Since when is Rome the standard for interpreting this text or any other??? The argument presented was that Jesus is talking to APOSTLES not "preists" or "Bishops" and even plural "APOSTLES" is a far removal from the intepretation that Peter ALONE is given the keys in Mt. 16:18.
Since 33 AD...
1. Did Jesus give the keys in Matthew 16:18 to Peter ALONE or to all the Apostles "you" (Mt. 18:18)?
He gave them to Peter first and promised to build HIS Church upon Peter.
2. Is Jesus addressing merely APOSTLES in Mt. 18:15-18 and thus only APOSTLES have exercise of the keys OR is he addressing more than Peter, more than Apostles in this text?
See below...
3. Where does one get the idea of a "POPE" from Scripture if the keys were not given to Peter ALONE but to ALL the Apostles (Mt. 18:18) or that the keys were given to more than Peter, more than the Apostles but to ALL other kinds of church members (preists, archbishops, bishops, Cardinals, Pope, deacons)????
Peter had primacy over the other Apostles that's how.
"And I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18).
"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you loose on Earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matt. 16:19).
"I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers" (Luke 22:33).
God sent an angel to Peter to announce the Resurrection of Jesus (Mark 6:7).
Of all the Apostles, the risen Jesus first appeared to Peter (Luke 24:34).
Peter headed the meeting which elected Matthias as replacement for Judas (Acts 1:13-26).
Peter led the apostles in preaching on Pentecost (Acts 2:14).
Peter led the meeting which decided on which terms Gentiles would be allowed into the Church (Acts 15).
Peter was the judge of Ananias and Saphira (Acts 5:1-11).
Jesus entrusted Peter with his flock, making him into a Good Shepherd (John 21:15-17).
Peter performed the first miracle after Pentecost (Acts 3).
After his conversion Paul went to see Peter, the chief apostle (Gal. 1:18).
Throughout the New Testament, when the apostles are listed as a group, Peter's name is always first. Sometimes it's just "Peter and the twelve. "
Peter's name is mentioned more often than the names of all the other apostles put together.
It is abundantly clear from scripture that Peter enjoyed a position of primacy amongst the Apostles.
Further, history provides the succession of the Popes...
In his work “Against Heresies [A.D. 180] ”St. Irenaeus begins to list the successors of Peter at Rome with these words: "But since it would be too long, in a work like this, to list the successions in all the churches, we shall take only one of them, the church that is greatest, most ancient, and known to all, founded and set up by the two most glorious apostles Peter and Paul at Rome while showing that the tradition and the faith it proclaims to men comes down through the successions of the bishops even to us" (ibid., 3.2).
Against Heresies (Book III, Chapter 3)
1. It is within the power of all, therefore, in every Church, who may wish to see the truth, to contemplate clearly the tradition of the apostles manifested throughout the whole world; and we are in a position to reckon up those who were by the apostles instituted bishops in the Churches, and [to demonstrate] the succession of these men to our own times; those who neither taught nor knew of anything like what these [heretics] rave about. For if the apostles had known hidden mysteries, which they were in the habit of imparting to the perfect apart and privily from the rest, they would have delivered them especially to those to whom they were also committing the Churches themselves. For they were desirous that these men should be very perfect and blameless in all things,
whom also they were leaving behind as their successors, delivering up their own place of government to these men; which men, if they discharged their functions honestly, would be a great boon [to the Church], but if they should fall away, the direst calamity.
Here, Ignatius shows the Primacy of the Church of Rome..
2. Since, however, it would be very tedious, in such a volume as this, to reckon up the successions of all the Churches, we do put to confusion all those who, in whatever manner, whether by an evil self-pleasing, by vainglory, or by blindness and perverse opinion, assemble in unauthorized meetings; [we do this, I say,] by indicating that tradition derived from the apostles, of the very great, the very ancient, and universally known Church founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul; as also [by pointing out] the faith preached to men, which comes down to our time by means of the successions of the bishops. For it is a matter of necessity that every Church should agree with this Church, on account of its preeminent authority, that is, the faithful everywhere, inasmuch as the tradition has been preserved continuously by those [faithful men] who exist everywhere.
And here is the apostolic succession listed:
3. The blessed apostles, then, having founded and built up the Church, committed into the hands of Linus the office of the episcopate. Of this Linus, Paul makes mention in the Epistles to Timothy. To him succeeded Anacletus; and after him, in the third place from the apostles, Clement was allotted the bishopric. This man, as he had seen the blessed apostles, and had been conversant with them, might be said to have the preaching of the apostles still echoing [in his ears], and their traditions before his eyes. Nor was he alone [in this], for there were many still remaining who had received instructions from the apostles. In the time of this Clement, no small dissension having occurred among the brethren at Corinth, the Church in Rome dispatched a most powerful letter to the Corinthians, exhorting them to peace, renewing their faith, and declaring the tradition which it had lately received from the apostles, proclaiming the one God, omnipotent, the Maker of heaven and earth, the Creator of man, who brought on the deluge, and called Abraham, who led the people from the land of Egypt, spoke with Moses, set forth the law, sent the prophets, and who has prepared fire for the devil and his angels. From this document, whosoever chooses to do so, may learn that He, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, was preached by the Churches, and may also understand the tradition of the Church, since this Epistle is of older date than these men who are now propagating falsehood, and who conjure into existence another god beyond the Creator and the Maker of all existing things. To this Clement there succeeded Evaristus. Alexander followed Evaristus; then, sixth from the apostles, Sixtus was appointed; after him, Telephorus, who was gloriously martyred; then Hyginus; after him, Pius; then after him, Anicetus. Soter having succeeded Anicetus, Eleutherius does now, in the twelfth place from the apostles, hold the inheritance of the episcopate. In this order, and by this succession, the ecclesiastical tradition from the apostles, and the preaching of the truth, have come down to us. And this is most abundant proof that there is one and the same vivifying faith, which has been preserved in the Church from the apostles until now, and handed down in truth.
Approximately 300 years later, we see Augustine confirming the list…
St. Augustine of Hippo – A.D. 412:
“If the very order of epicopal succession is to be considered, how much more surely, truly, and safely do we number them from Peter himself, to whom, as the one representing the WHOLE CHURCH, the Lord said “Upon this rock I will build my Church… Peter was succeeded by Linus, Linus by Clement, Clement by Anacletus, Anacletus by Evaristus … “ (Letter 53, To Generosus 1:2)
What a messy interpretation you have of Mt. 16:18-19 and the "rock" and "keys"!
Perhaps, but it's been passed down through history as fact for 2,000 years.
Even Protestant theologians (whom I quoted and you ignored) agree with this interpretation. You stand against 1500 years of Christendom. Hmmm... I wonder why it took so long for God to reveal this to His Church...
Mine is very simple, Peter is representative of what makes up the membership of a congregation and that is why Jesus says "tell it to the church" as the highest court and uses the plural "you" in Mt. 18:17-18 and Peter himself confirms this interpretation by metaphorically identifying common members of the church as "lively stones" (1 Pet. 2:5) and Christ as the Petra (1 Pet. 2:8).
Simple - direct - and wrong! Pure fantasy doc.
WM
