A reader named Emmanuel wrote:
The Catholic Church has a complete record of Apostolic succession leading back to Peter. The RCC was not founded 300 A.D. For 2000 years, the Catholic Church has had an earthly shepherd, a rock upon which the Church is built.
Matthew 16:13 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?
16:14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
16:15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
16:18 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.
16:19 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.Jesus was obviously giving very special, unique power and authority to Peter to be the rock upon which his Church would be built. If, like Jesus said, His Church would last forever, then there would obviously have to be a succession of this authority, this shepherd for the faithful. Hence the hundreds of Popes in succession from Peter to Benedict XVI. Peace and All Good Be With You!
My response
Hi Emmanuel,
Catholic teaching is as you say.
As a Messianic Jew and student of the Bible and its history I am convinced this history and claim are verifiably false. Matthew 16:13-19 is not describing the creation of the papacy and Peter was never the lead disciple.
The leader of the first century Messianic community was James, not Peter (example Acts 15:20). Paul was by far the most influential teacher/theologian of the Way Jewish Movement. Peter confirmed this when he referred to Paul's writings as Scripture (II Peter 3:16). Peter never held the type of authority claimed by Rome neither ecclesiastically (as did James) nor doctrinally (as did Paul).
The "rock" upon which the ecclesia (messianic congregations) were established was not Peter according these verses. It was Peter's affirmation that "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." The rock upon which Messianic Judaism rests is the fact that Rebbe Y'shua is the Anointed (Greek: Christ) of HaShem.
The claim that there exists an established list of Popes dating back to Peter prior to the early 300's is not correct. Bishop Pontian (reigned from July 21, 230 – September 28, 235) who is on the most widely accepted list of popes is the first Bishop of Rome with established dates and he was not called "pope."
It was not until the Bishop of Rome proclaimed himself supreme potentate of the entire church that the office of Pope as we know it today was established.
From the time Constantine founded the Catholic Church it was ruled by local bishops who often disagreed on various points. The two main 'straws that broke the episcopal camel's back" so to speak were the issues of "filioque" (A debate over whether to use leavened or unleavened bread for the Eucharist) and the Bishop of Rome's usurpation of universal jurisdiction as "Vicar of Christ" (from the Latin Vicarius Christi). This claim sought to overturn the established policy of relative Pentarchy (co-rule by the heads of five major patriarchates or episcopal sees).
Previously the Churches of the Roman Empire were delegated to the ruling bishops of the region: Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. Now the Bishop of Rome proclaimed himself "heir to the Throne of Saint Peter" (an unbiblical concept they created with no historic support) and Ultimate Potentate and Pope (Father) of the entire Church (in open defiance of I Timothy 2:5 which says there is only one mediator between HaShem and humanity). How, Leo IX argued, could the One Church have more than One head? He proclaimed himself to be the One and only Pope (papa) of the world thereby usurping the position decreed by HaShem to Y'shua alone.
The split between the Eastern and Western Catholic Church was finalized when Rome excommunicated the Eastern churches and they effectively excommunicated Rome and its churches (although the East continues to accept Rome as a legitimate patriarchate and its leader as Ecumenical Patriarch of the Roman patriarchate, but not as the "Vicar of Christ"). Prior to this each patriarchate had been recognized as an equal member in "the original church built by Jesus" although in truth their religion was created by Constantine and his Universalist counsels. The non-Roman Eastern Churches continued to recognize the others and are today commonly known as the Eastern Orthodox Catholic Church, although Constantinople has always been given deference in the East.
This "Great Schism" was long in the making. Its currents had been evident for many years before the split between the Eastern (Greek) and Western (Latin) branches of "the One Universal Church" finally became official in 1054. This church split was partly due to the ravages both sides suffered at the hands of the Islamic Ummah. The greater cause however was that once they had completely abandoned the religion of Rebbe Y'shua the Spirit was removed and Europe was plunged into the Dark Ages.
In 1054 Roman Catholic legates sent by Pope Leo IX traveled east. They formally demanded the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius, cease from using Greek and to embrace Latin as the official Church language. He refused. Citing the authority of Pope Leo IX they denied Cerularius the title "Ecumenical Patriarch." The leading Eastern Patriarch was ordered, on pain of excommunication, to recognize the Church of Rome's non-historical and non biblical claim as the head patriarchate and Mother Church of the world. Cerularius refused this blackmail and was officially (from Rome's perspective) excommunicated.
Ecumenical Patriarch Cerularius responded to this affront by excommunicating Cardinal Humbert and the other legates sent by Pope Leo IX thus effectively cutting the East off from the Western Church (and/or vice versa).
Prior to this event there was no "Pope" as the term came to be applied and still the man who calls himself Pope is not sovereign over much of the Christian religion. No pope holds authority over the authentic Messianic Jewish Movement. Today Islam has surpassed Catholicism as the worlds largest religion.
More to the point however, Peter is never called pope (papa etc) in scripture and was never the head of the Messianic Movement. Historically there was always a clear distinction between "apostles" and bishops and there is no evidence that any bishops held the same position as the Apostles and Peter never exercised such an office. Rather, when contentions among the faithful arose they were settled by counsels (compare Acts 15) where issues were decided by the leaders of the Church (under the leadership of James as chief Messianic Rabbi). Peter did not rule over these assemblies as would a pope rather:
KJV: Acts 15:13 And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me...As we read:
The title "Pope" was from the early 3rd century an honorific designation used for any bishop in the West. In the East it was used only for the Bishop of Alexandria. Pope Marcellinus (d. 304) is the first Bishop of Rome shown in sources to have had the title "Pope" used of him. From the 6th century, the imperial chancery of Constantinople normally reserved this designation for the Bishop of Rome. From the early 6th century, it began to be confined in the West to the Bishop of Rome, a practice that was firmly in place by the 11th century, when Pope Gregory VII declared it reserved for the Bishop of Rome -- Source (further references are included there).
Note what the Bible says:
I Timothy 2:5 For God is one; and there is but one Mediator between God and humanity, Yeshua the Messiah, himself human.Biblically there is no room for a pope and nothing in the Bible nor in history even suggests that Peter held such an office. Cohen Gadol (High Priest) Y'shua is the sole Mediator between humanity and HaShem, not a pope, not a priest, not a rabbi.
Place your faith in HaShem alone through Y'shua, not in human beings.
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