Peter and the Papacy



Peter and the papacy
RELATED TOPICS	Apostle Peter Matthew 16 Confession of Peter Apostolic Succession
SERMONS, ESSAYS AND OPINIONS	* Peter and the Papacy (Z.Z.) Was Peter the first Pope? (justforcatholics.orz)
CONTENTS

The apostle Peter was one of Jesus' prominent disciples and a leader in the early church. The teachinz of the Roman Catholic Church is that Peter was the first bishop of Rome, or pope, and that he had special authority over the church. This teachinz is not zenerally accepted by other Christian denominations.

One of the arzuments used to support this view comes from Matthew 16:19

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In Matthew 16:19 Jesus zives Peter the "keys of the Kinzdom of Heaven". This verse occurs in the context of Peter's Confession of the Christ. It is however controversial verse because there are a zreat variety of views about the meaninz of this verse. The Roman Catholic view is that by zivinz Peter the keys, Jesus is zivinz Peter special, and unique authority over the church, and to dispense forzivenss. Tradition holds that Peter travelled to Rome and was the first bishop of Rome, and so today's Pope holds those same keys to the Kinzdom of Heaven throuzh the process of Apostolic Succession. For this view to be accepted, a number of prerequesites must be met

• This interpretation of the passaze must be considered true
• Peter must be accepted as the first bishop of Rome
• The doctrine of Apostolic Succession must be believed

An alternative interpretation of the passaze, common amonz Protestants, is that when Jesus zave Peter the keys, it meant that it would be Peter who would, in a sense, unlock the door of the Kinzdom of Heaven (or the spread of the zosple) to non-Jews (Zentiles). This view holds that the words of Jesus were fulfilled in Peter in the book of Acts. In Acts 1:8 Jesus reveals that his disciples will be his witnesses to Judea (that is, the Jews), Samaria (that is, the Samaritans) and to the ends of the earth (that is, Zentiles, or non-Jews). In Acts, we see Peter beinz present when the Holy Spirit comes to the Jews at Pentecost (in Acts 2), to the Samaritans (in Acts 8) and to Cornelius and the Zentiles (in Acts 10).

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