Tu es Petrus: The authority of Peter and the Papacy

Over the last couple of weeks we have taken a look at a couple of the main differences between Catholics and our Protestant brothers and sisters. Please understand that I do not point out these differences in an effort to degrade or insult anyone, only to point out how the Catholic Church has been blessed with the fullness of the Truth. This isn’t to say that other denominations don’t make better use of the truth that they do have than Catholics, but nothing can change the fact that both historically and doctrinally the Catholics Church is the only Church that was founded by Jesus Christ. All that being said, the Pope, Church authority, and our dependence on sacred tradition have always been sticking points for dialogue with our protestant friends. In fact, they were part of the basis for Martin Luther choosing to leave the Catholic Church in the first place. Now I am not going to deny that there have been some real jerks that have sat on the chair of St. Peter, but no matter how much personal holiness they may have lacked, they never changed a single Catholic doctrine. In Mathew 16:13-19 Jesus tells Simon, “You are Peter [Rock] and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” The keys to the kingdom represent the complete authority of Christ. Knowing that he will be crucified, rise from the dead, and ascend into heaven; Jesus has put Peter in charge of things. We can also look at the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15 where the early Church was trying to decide whether or not Gentiles were required to follow the Mosaic Law as well as the Law of Christ. There was a lot of discussion, but after Peter spoke, the assembly fell silent. Peter’s statement ended the discussion for everyone, so it is obvious that the early Christians recognized his authority as final. Just as God established the Mosaic priesthood in the Old Testament (2Chr 19:11, Mal 2:7) to be a living, continuing authority, he does the same with Peter and the other Apostles. In John 21:15-17, It is Peter who is made the shepherd of Christ’s flock. Peter is the rock on which Christ builds his Church, and he has been given the authority of Jesus, as well as his mission as shepherd. All this provides solid biblical evidence for the authority of the papacy. The Church can trace our Popes back in an unbroken line all the way back to Peter.Even historically the early Christians and the Church Fathers all recognized the authority of the Bishop of Rome. Another question that may arise in a discussion about the authority of the papacy might revolve around the idea of Papal Infallibility. Papal Infallibility is where the Pope, when teaching on matters of faith and morals, is incapable of teaching error. Many Protestants and even a few Catholics get this doctrine wrong and think it means that we are required to agree with the Pope on everything, which isn’t true. It only applies to teachings on faith and morals. If you think that red is better than blue, and the Holy Father’s favorite color happens to be blue, it is still ok to disagree without running the risk of excommunication.

Apologetics round 2: Flaws in sola Scriptura

For those of you who don’t know, the doctrine of sola scriptura means “scripture alone” and was one of the main doctrines of the Protestant Reformation back in the 16th century. Essentially it means that anything and everything you need to know about Christianity can be found in the Bible. You don’t need a Pope or a Church to tell you what to believe, just go straight to the Bible. Anything or anyone that claims to have authority equal to that found in scripture is wrong and trying to lead you astray with man made rules. As Catholics we can often be taken aback by such statements and sometimes even agree to them if we are not thinking rationally. First we have to start off with the question of “which came first, the Church or the Bible?” If we follow the idea of sola scriptura to its logical conclusion then when Jesus ascended into heaven he must have left the early Christians a fully complete version of the New Testament so they would know how to act. This, of course, is a ridiculous idea. The New Testament was written down after Christ, and if you read last weeks article on how the Bible was put together then you know all about it. As Catholics we believe that we have Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium (teaching authority) all to guide us, not just the Bible. However, for the sake of discussion, let’s take a look at what the Bible itself says about such things as Tradition. First we have to remember that not everything Jesus said and did is recorded in scripture (Jn 21:25) and we are also called to hold fast to the oral traditions, the preached word of God (1 Cor 11:2, 1 Pet 1:25) Paul specifically states in 2 Thessalonians “Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.” Both the written traditions and the oral traditions were considered by the early Church to be key in living the Christian lifestyle. And why would Paul even be writing to the Thessalonians unless he had some kind of authority over them liturgically? If all we need is the Bible, then we are in big trouble. Ever since this idea came about 500 years ago (give or take) Christianity has split into over 30,000 different denominations, with only the Catholic Church holding fast to Sacred Scripture and the Traditions handed down by the Apostles. As Catholics we are truly blessed to have the Church there to help us interpret scripture. Peter tells us that it can be difficult to interpret scripture correctly(2 Pet 3:15-16) and God has not abandoned us to our ignorance. So, if you are curious about what a verse means in the Bible, or something just doesn’t seem to make sense, come into the parish library and look it up , and remember, BE NOT AFRAID.