THE POPE

In the Catholic Church there is a great amount of emphasis put upon Peter and the successors of Peter - the Popes. Is there any scriptural and historical evidence to support this practice? Yes. Let us look at the evidence from the Bible first.

1. Whenever we find a list of the apostles we find that Peter is always named first.

   a. "Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter..." (Matthew 10:2)

   b. "Then He appointed twelve,... Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter,..." (Mark 3:14-19

   c. "And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also names apostles: Simon, whom He named Peter,..." (Luke 6:13-16)

   d. "And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John,..." (Acts 1:13)

2. At times, Peter is the only one mentioned. "But Peter and those with him..." (Luke 9:32)

3. Peter was usually the one who spoke for the apostles.

   a. "Then Peter come to Him and said,..." (Matthew 18:21)

   b. "... and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, 'Who do men say that I am?'... 'But who do you say that I am?' Peter answered and said to Him, 'You are the Christ.' " (Mark 8:27-29)

   c. "Then Peter said to Him, 'Lord do you speak this parable only for us, or to all people?' " (Luke 12:41)

   d. "Then Jesus said to the twelve, 'Do you also want to go away?' But Simon Peter answered Him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' " (John 6:67-69)

   e. "And Peter answered Him and said, 'Lord, if it is you, command me to come to You on the water.' So He said, 'Come.' And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, 'Lord, save me!' And immediately Jesus stretched His hand and caught him, and said to him, 'O you of little faith, why did you doubt?' And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.' " (Matthew 14:28-32)

   f. "When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, 'Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?' " (Matthew 17:24)

   g. "Then Peter began to say to Him, 'See, we have left all and followed You.' " (Mark 10:28)

4. When the Holy Spirit came on the first Pentecost, Peter was the first to speak to the people who gathered. "But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them..." (Acts 2:14-40)

5. Peter performed the first miracle. "Then Peter said, 'Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.' And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength." (Acts 3:6-7)

6. Peter was the one who received the revelation that the Gentiles were to be baptized. "Then Peter answered, 'Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?' And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord." (Acts 10:46-48)

The following is a very important passage of Scripture dealing with Jesus and Peter.

"Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' Jesus answered and said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and bones has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.' " (Matthew 16:16-19)

Here, the Father revealed to Peter that Jesus was the "anointed one," the Son of the Living God, and Peter expresses this. Jesus calls Simon Peter the son of Jonah, Jonah being the prophet (messenger of God) who led the people of Nineveh to repentance, so too, Simon Peter would lead people to repentance and a closer relationship with God.

Then Jesus changes Simon's name to Peter when he says, "You are Peter, and on this rock..." It is like saying "You are Rock and on this rock I will build My Church." "Peter" means "rock." In the language which Jesus and the church in Palestine spoke, Aramaic, the two words are identical, "You are the KEPHA, and on this KEPHA I will build My church." Jesus says that He will build His Church on Peter, the rock. We know this Church is to be a visible church, because Jesus says in Matthew 18:17, "And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector." Jesus goes on to say that the gates of Hades shall not prevail against His Church. In other words, death would not overcome His Church. It would always continue. When Peter would die, another would take his place. Satan would not be able to take over the office of Peter because it would be protected by God.

The "keys of the kingdom" are a symbol of authority given only to the most trusted servant. If one had the keys it meant that when he shut, nobody could open, and when he opened, nobody could shut. If one had the keys to a city, it meant that he could let in or out whomever he wished. A similar idea is in Isaiah 22. "The key of the house of David I will lay on his (Eliakim) shoulder; So he shall open and no one shall shut; And he shall shut, and no one shall open." (Isaiah 22:22)

Jesus gave Peter the power to "bind" and "loose." That means that Peter has the power to make the rules for the visible church on earth. Of course he cannot change the rules given to us by God, but he can make rules in support of what God has revealed, e.g., how long we are to fast before we receive Holy Communion.

Jesus also gave the power to bind and loose to the apostles. However, it was only Peter who got the "keys" - the symbol of supreme authority. And that is why the successor of Peter today, the Pope, has the supreme authority in the Church. Just as in Isaiah 22:20-24, the office remains even when the occupant changes.

We have other examples from Scripture pointing out the special position of Peter.

"And the Lord said, 'Simon, Simon!' Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.' " (Luke 22:31-32)

Jesus prayed that Peter's faith would never fail, and that he would be a guide to the others. Here we see the role of leadership that Peter and his successors, the Popes, would have in relationship to the other Apostles and their successors, the bishops.

Turning to John's Gospel, we find: "So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?' He said to Him, 'Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.' He said to him, 'Feed My lambs.' He said to him again a second time, 'Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?' He said to Him, 'Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.' He said to him the third time, 'Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?' Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, 'Do you love Me?' And he said to Him, 'Lord you know all things; You know that I love You!' Jesus said to him, 'Feed My sheep.' " (John 21:15-17)

Peter proclaimed three times that he loved Jesus in order to make up for the three times he denied Jesus. Then Jesus, who is the Good Shepherd, gave Peter full authority when He said, "Feed My sheep."

What does history tell us about Peter and his successors as the visible head of the Church on earth?

There is overwhelming historical evidence that Peter went to Rome, and was Bishop of Rome. He was martyred there in 64 or 67 A.D. and was succeeded as Bishop of Rome by Linus, who had been ordained by Peter. The Apostle John was still alive in Ephesus (in modern day Turkey). John would have been the logical successor to Peter as head of the Church, but he never claimed that position. About ten years later, Anacletus (Cletus) succeeded Linus. Clement I followed him around 90 A.D. John the Apostle was still alive, but still did not put himself as head of the Church.

In 96 A.D., Clement I, Bishop of Rome, wrote a letter to the Christian Church in Corinth. This is the first Christian document that we have outside of the New Testament. It was preserved for centuries with great care, and was frequently read. The letter is of tremendous importance because it shows that the successors of St. Peter as Bishop of Rome had authority over the whole Church. The letter was written to settle disputes which had arisen among the Christians in Corinth. Clement knew Peter personally and mentioned his martyrdom in Rome as a fact to all Christians. He then writes about the apostolic succession:

"The apostles preached the gospel to us from the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ, therefore, is from God, and the apostles are from Christ... as they (the apostles) preached, therefore, in the countryside and in the cities, they appointed their first fruits - and having tested them through the Spirit - to be bishops and deacons of the future believers."

He goes on to warn the Corinthians about the dangers of friction among themselves, and then ends his warning with this very important sentence.

"If some shall disobey the words which have been spoken by Him (Christ) through us (Clement) let them know that they will involve themselves in no small transgression and danger."

Also, the fact that the Corinthians preserved this letter and read it frequently on Sundays shows that they accepted Clement's authority over them. Something else can be pointed out also. The language in Corinth was Greek. Rome was Latin-speaking. Normally, no one from the West would have authority in the East - but Clement's authority was accepted. It was accepted because he was the successor of St. Peter and head of the whole Church. All this happened before the death of many who knew St. Peter in Rome. They knew what Peter taught, and how he was accepted by Christians as holding the keys to the kingdom of heaven which Jesus Christ had given to him. They accepted Peter as the chief of the Apostles, and they accepted the Bishop of Rome as successor of Peter and Chief Bishop.

Interesting facts about the Pope

St. Peter was the first Pope. There have been 264 Popes in the almost 2000 year history of the Church. The list is provided in the previous pages. The word "Pope" is from the Greek word pappas which means "Father."

The title "Servant of the Servants of God" began to be applied to the successor of St. Peter in the time of St. Marcellinus (304 A.D.). The title "Vicar of Christ" means "Representative of Christ." The Pope signs his name Joannes Paulus PP II. This is the Latin for John Paul II. The "P.P." stands for Papa Pontifex. Papa means "father." Pontifex comes from the Latin words Pons (a bridge), and facere (to make or to build). So, the Pope is a bridge builder between earth and heaven.

Eighty-one Popes have been canonized, or declared to be saints. Seven have been beatified, or declared "Blessed." This is a step toward canonization. There have been 38 anti-popes.

The longest pontificate was that of Pius IX (1846 - 78) - 32 years. The shortest was that of Stephen II (752 A.D.) - only one day. The oldest Pope was Adrian I (772 A.D.) who was elected at the age of 80. The youngest pope was Benedict IX (1032 A.D.), 12 years old. He was elected pope three times.

The most frequently taken names by men elected pope: John, 23 times; Gregory, 16 times; and Benedict, 15 times. Forty-three names were used only once.

Pope Marcellus II, 1555, was the last pope to keep his baptismal name. Pope John Paul I, 1978, was the first pope to choose a double name. Pope John Paul II is the first Polish pope, and the first non-Italian pope in 455 years (Adrian IV, 1522 - 23, was from Holland).