[Diego1618]

My reference to post #617 was mainly referring to your statement of Linus being the second Pope....and Uncle chip's statement, in that post, who he thought Linus really was.

I understand this is not scripture, but it is interesting how some things just seem to line up....when we take the blinders off.

[HarleyD]

Actually, I find Uncle Chip's statements to be very interesting and I appreciated the ping. My cautionary note wasn't meant to criticize this analysis; only that one should be aware that history this far back is very murky. It is my belief that for the first several hundred years no pope existed and that churches existed in a decentralized form of government with the bishops occasionally meeting to discuss issues that affected everyone; much like the Baptists or Orthodox. The "pope" didn't come along until hundreds of years later as a method of government but even then he did not wield the power he does today. That is a third possibility. The idea of the Pope being "infallible" is a concept that was determined in the 1900s.