The Church and Authority: Part 4 Petrine Primacy (The Pope)

There may be no bigger contention between Catholics and Protestants, besides maybe salvation, than the doctrine of the Pope. There are many different arguments against the Pope from Protestants such as “Petros only means pebble” or “Peter was never in Rome.” Unfortunately my desire to keep each article short (about 1,000 words) does not give me a lot of room to cover each issue, therefore, I will focus on Peter’s Primacy since it keeps with the topic of this series best.

The Protestant argument:
Premise 1: Nowhere in the New Testament are any of the apostles recorded as passing on their apostolic authority to successors.
Premise 2: The teaching of Scripture nowhere declares that Peter was in authority over the other apostles, or over the church or in other words having primacy.
Conclusion: Therefore, Peter was not the first Pope and did not pass down any authority.

Premise 1 was looked at in Part 3 of this series. The premise was found wanting since there is plenty of evidence that the apostles passed on authority (2 Timothy 2:2). We also saw that historically the apostles had successors.

With Premise 2, we have to assume that Scripture is the only authority however in Part 2 we have shown that this is not true. There is evidence that Peter was given something special that the other Apostles were not. Here is a comparison between Matthew 16:19 and Matthew 18:18:

Matthew 16:19: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,[e] and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Matthew 18:18: “Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Both Peter and the rest of the Apostles were given the power to bind and loose (authority in its own right) but Peter was specifically given the keys to the kingdom. This harkens back to Isaiah’s prophesy.

Isaiah 22:22-23: “And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him like a peg in a sure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father’s house.

In the context of this passage in Isaiah, we have to understand what the keys represent. They represent the steward of the Kingdom. This connotes a position of great authority over the people in the Kingdom. There is very little doubt amongst both Protestant and Catholic scholars that Jesus had this in mind when in Matthew 16:19 he gave Peter the keys. The Protestant position must have a good explanation as to why Peter was given the keys while the other apostles were not if they want to keep to the non-Petrine Primacy doctrine.

Jesus prays that Peter will strengthen the faith of the other Apostles and is commanded to feed Christ’s sheep. No other Apostle is given such an important task by Jesus:

Luke 22:32: “but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren.”

John 21:15-17: “When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, 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.” A second time he said to him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, 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 everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”

Peter is the first to proclaim the Gospel and takes charge at the council of Jerusalem:

Acts 2:14: “But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.”

Acts 15:7: “And after there had been much debate, Peter rose and said to them, “Brethren, you know that in the early days God made choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.”

While the Protestant position contends that there is no evidence of the Petrine Primacy, there seems to be a good amount of Scriptural evidence it is just a matter of accepting it. Understanding the keys of the Kingdom is key in this understanding. The tasks of feeding Christ’s sheep and Peter strengthening his brethren aid in understanding the gravity of the office of the Pope. Peter then stepping up at the council and Pentecost shows us what the leader of the Apostles is bound to do.

Concluding argument with articles associated with each premise:
Premise 1: The Church is founded by Christ.
Premise 2: There is one visible and invisible Church (http://www.catholic365.com/article/2576/the-church-and-authority-part-1-one-visible-church.html)
Premise 3: The Church authoritatively teaches the truth which is infallible. (http://www.catholic365.com/article/2660/authority-part-2-doctrine-and-the-church.html)
Premise 4: The Church passes on its authority in what Catholics call Apostolic Succession. (Part 3 has not been published yet.)
Premise 5: The Church has a first among equals. (This article)
Premise 6: The Catholic Church meets all five previous premises.
Conclusion: Therefore, the Catholic Church is the one true Church.

If you have a suggestion for an apologetic article please leave a comment and I will do my best to get to it or a similar topic. I will also credit you with the question.