The Pope
by Sebastian R. Fama
"But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied,
"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him,
"Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to
you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on
this rock I will build my Church, and the powers of death shall not prevail
against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever
you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth
shall be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16:15-19).
When God gives someone a new name it signifies a new role. For example, He
changed Abram to Abraham. Abraham means father of many nations, which is what
Abraham became. Peter means rock, which is what Peter became. The standard
argument against this is that Peter in Greek is petros (petros),
meaning pebble, and that rock is petra (petra),
meaning mass of rock. Since Peter is a pebble he can't be the rock. Those who
support this argument fail to take into account John 1:42: "Jesus looked at him,
and said, 'So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas.'"
The Apostle Paul refers to Peter as Cephas eight out of the ten times that he
mentions him. Cephas is the transliteration of the Aramaic word Kepha. Aramaic
is the language that Jesus and His apostles spoke. KEPHA means ROCK
the same as PETRA.
So why then is Peter called petros? Greek nouns are genderized. Petra is the
feminine form of rock and it would have been improper to use it for a man's
name. Consequently the masculine form (petros)
had to be used. Hence, the preservation of the original Aramaic by the apostles
John and Paul.
Some say that the rock spoken of is Peter's profession of faith or Christ
Himself. Karl Keating, in his book "Catholicism and Fundamentalism," points out
that this is impossible because, "According to the rules of grammar, the phrase
'this rock' must relate to the closest noun. Peter's profession of faith (Thou
art the Christ, the son of the living God) is two verses earlier, while his
name, a proper noun, is in the immediately preceding clause. As an analogy,
consider this artificial sentence: "I have a car and a truck, and it is blue."
Which is blue? The truck, because that is the noun closest to the pronoun "it".
This identification would be even clearer if the reference to the car were two
sentences earlier, as the reference to Peter's profession is two sentences
earlier than the term rock. The same kind of objection applies to the argument
that the rock is Christ Himself, since He is mentioned within the profession of
faith" (page 208).
Jesus validates Peter's role as the rock when He says, "I will give you the keys
of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in
heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." The symbol
of the keys always implied power and authority. Jesus may have had Isaiah
22:20-22 in mind when He made His statement: "In that day I will call my servant
Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind
your girdle on him, and will commit your authority to his hand…And I will
place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open and none
shall shut; and he shall shut and none shall open." Jesus gives Peter the
keys; therefore, Peter's authority is the authority of Jesus.
It is critical to realize that Jesus' statement in Matthew 16 consists of all
three verses, 17 through 19. To separate them, and attach unrelated meanings to
them, is to misrepresent Scripture.
The night before He died Jesus said to Peter, "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan
demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for
you that your faith may not fail, and when you have turned again, strengthen
your brethren" (Luke 22:31-32). Jesus prayed that Peter would strengthen the
others. This statement presupposes that Peter is first among the Apostles. Luke
22:26 also implies an apostolic leader. "Let the greatest among you become as
the youngest, and the leader as one who serves."
After the Resurrection Jesus bestowed upon Peter the role he was twice promised.
He said to him:
"Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs." A second time He said to him, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep." He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything, you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep" (John 21:15-17).
In this passage, Jesus the Great Shepherd is entrusting the care of His lambs
and sheep to Peter. Note that Jesus acknowledges the presence of the other
disciples but speaks directly to Peter. This can hardly be construed as a
directive for all Christians. The Greek word for tend in verse 16 is poimaino (poimainw),
meaning to tend as a shepherd or to rule.
It is important to note that Papal Infallibility is not a personality trait but
a charism or gift. A pope speaks infallibly only when he speaks on faith or
morals with the stated intention of requiring the compliance of the faithful.
Even in the Old Testament, God used less than perfect men as the authorized
interpreters of the law. Jesus shows us this in Matthew 23:1-3 when He says: "The
Scribes and the Pharisees have taken the seat of Moses. Therefore do and observe
all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they
preach but they do not practice."
Even when
he rules infallibly, a pope is doing no more than proclaiming what has always
been taught. There is no special revelation involved. The pope's infallibility
comes from the fact that the Holy Spirit prevents him from officially teaching
error.
Truth by its very nature does not allow for opposing opinions. Because the
Church is the recipient and dispenser of truth, infallibility is necessary if it
is to function as Christ intended: "Make disciples of all nations…teaching them
to observe all that I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20).
In the year 95, Clement, the fourth bishop of Rome, wrote a response to the
Corinthians instructing them to receive back the bishops who were expelled by a
turbulent faction. After explaining that the hierarchy was of divine origin, he
said in part, "But if there are any who refuse to heed the declaration He [the
Holy Spirit] has made through our lips, let them not doubt the gravity of the
guilt and the peril in which they involve themselves" (1Clement 59:1). So
now we find that even before the last apostle had died, the bishop of Rome was
directing the affairs of another church. A few years later in the year 107,
Ignatius of Antioch acknowledged Rome's authority when he addressed the Roman
church as "presiding over the brotherhood of love."
Around 189, there was a controversy between the churches of Asia and the rest of
the Christian world. Eusebius tells us that Victor, bishop of Rome, directed
that they conform. Polycrates of Ephesus resisted him. Victor replied with an
excommunication. When Irenaeus intervened and pleaded Polycrates' case, Victor
withdrew the excommunication. Although there was disagreement, the resistance of
the Asian bishops did not deny Rome's authority (The History of the Church
5:23-25).
Some contend that the Papacy is the result of the Church becoming corrupt in 312 during the reign of
Constantine. Consequently, true Christianity was lost until the Protestant
Reformation. If that is true, then Christianity did not exist for a period of
1205 years. Remember that Jesus said that the gates of Hell would not overcome
His Church, and that He would be with us always, even until the end of the age
(Matthew 16:18, 28:20). The anti-Papal theory makes Jesus a liar. Another
problem arises from this view. The Old and New Testaments were settled at the
councils of Hippo (393 AD) and Carthage (397 AD) by Catholic bishops who then
submitted the list to Pope Boniface for official approval. "Thus that the church
beyond the sea [Rome] may be consulted regarding the confirmation of that canon"
(Council of Carthage, Canon 36). Note that the councils took place well after
the supposed corruption of the Church in 312. If this were the case, why would
Bible-only Christians accept the product of a corrupt church as their sole rule
of faith? If you reject the primacy of Peter and his successors, logic demands
that you reject the Bible as well.
Copyright ©
2001 StayCatholic.com
For Further Study
The Early Church
Fathers on the Primacy of Rome (Free)
The Early Church Fathers
on Peter's Presence in Rome (Free)
Books -
Upon This Rock by Stephen Ray and
Pope Fiction by Patrick Madrid.
Audio Cassette -
The Keys of the Kingdom by Tim Staples.
Video Cassette -
Peter: Keeper of the
Keys with Stephen Ray