The Papacy is the boast and foundation of the Church of Rome. The Papacy is
the pride and joy of ordinary Catholics, giving them, it is stated, a direct
link to Jesus Christ. The World loves the Papacy. The Papacy is to the world
what the monarchy is to Britain. The Papacy claims that the Church was founded
on the Apostle Peter alone, that he was the first bishop of Rome and that all
of his authority belongs now to the Pope and Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church.
This is the lynch pin of the whole of Roman Catholicism. In the official words
of Rome,
“The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the ‘rock’
of his Church….This pastoral office of Peter and the other apostles belongs
to the Church’s very foundation and is continued by the bishops under
the primacy of the Pope.” [1]
A Catholic WebPage boasts of “264 Popes from St. Peter to Pope John Paul
II…the history of the Papacy” showing on one page the “unique
direct link” Catholics have to Jesus. [2] The whole Roman Catholic structure
is based on three false presuppositions:
1. That the text of Mathew 16:16-20 means that Peter was the foundation of the
Church, that the Church was built on him;
2. That Peter went to Rome and was the first bishop in Rome;
3. That Peter’s successors are the bishops of Rome under the primacy of
the Pope.
If even one of these presuppositions is a lie, then the Church of Rome has no
foundation. Biblically speaking all three presuppositions are fabrications,
as we will show.
(It is also worth mentioning that the list of Popes given by Rome is a constructed
fiction. First at the beginning, there was a plurality of leadership with the
elders of the Chruch of Rome, and not one single bishop. Then right through
history in the battles between two or more claiming to be Pope at the same time,
it was the key player who won the day, not the one with the most evidence as
to having been lawfully chosen by the people.)
Presupposition 1: The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the 'rock'
of his Church, i.e. foundation of His Church.
“And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God. 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. 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. 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. Then charged he his disciples that they
should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.” Matthew 16:16-20).
The principal theme of this passage is the different comprehensions made of
Jesus in His time. Whatever others perceived Him to be, plainly, the disciples
had a distinct knowledge of Him as Peter responded spontaneously on their behalf.
The Lord attributes his intuitive knowledge that He was “The Christ”
(Anointed-Messiah) and “The Son of the Living God” (Co-eternal with
the Father and therefore likewise God) to a revelation from His Father in heaven.
So the Lord responded to Peter in particular and testified of the origin of
the revelation and declared that this profession would become the rock, or foundation
stone, upon which He would build His Church. “Upon this rock” can
only refer to this revelation, which was clearly expressed in Peter’s
profession. This cannot be argued against, as it is the very concluding subject
of the Lord’s charge to the disciples, “Then charged he his disciples
that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.” To hold the
view that Peter himself is the rock, is to deliberately pervert the plain sense
of the Lord’s own words. To purport that the Church was built on a man,
and not the revelation from God, is to insult the wisdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In himself the Apostle Peter was the foundation for nothing, being called “Satan,”
[3] or adversary, by the Lord Himself, and the one whom the Apostle Paul rebuked
to his face for compromising the Gospel message. [4]
The Holy Spirit confirmed the true meaning of the verse by having it written
in Greek. The word for Peter in Greek is petros. It is masculine in gender and
signifies a piece of rock, larger than a stone. In contrast the word for rock
in Greek petra. It is feminine in gender and massive in size, indicating bedrock
and immovable. What the Lord declared was to be founded on the massive rock.
There is an utter contrast between a piece of rock and the bedrock. That bedrock
in the text is the God given revelation by the Father in heaven.
Fitting perfectly with this key factor of revelation, Jesus being the Christ
and the very Son of God as the rock on which the Church is built, is the distinct
commission given to Peter in verse 19. “Unto thee”, that is to Peter
personally, was given the “keys of the kingdom of heaven.” This
prophetic declaration of the Lord was literally fulfilled. Peter was made the
first instrument of opening the same revelation to the Jews, “God hath
made that same Jesus... both Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2:36) and to the
Gentiles, (Acts 10:34-44). The power of the keys was concerning the same revelation,
Jesus being the Christ and the Son of God, and the initial proclamation of this
revelation to the Jews and to the Gentiles. It was fulfilled in the Apostle
Peter and in him alone. There can be no successors to this prophetic commission,
since there was but one first opening of the kingdom for the Jews as for the
Gentiles. The second part of verse 19 was a commission for the responsibility
of binding and loosening. This is concerning Church discipline and was given
as well to the other Apostles as is seen in Matthew 18:18.
The whole focus therefore of the Matthew 16:16-20 text is on the divinity of
Jesus as “the Son of the living God,” and His role as Messiah or
Christ, this is the rock on which the Church is built.
The Preposterous claims for a Pontiff Christ
The Roman Catholic Church takes this passage, Matthew 16:16-20, to mean that
Peter as first Pope had the Divine attribute of infallibility, and that he also
is the Christ, as having the title of “the true vicar of Christ. ”
[5] This interpretation amounts to understanding the Lord’s words to Peter
to mean in that he, Peter, was also “the Son of the living God”
and “the Christ”. While such an absurd claim is not said in these
words (if it were it would be seen as a silly and preposterous doctrine) this
is the whole import of what Rome decrees for Peter and his so called successors.
To take the doctrine of Christ’s being “the Son of the living God
and the Christ” and apply it to Peter and his claimed successors as Roman
Pontiff is a most horrendous mimic of the offices of Christ. This is precisely
what the Church of Rome does. However, Rome not only claims the divine attribute
of infallibility for her Pope, which is equivalent to being “Son of the
living God”, she goes further to decree that the Pope is rightly called
“Most Holy,” [6] and the “Holy Father”. [7] Not content
to have the divine attribute of infallibility, she wishes the Pope also to have
the very title of the first person of the Trinity.
Christ’s power and the Pontiff Christ’s power
Jesus as the Christ has full, supreme, and universal power. All over the world
people believe on Him, on His incarnation, His divine nature, His perfect life,
His finished atonement, His resurrection, and His ascension. The Church of Rome
claims the same power due to the Divine Christ, for her Pope,
“For the Roman Pontiff,….as pastor of the entire Church has full,
supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always
exercise unhindered.” [8]
Consequent to Christ Jesus being the very Son of God, is the necessity for every
human creature to be entirely subject to Him in faith and practice. This is
what Rome also holds for her Supreme Pontiff, the Pope,
“Furthermore, we declare, say, define, and proclaim to every human creature
that they by necessity for salvation are entirely subject to the Roman Pontiff.”
[9]
The very fullness of grace and truth belong to Christ Jesus, by nature as divine,
and in His earned righteousness as a substitute for those who are His own. The
fullness of grace and truth belong to Him alone. “Grace and truth came
by Jesus Christ,” the Apostle John proclaims “and of his fullness
have all we received, and grace for grace.” Believers receive grace for
grace but the very fountain; the very fullness of grace and truth belongs to
Christ Jesus alone. All that went before Christ Jesus was but typical and in
representation, and all that comes after Him is but a reflection of the glory
that is His alone.
The Pontiff Christ is not content to claim supreme, and universal power over
the whole Church, he alleges that the Church, his Papal domain, has been allotted
the very fullness of grace and truth. “…the very fullness of grace
and truth entrusted to the Catholic Church,” [10] is how it has been officially
worded. The conclusion is obvious and is many times expressed by the Pontiff
Christ, “There is no offense, however serious, that the Church cannot
forgive.” [11]
The Pontiff Christ wants be known as “The Holy Father” and for the
world to know that he is infallible and inerrant and has supreme universal power.
The domain from which he works he declares to be “the very fullness of
grace and truth.” There could not be any more horrendous speaking against
the Christ as in these claims. There could not be any greater misappropriation
by lying pretences of Divine authority than this. Nor could there be a more
complete usurpation of Christ’s offices than what these ridiculous claims
assume. As Satan of old, the Pontiff Christ has established his throne, and
makes himself to be equal to God and purports to have a domain that is the very
fullness of all righteousness. This is the definition of the Antichrist as given
by the Apostle John, “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is
the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.” [12]
The Pontiff Christ, assuming the title of “The Holy Father” denies
the Father, and in assuming to have Christ’s realm of the very fullness
of grace and truth, he has denied the Son. The sin of the Pontiff is nothing
short of the sin of Satan as recorded in Isaiah 14: 14, “I will be like
the Host High.”
These claims are outrageous enough, but the Pontiff goes even further still.
He claims the power to judge in the temporal sphere, even those who hold the
highest civil office in a state. This he forthrightly proclaims in his present
day law,
“It is the right of the Roman Pontiff himself alone to judge…those
who hold the highest civil office in a state;...” [13]
Christ declared emphatically “my kingdom is not of this world. ”
[14] However, since the time of the infamous Pope Boniface VIII, the Pontiff
Christ stipulates that both spiritual and temporal power belongs to him,
“And we are taught by evangelical words that in this power of his [Peter
and his successors] are two swords, namely spiritual and temporal....Therefore,
each is in the power of the Church, that is, a spiritual and a material sword.
But the latter, indeed, must be exercised for the [Roman Catholic] Church, the
former by the Church. The former (by the hand) of the priest, the latter by
the hand of kings and soldiers, but at the will and sufferance of the priest.
For it is necessary that a sword be under a sword and that temporal authority
be subject to spiritual power....” [15]
The end result of the interpretation of the Church of Rome concerning what Christ
said to Peter, is the creation of a Pontiff Christ who is also “The Holy
Father”, with inerrant infallible teaching authority, and power, and that
over all creatures in both spiritual and temporal realms. Such an absurd office
was foretold by the Apostle Paul when he prophesied, "The son of perdition,
who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped;
so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God”
[16] In place of “the Christ, the Son of the living God” there has
been constructed, the Pontiff Christ, the son of perdition. The Papacy in its
core office and institutional essence, professes itself to be an entire substitute
for the true Christ and His work. It must therefore be identified and denounced
in accordance with Holy Scripture as the seat of Antichrist.
Presupposition 1, that the Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the ‘rock’
of his Church, is not only a proven lie, but the superstructure of infallible
Pontiff Christs, with full, supreme, and universal power reigning sovereign,
is shown to be the age old pretense of Satan. This is the Antichrist as represented
in Revelation 17:4-5, as seated in Babylon, the spiritual seat of arrogance,
oppression, and pride.
Presupposition 2. That Peter went to Rome and was the first bishop in Rome
The Scripture is utterly silent about the Apostle Peter going to Rome. His visits
to Samaria, Lydda, Joppa, Caesarea and Antioch were carefully recorded. But
there is simply no mention made of his going to Rome, which is essential to
establish the Roman Catholic position. If it had been of any importance, the
Holy Spirit would have had it documented it in the New Testament. This omission
underlines the truth that his going there had no significance at the beginning
of Christianity. In his letter to the Romans the Apostle Paul makes no mention
of Peter when he salutes by name many in the Church of Rome. Undoubtedly therefore,
he had not come there by that time. The same apostle Paul, being at Rome in
the reign of emperor Nero, never once mentions Peter in any of his letters written
from Rome to the churches and to Timothy, although he does remember very many
others who were with him in the city. This proves that the Apostle Peter was
not in the city at that time. The fact that some extra Biblical sources speak
of Peter visiting Rome is of no consequence, since certainty cannot be built
on such writings. It is very significant that even those writings, which say
he went to Rome, give any no evidence that he was ever Bishop of Rome. Peter
may have been at Rome, and may have preached the Gospel there; he may have died
there. All these are possible conjectures but not the fabric on which faith
is based, which is the Written Word of the Lord. If the apostle Peter did visit
Rome, it was to preach the Gospel there, but what we know from the Scripture
is that he never fixed his office in the city as the first Bishop of Rome. The
second presupposition of the Roman Catholic Church is therefore a lie, pure
and simple.
Presupposition 3: That Peter’s successors are the bishops of Rome under
the primacy of the Pope.
In Scripture there is no mention of successors to Peter or the Apostles. The
criterion for apostleship is given in Acts 1:21-22. The position of the Apostles
was unique to them and to Paul, all directly chosen by Christ Jesus with no
hint of succession. In the New Testament, the Apostles appointed elders and
deacons, and not a line of Apostles. [17]
Nonetheless, the Roman Catholic Church attempts to defend her position in the
name of personal succession from the Apostles. [18] If one wants to use the
concept of “apostolic succession”, the true successors of the Apostles
are those who hold to the doctrine of the Apostles. Those who continue “steadfastly
in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and
in prayers.” [19] If that doctrinal foundation is destroyed, instead of
apostolic faith one has apostasy. “Apostolic succession” without
apostolic doctrine is a fraud. It is only Biblical doctrine that makes one wise
unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. What clearly shows that the Bishops
of Rome are not Peter’s successors is the fact that much of their doctrine
is of a pagan origin rather than of a Biblical origin. For example, “Communion
with the dead” is taught in the Roman Catholic Church. [20] This Pagan
Practice is strictly forbidden in the Bible. If one actually investigates “succession”
within Roman Catholicism, the evidence of a sequence from Pagan Rome is what
emerges as obvious. The Roman Emperor gave the present title “Summum Pontifex”
to the Pope. The Roman Catholic tyrannical monarchy, hierarchical power structure,
its court, nobles, ambassadors, legislature, jurisprudence, laws, advocates
and treaties are all not of Biblical origin but from its roots in the pagan
Roman Empire. In the words of St. John Damascene, “As the holy Fathers
overthrew the temples and shrines of the devils, and raised in their places
shrines in the names of Saints and we worship them, so also they overthrew the
images of the devils, and in their stead raised images of Christ, and God’s
Mother, and the Saints.” [21] The Roman Catholic Papacy throughout history
overlaid paganism with the externals of Biblical names and practices. The real
roots of the Papacy are those of the Roman Emperor and not the Lord Christ Jesus.
The Lord commanded, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over
them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But
ye shall not be so.” [22] Christ absolutely proscribed all domination
in his kingdom. The same condemnation of worldly ways was repeated by the Apostle
Peter, “Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples
to the flock.” [23] The Roman Catholic Church is not the successor to
St Peter, but rather to the Roman Empire and her hierarchical and totalitarian
control.
Conclusion
In the book of Revelation the Apostle John portrays the fourth, or ten-horned
beast as representing the Roman Empire. The angel himself so interprets it.
The Papacy belongs to the second or ecclesiastical stage of the Roman Empire.
In Chapter 17, John beholds the ten-horned beast bearing a mystical woman, dressed
in purple and scarlet, decked with gold, precious stones, and pearls, a harlot,
and the mother of harlots and abominations. The guilty seducer of kings, the
cruel persecutor of saints; intoxicated, with the blood of the saints and of
the martyrs of Jesus. There are too many details to find any other fulfillment
outside the Church of Rome. She is the only Church that is also a City, a Civil
State and that sits also on the Seven Hills. [24] Her official colors are scarlet
and purple. [25] For 605 years her fires of the Inquisition kindled in every
country in Europe. Those years of cruelty and torture speak of her and none
else. She has made war with the saints, and overcome them, and worn them out,
and would have totally crushed and annihilated them, but for the sustaining
hand of the Lord God. History corresponds to prophecy as deep calls to deep.
Throughout history here has been only one apostate Mistress of the world; the
one Babylon the great, the one City is that is a Harlot.
Her traditions bring into the worship of God unholy water mixed with oil and
salt, the smells of charcoal and incense, the lives of frustrated celibate men
and women, and idolatry that God hates. Worst of all, and the hallmark of her
apostasy, is the fact that she is the only system that has officially cursed
all who hold to the Gospel of Christ, she affirmed and still avows,
“If anyone shall say that justifying faith is nothing else than confidence
in the divine mercy which remits sins for Christ's sake, or that it is this
confidence alone by which we are justified: let him be anathema [cursed]”
[26]
She also is the only corporate body in which her people “crucify to themselves
the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” [27] This is dramatically
done in each of her Eucharistic Masses, in which she maintain that,
“The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single
sacrifice: ‘The victim is one and the same: the same now offers through
the ministry of priests, who then offered himself on the cross;…’”
[28] The faithful participate…when they whole heartedly offer the sacred
victim, and in it themselves, to the Father…” [29]
She sits on the Papacy, and that Papacy is about to have John Paul II retire
or die, so that a new head may reign on which she can continue to seduce the
world. It is time for God’s people to awaken from sleep and call her what
she is, “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS
OF THE EARTH.” [30]
As she the Harlot awaits the retirement or death of her present Pope, we must
remember that his office as the Pontiff Christ in not merely a position that
spiritually supplants Christ Jesus the Lord. The Pontiff’s power is also
temporal and political with ambassadors, civil concordats, with civil rights
and power in real estate, education, medicine, and commerce, menacing the very
political freedom of a Nation. Believing on Christ and believing on the Pontiff
Christ are totally opposite, and incompatible. Wherever one has an “altar”
instead of a communion table, a “priest” instead of a preacher,
ceremonials instead of sound doctrine, sacraments instead of saving grace, traditions
instead of the Written Word of God, you have encountered the system of the Pontiff
Christ and not the Church of the living God. As we see the Harlot woman announce
to the world that the Pontiff’s seat is vacant and awaiting election of
a new Pope by her cardinals, know that one is seeing the seat of Satan, from
which the Pontiff Christ reigns. “Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye
children, and attend to the words of my mouth. Let not thine heart decline to
her ways, go not astray in her paths. For she hath cast down many wounded: yea,
many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell, going
down to the chambers of death.” [31] The person or the Nation who submits
to her and her Pontiff Christ knows neither life nor freedom. There is freedom
and Eternal Life in the One proclaimed by the Apostle Peter, “Thou art
the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Believe on Him and Him alone “and
have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness” [32] but rather
show the Pontiff Christ to be what was predicted of him, “the son of perdition”
[33] and the woman who rides on him to be none other than “that that great
city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.” [34]
Permission is given by the author to copy this article if it is done in its
entirety without any changes.
Richard Bennett, Berean Beacon. The ministry's Internet WebPage is: www.bereanbeacon.org
[1] Catechism of the Catholic Church (San Francisco, CA: Ignatius
Press, 1994) Para. 881. Catechism hereafter
[2] http://www.popechart.com/ accessed April 15, 2002
[3] Matthew 16:23
[4] Galatians 2:11-14
[5] Henry Denzinger, “Unam Sanctum”, Nov. 18, 1302, The Sourcer
of Catholic Dogma, Tr. By Roy J. Deferrari, 30th ed. of Enchiridion Symbolorum,
rev. by Karl Rahner, S. J. (St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co., 1957) #694. (Hereafter
Denzinger) See also Catechism of the Catholic Church (San Francisco: Ignatius
Press, 1994) #882 & #936.
[6] Denzinger, #649.
[7] The Catholic Encyclopedia, Robert Broderick, ed. (Nashville, TN: Thos. Nelson
Inc., 1976) p. 217.
[8] Catechism Para. 882
[9] Denzinger, #468-469 (Decree of Pope Boniface VIII)
[10]DECLARATION "DOMINUS IESUS" ON THE UNICITY AND SALVIFIC UNIVERSALITY
OF JESUS CHRIST AND THE CHURCH Section 16 September 5th 2000
[11] Catechism, Para. 982.
[12] 1 John 2:22.
[13] Code of Canon Law, Latin-English Ed. (Washington DC: Canon Law Society
of America, 1983) Canon 1405, Sec. 1
[14] John 18:36
[15] Denzinger, #469, Unam Sanctum, November 18, 1302
[16] 2 Thessalonians 2:3,4
[17] The terms overseer and elder/pastor are used interchangeably (Acts 20:17,
28; I Peter 5:1-4).
[18] To the Pharisees of Jesus’ time the Scripture did not mean a finished
revelation. Their basic allegiance was to a “living Torah”. Their
real loyalty was to that living knowledge they claimed came through tradition
from Moses. In precisely the same way, the system of Rome claims a “living
transmission” called Tradition by means of apostolic succession.
[19] Acts 2:42
[20] Catechism Para 958
[21] Quoted by John Henry Cardinal Newman, An Essay on the Development of Christian
Doctrine, (Garden City, NY: Image Books, 1960) p. 355.
[22] Luke 22:25-26
[23] 1 Peter 5:3
[24] The Catholic Encyclopedia Broderick, pp. 528-529.
[25] The Catholic Encyclopedia Broderick, pp. 95-96.
[26] Denzinger #822, Canon 12
[27] Hebrews 6:6
[28] Catechism Para. 1367.
[29] Vatican Council II Documents, No. 9, Eucharisticum Mysterium, 25 May 1967,
Vol. I, Sec. 3, p. 104.
[30] Revelation 17:5
[31] Proverbs 7:24
[32] Ephesians 5:11
[33] 2 Thessalonians 2:3
[34] Revelation 17:18