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| Peter: The First Pope?"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 (Matthew 16:18)." Says WhoThe Roman Catholic "Church" teaches that Peter was the first Bishop of Rome (or Pope), and that all other Pope's are Peter's successors. "The Pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter’s successor, 'is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful.' For the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has FULL, SUPREME and UNIVERSAL POWER over the whole Church, a power which he can ALWAYS exercise UNHINDERED.” (Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church, Page 254) Substitute of ChristThis is a bold claim to make. From where and from whom did he get this authority and power? From God? How do you know that? Do you know what is in a man’s heart? I don’t think so. Are you willing to trust what this man says, or any other man, or me for that matter? You had better check these things out for yourself. Go to the source of truth, God’s Word. This man, like all men, is a wicked sinner, yet, he claims to be the Vicar of Christ. In other words the substitute of Christ. The Elementary Edition, Webster’s New World Dictionary defines Vicar like this: “Vicar - a person who acts in place of another; substitute”. That is blasphemous, to make the claim that he is the substitute for Christ. Not a single one of us deserves the grace of God, nor do we deserve the pre-eminence. Only Christ has that right. All the righteousness that man can muster up is nothing but filthy, putrid rags. The Whole TruthThe entire stupendous Papal system is built on ONE verse of Scripture. Remove that ONE pillar and the whole system will collapse. That one verse is found in Matthew chapter 16:18. This is called pyramid building-upside down. Any living thing with two heads is a monster!! Rome took ONE verse of Scripture and builds her "church" upon a foundation of sand. Jesus said to Satan: "Man shall not live by bread alone but by EVERY Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (Luke 4:4). In other words we look at ALL the verses in the Bible to get the whole TRUTH about any subject. The Play on WordsWhen Jesus first saw Peter this is what happened: "He (Andrew) brought him to Jesus and when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A Stone" (John 1: 42). Halfway through the ministry of Jesus, in Matthew 16, Jesus asked his disciples what people were saying about Him: Peter answered that question correctly when he said: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Peter's CONFESSION OF FAITH IN CHRIST is the ROCK upon which the true church is built - not Peter the STONE, which is what Rome claims. Peter: Unperfected StoneJesus told Peter, “...thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew (16:18) The New Testament was written in Greek, the language of the 3rd universal Empire. The meaning is even clearer in that great language. It says that Jesus said to Peter: "Thou art Petros, and upon this Petra, I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Jesus was using a play on words, “thou art Peter (Petros = little stone), and upon this rock (petra = large rock) I will build my church...” Jesus referred to Peter as a little stone, and to Himself as a large rock. Jesus is the chief corner stone, He was referring to Himself, the large rock, in which the church would be built upon, not Peter. It is Jesus Christ that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against, not sinful, weak, mortal man. In the very same chapter Jesus turns to Peter and calls him Satan because Peter had tried to turn Jesus away from going to the Cross to die for sinners: "But he turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offense unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men" (Matt. 16:23). Peter: Unperfected Stone. . . but Still LeaderAt the last supper, just before Jesus went to the cross, the disciples were arguing among themselves as to who should be the greatest (Luke 22:24). If Jesus had made Peter the head, why didn't the other disciples know about it. Some secret. Peter had a BIG mouth....He never told the others about his supremacy? All Peter had to do to end the argument was to remind them that Jesus had made him the head and the leader. Let us hear from Peter himself as he clears up the whole matter: "Behold I lay in Zion a CHIEF CORNER STONE, elect, precious, and he that believeth on HIM shall not be confounded . . .YE ALSO as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood . . ." (I Peter 2: 5-6). ConclusionALL who make a right confession of faith like Peter, become living stones in the church built upon "the foundation of the apostles and prophets Jesus Christ himself, being the CHIEF CORNER STONE" (Ephesians 2:20). Not ONE early church father, in their writings, ever even hint that Jesus made Peter the head of the church. Such silence is deafening. The first person to propose such an outrageous idea was a Bishop of Rome in the 4th century. Over 300 years after Christ! Peter, far from claiming supremacy for himself said that the Emperor was supreme. "Submit yourself to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme (I Peter 2:13)." Moses said this 3500 years ago: "For their rock is not as our Rock" (Deut. 32:31). "For who is God save the Lord? or who is a ROCK save our God" (Psalm 18:31). Soli Deo Gloria, Wai [Last edited March 28, 2002]
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