the fathers was absent in the understanding and translation of this verse in the early church. **

"In a passage in this book, I said about the Apostle Peter: ‘On him as on a rock the Church was built’…But I know that very frequently at a later time, I so explained what the Lord said: ‘Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church,’ that it be understood as built upon Him whom Peter confessed saying: ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,’ and so Peter, called after this rock, represented the person of the Church which is built upon this rock, and has received ‘the keys of the kingdom of heaven.’ For, ‘Thou art Peter’ and not ‘Thou art the rock’ was said to him. But ‘the rock was Christ,’ in confessing whom, as also the whole Church confesses, Simon was called Peter. But let the reader decide which of these two opinions is the more probable" (The Fathers of the Church (Washington D.C., Catholic University, 1968), Saint Augustine, The Retractations Chapter 20.1).

"And I tell you…‘You are Peter, Rocky, and on this rock I shall build my Church, and the gates of the underworld will not conquer her. To you shall I give the keys of the kingdom. Whatever you bind on earth shall also be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall also be loosed in heaven’ (Mt 16:15-19). In Peter, Rocky, we see our attention drawn to the rock. Now the apostle Paul says about the former people, ‘They drank from the spiritual rock that was following them; but the rock was Christ’ (1 Cor 10:4). So this disciple is called Rocky from the rock, like Christian from Christ…Why have I wanted to make this little introduction? In order to suggest to you that in Peter the Church is to be recognized. **Christ, you see, built his Church not on a man but on Peter’s confession. ** What is Peter’s confession? ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ There’s the rock for you, there’s the foundation, there’s where the Church has been built, which the gates of the underworld cannot conquer (John Rotelle, Ed., The Works of Saint Augustine " (New Rochelle: New City Press, 1993), Sermons, Vol. 6, Sermon 229P.1, p. 327).
 
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cjaubert:
This is one I’ve not heard. Which Church besides the Roman Catholic Church can show unbroken apostolic succession? Please identify the church specifically and list the successors, as has been done here. Thank you.
Both Antioch and Alexandria have lines of succession from St. Peter and St. Mark respectively.

I’ll list the Patriarchs of Alexandria up to the “Monophysite” schism and let you read the Orthodox and Coptic lists at the answers.com website.
 
kaycee said:
**I tend to think of Matt 16:18 like Augustine. Obviously the “unanimous consent” of the fathers was absent in the understanding and translation of this verse in the early church. **

"In a passage in this book, I said about the Apostle Peter: ‘On him as on a rock the Church was built’…But I know that very frequently at a later time, I so explained what the Lord said: ‘Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church,’ that it be understood as built upon Him whom Peter confessed saying: ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,’ and so Peter, called after this rock, represented the person of the Church which is built upon this rock, and has received ‘the keys of the kingdom of heaven.’ For, ‘Thou art Peter’ and not ‘Thou art the rock’ was said to him. But ‘the rock was Christ,’ in confessing whom, as also the whole Church confesses, Simon was called Peter. But let the reader decide which of these two opinions is the more probable" (The Fathers of the Church (Washington D.C., Catholic University, 1968), Saint Augustine, The Retractations Chapter 20.1).

"And I tell you…‘You are Peter, Rocky, and on this rock I shall build my Church, and the gates of the underworld will not conquer her. To you shall I give the keys of the kingdom. Whatever you bind on earth shall also be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall also be loosed in heaven’ (Mt 16:15-19). In Peter, Rocky, we see our attention drawn to the rock. Now the apostle Paul says about the former people, ‘They drank from the spiritual rock that was following them; but the rock was Christ’ (1 Cor 10:4). So this disciple is called Rocky from the rock, like Christian from Christ…Why have I wanted to make this little introduction? In order to suggest to you that in Peter the Church is to be recognized. **Christ, you see, built his Church not on a man but on Peter’s confession. ** What is Peter’s confession? ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ There’s the rock for you, there’s the foundation, there’s where the Church has been built, which the gates of the underworld cannot conquer (John Rotelle, Ed., The Works of Saint Augustine " (New Rochelle: New City Press, 1993), Sermons, Vol. 6, Sermon 229P.1, p. 327).

St. Augustine’s thoughts here regarding the confession of Peter do NOT negate the papacy beginning with Peter—it’s not “either/or” (typical Protestant thinking here…). Using St. Augustine against the Catholic Church is laughable at best. Here’s some more quotes from that great Catholic:

“There are many other things which rightly keep me in the bosom of the Catholic Church. The consent of the people and nations keeps me, her authority keeps me, inaugurated by miracles, nourished in hope, enlarged by love, and established by age. The succession of priests keep me, from the very seat of the apostle Peter (to whom the Lord after his resurrection gave charge to feed his sheep) down to the present episcopate [of Pope Siricius]” (Against the Letter of Mani Called “The Foundation” 5 [A.D. 397]).

“[On this matter of the Pelagians] two councils have already been sent to the Apostolic See [the bishop of Rome], and from there rescripts too have come. The matter is at an end; would that the error too might be at an end!” (Sermons 131:10 [A.D. 411]).

“If the very order of episcopal succession is to be considered, how much more surely, truly, and safely do we number them [the bishops of Rome] from Peter himself, to whom, as to one representing the whole Church, the Lord said, ‘Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not conquer it.’ Peter was succeeded by Linus, Linus by Clement. … In this order of succession a Donatist bishop is not to be found” (Letters 53:1:2 [A.D. 412]).
 
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kaycee:
For, ‘Thou art Peter’ and not ‘Thou art the rock’ was said to him.
Mark 3:16; John 1:42 – Jesus renames Simon “Kepha” in Aramaic which literally means “rock.” This was an extraordinary thing for Jesus to do, because “rock” was not even a name in Jesus’ time. Jesus did this, not to give Simon a strange name, but to identify his new status among the apostles. When God changes a person’s name, He changes their status.
 
The same with Antioch: here is the list before the Jacobite schism; the Orthodox list after the schism; and the Jacobite list, all from the wikipedia website.

I apologize for not listing the bishops of the Antiochian succession, but the server had a lot of trouble accepting the other list–there must be something about bullets or multiple-line posts that throws it off.

I’m not sure why the existence of these lists should surprise you. Did you think that the Syrians and Egyptians just didn’t bother to keep records like the Romans?

Edwin
 
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sandusky:
Jesus is also called Rock, is He not? :confused:

And the N.T. definitely says that Christ is the foundation laid, and the head of the church, explicitly! Simpler. 🙂
Jesus may be CALLED the Rock but Jesus RENAMED Peter The ROCK - which, since Jesus is the salvation of the world and refered to by others as the Rock - would establish that Jesus has given EARTHLY AUTHORITY TO PETER and Apostolic succession to all the Apostles - therefore, whoever Peter designated as HIS successor would inherit, implicitly, Peter’s authority given to him DIRECTLY by Jesus.

Remember, Sandusky, Catholics do not simply rely upon the Holy Scripture - we also rely upon Tradition and Tradition has established Peter as the first Pope. This can be backed up historically by the writings of early Church Fathers - many of whom KNEW Peter.

Catholics are - if you will, and for want of a better description - HOLISTICALLY CHRISTIAN and not kept prisoner by a narrow and incorrect interpretation of The Book.

Good luck, and May God Bless you with insight so that you may know the Truth.
 
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