J
JLongoria
Guest
Oh no, I clearly understand that you were not joking.You are very kind.
But my question wasn’t a joke.
It is obvious that Peter was not a triple-tiara-wearing-Renaissance-head-of-state holding a full-blown articulation of the doctrine of papal infallibility. He was NOT a pope in the way the office legitimately developed over time.
I trust n2thelight will come back with something better than, “Peter was never pope because he was married.”
I completely agree: the office of the Pope has developed over time, and I believe rightly so, and I think it’s fairly evident that this is what happened. The Church of Christ has continuously grown in an understanding of her role in the salvation of man as laid out by Christ.
As a non-denominational evangelical Protestant, I thought, “Catholics make everything up as they go along, and just attribute it to this ‘tradition’”. Little did I realize that, upon closer examination of the Scriptures and some very excellent apologetic literature, the Church makes nothing up; instead, the Church is made aware of previously existing truths, not yet fully revealed to man by the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
"I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.
St. John 16:12-14, emphasis added
I hope N2 read that part: how peculiar that the Bible itself should not contain all truth. Christ Himself even tells us that “we cannot bear it now”, but that the Spirit will guide us to “all truth”.
Such can be seen in the development of the Trinitarian doctrine, papal infallibility, extra ecclesiam nullus omnino salvatur, and other various doctrines that the Church has proclaimed to all the faithful.
I was, in particular, laughing at the “before you knock yourself out” portion of your post.