Our faith is founded on Christ -- this is about Authority.
I'm not misreading it. I read it just fine. The Authority is with Christ. And if any place on earth has authority it would be Jerusalem. Is God going to build a New Rome? OR did He say He would build a New Jerusalem?
Matthew 28:18-20 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
All authority is Christ's by His own words. Therefore, the RCC cannot legitimately claim to have any because it is not Jesus.
Matthew 20:25-28 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
1 Peter 5:1-3 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.
If Peter were indeed the first pope and thought that he had that kind of authority over the others, he most certainly would not have appealed to the others as a fellow elder for their cooperation, it could have just appealed to his authority that the RCC claims Jesus gave him and ordered them to do it.
There is nothing in Scripture, either in the book of Acts or Paul's writings that acknowledges Peter's authority, nor is there anything in Peter's writings that make that claim for himself.
All the claim for the authority that Peter allegedly has is spurious and poorly supported from history.
Yeah... We know...
 'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, ' it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.'
'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things.' 'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master - that's all.' |
Authority of Christianity Is Centered on St. Peter and RomeLike many Catholic "teachers,", this author broad brushes all Christians outside of the Catholic church as Protestants.
All non Jewish people are Gentiles, all non Catholic people are not Protestants.
Newman said it best: "To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant."The obsession with extra-Biblical pronouncements by the Catholic Church leaders has done that, not Protestants.Protestantism as a whole seeks to divorce Christianity from history by rending Gospel message out of its historical context as captured by our Early Church Fathers. One such target of these heresies is to devalue St. Peter and to twist the authority of Rome into a historical mishap within Christianity
There are millions of Christians that do not belong to Protestantism or Catholicism.
They are called "born again"--by themselves and Jesus:
Of course many Catholics and Protestants are born again, that is the sign of true Christianity and fulfillment of the assurity of everlasting life.
SALVATION & THE NEW
BIRTH
How to be Born Again
What is salvation and the new birth (
being born again ) ?
Let us start
by saying that the Bible calls it being "born again".
During Jesus'
ministry here on earth, a rabbi ( teacher of Jewish law ) named Nicodemus came
to interview Jesus
at night and stated, "we all know that God has sent you
to teach us, your miracles alone are proof enough of this.
Jesus then told
him, "That unless a person is born again ( anew, from above
) he cannot
ever see ( know, be acquainted with and experience ) the Kingdom
of God" Nicodemus then said to Jesus,
"how can a man be born when he
is old? Can he enter his mother's womb again and be born?" Jesus answered,
"I tell you, unless a man is born of water and ( even )
the Spirit ( Holy Spirit ), he cannot ( ever ) enter the
Kingdom of God.
What is born of ( from ) the flesh is flesh ( of the physical is physical ) and
what is born of
the Spirit is Spirit", John 3:2-6.
This is
the new birth, what is referred to as being "born again". Jesus Christ paid a
great price ( His life )
by suffering and dying on the cross to pay the
price for every sin that mankind had committed up till then
and every sin
humanity would commit in the future to open the way of salvation, the "new
birth".
What part does belief have in salvation (
the new birth ) ?
Jesus said in
John 3:15-16, "everyone who believes in Him ( who cleaves to Him, trusts Him and relies on Him ) may not perish
but have eternal life and ( actually
) live forever. For God so greatly loved the world that He
gave up His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in ( trusts in, clings to, relies on ) Him
shall not perish, come to destruction,
be lost but have eternal everlasting
life".
The Bible makes it quite clear who and what His Church is.
Is is every single (not as opposed to married lol) born again Christian.
There is no overall authority except Jesus Christ.
Christains have no problem with Catholics being all caught up in their Catholisim, but please...We don't need to "come back to the mother church," we are the Church.
The Authority of Christianity is Centered on Jesus Christ.