08-07-2007, 02:12 PM
This is a copied qoute from another forum. Good reading exposing falible and false teachings.
It's time again to expose another lie of the "Holy Catholic Church" implicit in the quote above.
Was Peter the first Pope? Did Peter go to Rome?
Standing at the head of the Roman Catholic church is the Pope of Rome. This man -- according to Catholic doctrine -- is the head of the church and successor of the apostle Peter. According to this belief, Christ appointed Peter as the first pope, who in turn went to Rome and served in this capacity for twenty-five years. Beginning with Peter, the Catholic church claims a succession of popes to this day and upon this belief, the ENTIRE framework of Catholicism is built. BUT do the scriptures teach that Christ ordained ONE man to be above all others in his church? Can we find any scriptural authority for the office of a pope, a supreme Pontiff? Did the early Christians recognize Peter as such? The answer to these questions is no! The scriptures plainly show that there was to be an EQUALITY among the members of Christ's church and that HE "is the HEAD of the church" (Eph 5:23), not the pope!
James and John, along with their mother, came to the Lord one time asking that one of them might sit on his right hand and the other one his left in the Kingdom. (In Eastern kingdoms, the two principal ministers of state, ranking next in authority to the monarch, were styled the vizier of the right and the vizier of the left.) Now if the Roman Catholic claim was true, Jesus would have answered that he had given the right hand place to Peter and that he did not intend to create any left-hand place! But to the contrary, here was the answer that Jesus gave: "Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise dominion upon them, but it shall not be so among you" (Mat 20:20-26; Mar 10:35-43).
In other words, Jesus told his disciples that they were not to act like kings; they were not to wear crowns, they were not to set on thrones, they were not to pattern themselves after heathen rulers! Yet every one of these things have the popes done through the centuries! In this statement, our Lord plainly said that none of them was to set himself up as a ruler over the others. Instead, he taught an equality -- clearly denying the principles that are involved in having a Pope ruling over the church as the "bishop of bishops"!
That there was to be an EQUALITY among the apostles is also seen in Matthew 23:4-10. In this passage, Jesus warned the disciples against using flattering titles such as "father" (the word "Pope" means Father), Rabbi, or Master. "For one is your master, even Christ," he said, "and all ye are brethren." Certainly then, the idea that one of them was to be exalted to the position of a Pope is at utter variance with the text.
But Roman Catholics are taught that Peter was so greatly superior to the other disciples that the entire church was built upon him! The verse that is used to support this claim is Matthew 16:18: "And I say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
However, if we take this verse in its setting, we can plainly see that the church was not built on Peter, but on CHRIST. In the verses just before, Jesus asked his disciples who men were saying that he was. Some said he was John the Baptist, some Elijah; others thought he was Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Then Jesus said, "But whom say ye that I am?" And Peter answered, "Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God." Then it was that Jesus said, "Thou art Peter (petros -- a stone, a rock), and upon this rock (petra -- a mass of rock -- the great foundation rock of truth that Peter had just expressed) I will build my church." The rock upon which the true church was to be built was connected with Peter's statement -- "Thou art the Christ" -- and so the true foundation upon which the church was built was Christ himself, not Peter.
Other verses also make it clear who the true foundation rock was. We know for certain that it was not Peter, for Peter himself declared that Christ was the foundation Rock (1 Pet 2:4-8). He also spoke of that Rock (Christ) as "the stone which was set at naught of you builders... neither is there salvation in any other..." (Act 4:11, 12). The church was built on Christ, He is the true foundation, and there is no other foundation: "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Cor 3:11).
It is obvious that the other disciples did not take our Lord's words -- "Upon this rock I will build my church" -- to mean that he was exalting Peter to be their pope, for two chapters later they asked Jesus a question about who was the GREATEST? (Mat 18:1). Now if two chapters before, Jesus had stated that Peter was the one upon whom the church was to be built, if this verse proved that Peter was to be the Pope, then the disciples would have automatically known who was the greatest among them!
( Continued next posting )
Quote:
Quote:
Peter, thou art Cephas, and upon this rock I will build my church... I will give you the keys of the kingdom..and not even the gates of hell shall prevail against you
Peter, thou art Cephas, and upon this rock I will build my church... I will give you the keys of the kingdom..and not even the gates of hell shall prevail against you
It's time again to expose another lie of the "Holy Catholic Church" implicit in the quote above.
Was Peter the first Pope? Did Peter go to Rome?
Standing at the head of the Roman Catholic church is the Pope of Rome. This man -- according to Catholic doctrine -- is the head of the church and successor of the apostle Peter. According to this belief, Christ appointed Peter as the first pope, who in turn went to Rome and served in this capacity for twenty-five years. Beginning with Peter, the Catholic church claims a succession of popes to this day and upon this belief, the ENTIRE framework of Catholicism is built. BUT do the scriptures teach that Christ ordained ONE man to be above all others in his church? Can we find any scriptural authority for the office of a pope, a supreme Pontiff? Did the early Christians recognize Peter as such? The answer to these questions is no! The scriptures plainly show that there was to be an EQUALITY among the members of Christ's church and that HE "is the HEAD of the church" (Eph 5:23), not the pope!
James and John, along with their mother, came to the Lord one time asking that one of them might sit on his right hand and the other one his left in the Kingdom. (In Eastern kingdoms, the two principal ministers of state, ranking next in authority to the monarch, were styled the vizier of the right and the vizier of the left.) Now if the Roman Catholic claim was true, Jesus would have answered that he had given the right hand place to Peter and that he did not intend to create any left-hand place! But to the contrary, here was the answer that Jesus gave: "Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise dominion upon them, but it shall not be so among you" (Mat 20:20-26; Mar 10:35-43).
In other words, Jesus told his disciples that they were not to act like kings; they were not to wear crowns, they were not to set on thrones, they were not to pattern themselves after heathen rulers! Yet every one of these things have the popes done through the centuries! In this statement, our Lord plainly said that none of them was to set himself up as a ruler over the others. Instead, he taught an equality -- clearly denying the principles that are involved in having a Pope ruling over the church as the "bishop of bishops"!
That there was to be an EQUALITY among the apostles is also seen in Matthew 23:4-10. In this passage, Jesus warned the disciples against using flattering titles such as "father" (the word "Pope" means Father), Rabbi, or Master. "For one is your master, even Christ," he said, "and all ye are brethren." Certainly then, the idea that one of them was to be exalted to the position of a Pope is at utter variance with the text.
But Roman Catholics are taught that Peter was so greatly superior to the other disciples that the entire church was built upon him! The verse that is used to support this claim is Matthew 16:18: "And I say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
However, if we take this verse in its setting, we can plainly see that the church was not built on Peter, but on CHRIST. In the verses just before, Jesus asked his disciples who men were saying that he was. Some said he was John the Baptist, some Elijah; others thought he was Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Then Jesus said, "But whom say ye that I am?" And Peter answered, "Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God." Then it was that Jesus said, "Thou art Peter (petros -- a stone, a rock), and upon this rock (petra -- a mass of rock -- the great foundation rock of truth that Peter had just expressed) I will build my church." The rock upon which the true church was to be built was connected with Peter's statement -- "Thou art the Christ" -- and so the true foundation upon which the church was built was Christ himself, not Peter.
Other verses also make it clear who the true foundation rock was. We know for certain that it was not Peter, for Peter himself declared that Christ was the foundation Rock (1 Pet 2:4-8). He also spoke of that Rock (Christ) as "the stone which was set at naught of you builders... neither is there salvation in any other..." (Act 4:11, 12). The church was built on Christ, He is the true foundation, and there is no other foundation: "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Cor 3:11).
It is obvious that the other disciples did not take our Lord's words -- "Upon this rock I will build my church" -- to mean that he was exalting Peter to be their pope, for two chapters later they asked Jesus a question about who was the GREATEST? (Mat 18:1). Now if two chapters before, Jesus had stated that Peter was the one upon whom the church was to be built, if this verse proved that Peter was to be the Pope, then the disciples would have automatically known who was the greatest among them!
( Continued next posting )