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The Crafting of the 4th Century Roman Church, Doctrine, and Papacy There is no question that there were “bishops” in Rome, likely beginning in the late second or early third centuries. But these were not “bishops” as we would understand them today. Roger Collins, in his work “Keepers of the Keys of Heaven: A History of the Papacy”, New York, NY: Basic Books, a Member of the Perseus Books Group, ©2009) wrote: Not everyone is convinced that what has been called a monarchic bishop, with unquestioned authority over all of the Christian clergy in the city, was to be found...

In response to their own Catholic high school’s participation in a day of silence designed to show support for homosexuality, five nuns walked out of their classrooms last week. These strong women decided to stand with Catholic doctrine in recognition of their faith, beliefs and mission to teach their students the Church’s position on aberrant sexuality. Billed as a “national Day of Silence” the stunt was concocted by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network a New York organization which has been pushing the “Day” scheme since 2000. The stand taken by the nuns comes as an affirmation of the...

Was The Papacy Established By Christ? (Part 2) Because neither the apostolic nor the earliest post-apostolic Christians refer to a jurisdictional primacy of the bishop of Rome, Catholics often cite references to any type of primacy of the Roman church. But a non-jurisdictional primacy of the Roman church doesn't prove a jurisdictional primacy of the Roman bishop. Even Peter himself isn't referred to as having papal authority among the early post-apostolic sources. Terence Smith explains: "there is an astonishing lack of reference to Peter among ecclesiastical authors of the first half of the second century. He is barely mentioned in...

Was The Papacy Established By Christ? (Part 1) For those who don't have much familiarity with the dispute between Protestants and Catholics over the doctrine of the papacy, I want to post two introductory articles on the subject today and tomorrow. The first article, this one, will be about the Biblical evidence, and tomorrow's article will be about the early post-Biblical evidence. Roman Catholicism claims the papacy as its foundation. According to the Catholic Church, the doctrine of the papacy was understood and universally accepted as early as the time of Peter: "At open variance with this clear doctrine of...

1.) ACLU sues feds in bid to make Catholic groups provide abortion to illegal immigrants Providing food and shelter to illegal immigrants isn’t enough for federally-funded Catholic organizations according to the American Civil Liberties Union which is suing the federal government to help ensure the religious organizations provide abortion and contraception to them as well. The suit aims to obtain government records related to reproductive healthcare policy for unaccompanied immigrant children in the care of federally funded Catholic agencies, which do not believe in abortion. “We have heard reports that Catholic bishops are prohibiting Catholic charities from allowing teens in...

The linked article has plenty of researched evidence that at least throws into question whether homosexuals are Born That Way, but that is of no matter to the Left. As it is with abortion, even to bring it up as a topic of discussion will garner extreme, hysterical responses. This is yet another “irretrievably settled” Leftist position that is not amenable to logic reason or evidence. It is also one of the most sacred beliefs in Secular Humanist canon. If you do not accept the Born That Way catechism, you are the Infidel. You are “homophobic,” in fact. [Homophobia is...

Countercultural Christianity and the need of the supernaturalNot too long ago I had the pleasure to read a series of three articles that grabbed my attention, and which allowed me to formulate a series of thoughts regarding the need of what is known as “Countercultural Christianity” and furthermore of making Christianity “strange” again. All of this simply implies the need of bringing back the supernatural elements of Christianity.Two articles that I read on these specific subjects were both written by Rod Dreher a senior editor for The American Conservative. The first article is called Christian and Countercultural and the second...

In 1762 Irish Catholic soldiers, who were serving in the British Army stationed in New York City, organized the first St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the City. They wanted to celebrate the life of St. Patrick and show their gratitude for his having brought the Catholic Faith to Ireland. From its very beginning, the parade was a religious celebration that included attendance at mass receiving Holy Communion and prayerful contemplation of the gift St. Patrick had given the Irish. Over the centuries since 1762 the parade has become a major event in the lives of many people. Those who are...

In 1762 Irish Catholic soldiers, who were serving in the British Army stationed in New York City, organized the first St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the City. They wanted to celebrate the life of St. Patrick and show their gratitude for his having brought the Catholic Faith to Ireland. From its very beginning, the parade was a religious celebration that included attendance at mass receiving Holy Communion and prayerful contemplation of the gift St. Patrick had given the Irish. Over the centuries since 1762 the parade has become a major event in the lives of many people. Those who are...

People need to examine whether the faith they claim is really Biblical.

In a rebuke to the archbishop of San Francisco, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday urging the conservative Catholic leader to respect the rights of teachers and administrators. The measure comes after Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone included morality clauses in a new handbook and proposed changes to the labor contract of teachers at four Bay Area Catholic high schools, setting off a wave of opposition. “These actions really conflict with the values of San Francisco,” said Supervisor Mark Farrell, who introduced the resolution. “In San Francisco, we stand up for everyone. We stand up for our...

Sunday, December 29, 2013 Against Rome's Apostolic Succession Argument by Bullinger (Part 1) Heinrich Bullinger (1504-1575) was a Swiss Reformer and author of a popular writing entitled The Decades. This particular writing was influential in England, highly esteemed and used as a textbook of sorts for training English clergy. Included in The Decades is a section entitled Of The Holy Catholic Church, and included therein is Bullinger's refutation of Rome's apostolic succession argument (that Rome is the true church because of an historical succession of church authority that began with Peter). Here is the first part of Bullinger's argument: Second,...

Friday, October 08, 2010 The Late Development of the Bishop of Rome John Bugay has posted on Hermas and the structure of the early Roman church before. I don't have anything original to add to that discussion. However, I'd like to provide some corroboration by Roman Catholic scholars Raymond Brown and John Meier, whose book received both the Nihil Obstat and the Imprimatur (bold mine): There is no doubt that it [The Shepherd of Hermas] was written at Rome (Vis. 1.1.1.; 2.1.1; 4.1.2); and the suggestion that Clement would send it abroad (Vis. 2.4.3) may mean that Hermas' revelations had...

Hermas – a primary eyewitness source regarding the leadership structure of early church at Rome Paul writes to the church at Rome without addressing a leader. He writes in the years 57-58, a date that is very firm in history, in a letter that is not contested. Excuses are made as to why there is no mention of Peter in Rome, even though the church has been attested in Rome perhaps from Acts 2, when visitors for Rome were present at/saved at Pentecost. In Acts 18, Aquila and Priscilla are expelled from Rome by the edict of Claudius, attested in...

"Historically, Catholics have argued that the papacy was a divinely-given institution papacy (Matt 16:17-19) etc., and they have relied on the notion that there have been bishops of Rome extending all the way back to the time of Peter. This notion of bishops extending all the way back was thought to be actual history. In fact, as Shotwell and Loomis pointed out, in the General Introduction to their 1927 work "The See of Peter": With reference to the Petrine doctrine, however, the Catholic attitude is much more than a "pre-disposition to believe." That doctrine is the fundamental basis of the...

Papacy built on pious fiction and forgery 2 The right way to understand history is to start from the beginning. What was it like to be a Christian in the earliest church in Rome? We have a marvellous picture of this earliest church, provided by the New Testament scholar Peter Lampe, author of the work "From Paul to Valentinus: Christians in Rome in the First Two Centuries."The Catholic historian Eamon Duffy writes in his work, "Sinners and Saints": "All modern discussion of the issues must now start from [this] exhaustive and persuasive analysis by Peter Lampe.” Lampe seemingly searched...

Papacy built on pious fiction and forgery, part 1 J. Gresham Machen said, in his 1915 lecture "History and Faith," that "The student of the New Testament should be primarily an historian." And in fact, thanks to the last few centuries' worth of historical criticism, and a couple of “historical Jesus” quests, both the life of Jesus and the history of the New Testament have undergone a thorough historical examination, and in the process, have only had their historical reliability enhanced. On the other hand, what we've been told about the early papacy has fallen away like chaff. Instead...

Landmark Event: Pope Will Address U.S. Congress By Julio Severo For the first time in the U.S. history, a pope will address the Congress, invited by Republican John Boehner and Democrat Nancy Pelosi. When he speaks to American lawmakers September 24, Pope Francis will address a Congress that is 31 percent Catholic, well above the 22 percent of all the American population, according to a survey released last month by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center. Boehner and Pelosi are both Catholic. “We’re humbled that the Holy Father has accepted our invitation and certainly look forward to receiving his message...

America Loves Catholicism: As Seen in Place Names Everywhere By: Msgr. Charles PopeThe video below boasts, “America loves Italy” and features a Fiat car driving through American towns with Italian names.If that is the case then America loves Catholicism even more, since thousands of towns and places are named for Catholic saints, themes, and objects. Consider the following:In California: San Diego, San Miguel, San Francisco, San Bernadino, San Clemente, San Luis Obispo, San Jose, San Rafael, Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles (aka Nuestra Senora de los Angeles de la Porciuncula), Santa Cruz, Santa Clarita, Sacramento, San...

Recently I picked up The Protestant's Dilemma: How the Reformation’s Shocking Consequences Point to the Truth of Catholicism (San Diego: Catholic Answers Press, 2014). In the preface of the Kindle edition, an unidentified author states that the primary author, Devin Rose, has put forth a book looking to engage in "dialogue" specifically"with members of the thousands of Protestant sects." The book is said to raise issues that a Protestant "has never considered before," not simply to have dialogue for the sake of mutual understanding, but rather to have "conciliar" dialogue in which the goal is to show the logical inconsistency of Protestantism...