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Peter
Was the First pope… NOT!!
The catholic church claims that Jesus Christ proclaimed Peter to be the
first Pope. Lets read the entire passage upon which this argument is
based:
[Mat
16:13-20]
When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his
disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am ?
And they said, Some [say that thou art] John the Baptist: some, Elias;
and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am ?
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God.
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona
: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father
which is in heaven.
And I say also 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.
And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and
whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and
whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was
Jesus the Christ.
Now,
notice that the subject of the conversation is the questions, "whom say
ye that I am?" And Peter answers "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God."
This statement then becomes the subject: "for flesh and blood hath not
revealed it unto thee, but my
Father which is in heaven"... "and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it."
Notice Jesus uses the informal words of 'this' and 'it'
to describe the word 'rock.' Biblically, what is a rock
equated with in the rest of the Bible?
[Deu
32:3-4] Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye
greatness unto our God.
[He is] the Rock his work [is] perfect: for
all his ways [are] judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just
and right [is] he.
[1Sa
2:2] [There is] none holy as the LORD: for [there is] none beside
thee: neither [is there] any rock like our
God.
[Psa
18:31] For who [is] God save the LORD? or who [is] a rock
save our God?
And most imporatntly:
[1Cr
10:4]
And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that
spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
The
clear association of God being a 'rock' points this scripture clearly
to one conclusion, that the rock is Peter's statement "Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus builds his church on that
very testimony, that he is the Son of God.
But what about Peter?
The argument from the catholic church is that the rock is not Jesus
Christ, but that Peter means rock in greek
and thus Peter is the foundation of the church. However, the most
accurate and proper translation of Peter
(greek Petros) is stone.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=Petros&searchmode=none
http://concordances.org/greek/4074.htm
If Peter were translated to rock,
that would be the equivalent of calling Peter God,
in fact, that would elevate him above Christ, because that would mean
Peter would be more important than the testimony that Jesus is the
Christ, Son of the living God.
So why then does Jesus rename Simon bar-jona to Peter?
This
is on of the fun things about Jesus, he was always playing with words.
The renaming of Peter was simultaneously a reference to the stone being
rolled away from His tomb and a reference to Peter being at the gate of
heaven. In the same way that the testimony of Jesus Christ rolled the
rock from His tomb, so too do we roll Peter (the stone) away from the
gate of heaven with our testimony of Jesus Christ.
[Mar 16:3-4]
And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the
stone from the door of the sepulchre?
And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it
was very great.
[Mat
16:15-18] And I will give unto thee the keys of the
kingdom of heaven:
and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and
whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Additionally, Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone:
[Mat
21:42]
Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone
which the builders rejected, the same is become the head
of the corner : this is the Lord's doing, and it is
marvellous in our eyes?
And only through Him do we attain salvation:
[Jhn
14:6] Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life :
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
The catholic church also asserts that Peter is the first
pope as justified in John:
[Jhn 21:16]
He saith to him again the second time, Simon, [son] of Jonas, lovest
thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.
He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
But the Bible contradicts this, because in truth, every
man is a potential shepherd:
[Jhn
10:1-2]
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into
the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and
a robber.
But he that entereth in by the door is the
shepherd of the sheep.
[Jhn
10:7] Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto
you, I am the door of the sheep.
And the sheep are to be fed through example, not by
being lords over God's heritage:
[1Pe 5:2-3]
Feed the flock of God
which is among you, taking the oversight [thereof], not by constraint,
but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
Neither as being lords over [God's] heritage,
but being ensamples to the flock.
There
is no precedent in the Bible which elevates Peter to any specific
position, such as pope or vicar. In Acts Paul points out:
[Act 20:28]
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the
which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers,
to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with
his own blood.
Overseers,
to feed the church, not to rule the church or head the church, just
feed it. Jesus Christ is the head of the church and the savour of the
body, which makes up all its members:
[Eph
5:23] For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is
the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
[Jhn 10:11]
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
Thus,
this is the knowledge of scriptures in summary. Jesus Christ is the
good shepherd, the door and the head of the church. All men who pass
through Jesus Christ become shepherds and overseers of the church and
feed the flock with their example in Christ. As a man you are either a
sheep of man (or the devil), or a sheep of Christ and a shepherd of
man. It is our testimony that Jesus is the Christ that opens our way to
heaven and when we enter through Jesus Christ we become shepherds of
his flock. How do we do that?
[Act 12:16]
But Peter continued knocking: and when they
had opened [the door], and saw him, they were astonished.
Just
to cap this off, clearly in scripture there is never a mention of the
words 'pope' or 'vicar.' The word 'vicar' was invented in the 1300's
by the catholic church:
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=vicar
And the most frightening part is the original meaning of the word
'vicar' is 'substitute.' The pope is the substitute for Jesus Christ,
not an overseer or a shepherd of the good shepherd as the Bible has
charged us. We don't need a substitute for Christ; the real deal is so
much better.
In the glory of the Name and the passion of the Words of
Jesus Christ,
John.
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