Rome's Meaningless Claim to "Unbroken Chain Of Succession"

Thoughts of Francis Turrretin ^ | November 26, 2010 | TurretinFan

[RnMomof7]

The following is an example of Rome's claim of "unbroken succession" - provided by pope John Paul II:

Nevertheless, the Roman Pontiffs have exercised their authority in Rome and, according to the conditions and opportunities of the times, have done so in wider and even universal areas, by virtue of their succeeding Peter. Written documents do not tell us how this succession occurred in the first link connecting Peter with the series of the bishops of Rome. It can be deduced, however, by considering everything that Pope Clement states in the letter cited above regarding the appointment of the first bishops and their successors. After recalling that the apostles, "preaching in the countryside and the cities, experienced their first fruits in the Spirit and appointed them bishops and deacons of future believers" (42, 4), St. Clement says in detail that, in order to avoid future conflicts regarding the episcopal dignity, the apostles "appointed those whom we said and then ordered that, after they had died, other proven men would succeed them in their ministry" (44, 2). The historical and canonical means by which that inheritance is passed on to them can change, and have indeed changed. But over the centuries, an unbroken chain links that transition from Peter to his first successor in the Roman See.

(link)

This is a typical claim we hear from Roman Catholics all the time. It sounds great - but is either simply untrue, or totally meaningless. Before we get to the claim itself, look at the wind-up for the claim.

John Paul 2 asserts: "The historical and canonical means by which that inheritance is passed on to them can change, and have indeed changed." Let's be blunt, the reason he thinks it "can change," is the fact that way by which Roman bishops have been appointed has been repeatedly changed. There's no Biblical teaching that the way by which bishops are appointed can change. In fact, if the way by which Roman bishops hadn't changed over the years, we'd probably be told that it was an apostolic tradition that cannot be changed. That's simply an artifact of not having a single, written rule of faith.

But that's only a small part of the reason why the "unbroken chain" claim is bogus. In other words, the fact that they pick bishops today in a way that is different from 100 years ago or 1000 years ago, each of which is different from what is now (100 years ago, there was not an age limit for voting cardinals, and 1000 years ago, there was no college of cardinals) is only one aspect. That's the aspect of the mode of succession. The mode has been broken. Roman bishops are not appointed the way they used to be - and consequently when we hear about an "unbroken chain," it cannot mean that the mechanism of succession itself is unbroken.

Another aspect, and perhaps a bigger one, is the problem of what it would take to make the chain "broken."

Is it time? Ask your Roman Catholic friends (and they are welcome to answer here) how much of a gap would constitute a break. The current way of picking new bishops of Rome necessarily involves there being gaps between the reign of popes. It's not like the British monarchy, where as soon as one monarch dies, a new monarch is automatically apparent because of the rules of hereditary succession.

Thus, there are always gaps and breaks in the chain. There was a time period that elapsed between the death of John Paul II and the election of Joseph Ratzinger (who became known as Benedict XVI).

But there is no actual standard of what gap of time is acceptable, and what gap would break succession. Thus, it is simply impossible to say what gap is acceptable. For example, according to a typical list of popes (example) there was no pope during the whole years 259, 305-307, 639, 1242, 1269-1270, 1293, 1315, and 1416, not to mention the many partial years. That's over a half dozen breaks of over a year.

Being deposed? Benedict IX was deposed twice and restored. His biography states:

The nephew of his two immediate predecessors, Benedict IX was a man of very different character to either of them. He was a disgrace to the Chair of Peter. Regarding it as a sort of heirloom, his father Alberic placed him upon it when a mere youth ... .

It goes on to relate:

Taking advantage of the dissolute life he was leading, one of the factions in the city drove him from it (1044) amid the greatest disorder, and elected an antipope (Sylvester III) in the person of John, Bishop of Sabina (1045 -Ann. Romani, init. Victor, Dialogi, III, init.). Benedict, however, succeeded in expelling Sylvester the same year; but, as some say, that he might marry, he resigned his office into the hands of the Archpriest John Gratian for a large sum. John was then elected pope and became Gregory VI (May, 1045). Repenting of his bargain, Benedict endeavoured to depose Gregory. This resulted in the intervention of King Henry III. Benedict, Sylvester, and Gregory were deposed at the Council of Sutri (1046) and a German bishop (Suidger) became Pope Clement II. After his speedy demise, Benedict again seized Rome (November, 1047), but was driven from it to make way for a second German pope, Damasus II (November, 1048).

(source for biography)

Being outrageously sinful? Alexander VI was another pope who allegedly obtained his position through simony, but that's not perhaps the worst of it. He not only openly acknowledged his children (yes, of course he was not married), but even used his political strength to try either to benefit or exploit them. A very favorable Roman biography of him touches on the matter in this delicate way:

Notwithstanding these and similar actions, which might seem to entitle him to no mean place in the annals of the papacy, Alexander continued as Pope the manner of life that had disgraced his cardinalate (Pastor, op. cit., III, 449 152). A stern Nemesis pursued him till death in the shape of a strong parental affection for his children.

It goes on to say:

An impartial appreciation of the career of this extraordinary person must at once distinguish between the man and the office. "An imperfect setting", says Dr. Pastor (op. cit., III, 475), "does not affect the intrinsic worth of the jewel, nor does the golden coin lose its value when it passes through impure hands. In so far as the priest is a public officer of a holy Church, a blameless life is expected from him, both because he is by his office the model of virtue to whom the laity look up, and because his life, when virtuous, inspires in onlookers respect for the society of which he is an ornament. But the treasures of the Church, her Divine character, her holiness, Divine revelation, the grace of God, spiritual authority, it is well known, are not dependent on the moral character of the agents and officers of the Church. The foremost of her priests cannot diminish by an iota the intrinsic value of the spiritual treasures confided to him." There have been at all times wicked men in the ecclesiastical ranks. Our Lord foretold, as one of its severest trials, the presence in His Church not only of false brethren, but of rulers who would offend, by various forms of selfishness, both the children of the household and "those who are without". Similarly, He compared His beloved spouse, the Church, to a threshing floor, on which fall both chaff and grain until the time of separation. The most severe arraignments of Alexander, because in a sense official, are those of his Catholic contemporaries, Pope Julius II (Gregorovius, VII, 494) and the Augustinian cardinal and reformer, Aegidius of Viterbo, in his manuscript "Historia XX Saeculorum", preserved at Rome in the Bibliotheca Angelica. The Oratorian Raynaldus (d. 1677), who continued the semi-official Annals of Baronius, gave to the world at Rome (ad an. 1460, no. 41) the above-mentioned paternal but severe reproof of the youthful Cardinal by Pius II, and stated elsewhere (ad an. 1495, no. 26) that it was in his time the opinion of historians that Alexander had obtained the papacy partly through money and partly through promises and the persuasion that he would not interfere with the lives of his electors. Mansi, the scholarly Archbishop of Lucca editor and annotator of Raynaldus, says (XI, 4155) that it is easier to keep silence than to write write moderation about this Pope. The severe judgment of the late Cardinal Hergenröther, in his "Kirchengeschichte", or Manual of Church History (4th. ed., Freiburg, 1904, II, 982-983) is too well known to need more than mention.

So little have Catholic historians defended him that in the middle of the nineteenth century Cesare Cantù could write that Alexander VI was the only Pope who had never found an apologist.

(source for biography)

Being a heretic? Honorius I was condemned as a monophosite heretic by centuries of Roman bishops. (see the linked article)

Leaving Rome? For about 70 years (and seven popes), the seat of the papacy was not in Rome but in Avignon, France (see the linked article).

Needing an Ecumenical Council to Jump-Start it? Among the tasks of the Council of Constance (considered the 15th Ecumenical Council by the Roman church) was to, in effect, decide who got to be pope, thereby ending a three-way dispute that had been on-going (link to discussion of council from a Roman Catholic perspective).

How much more broken could it really get? I guess the things above could have happened more often or for longer periods of time - but is that really the appropriate measure of things? I think the short answer is that the claim of an "unbroken chain" of succession is just hot air - an empty claim supported by nothing but the wishful thinking of those who support Rome.

[metmom]

elsie:“A lot of Catholics are on a lifelong pride trip”

NKP: You damn right. Couldn’t have said it better. Thanks.

Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction: and the spirit is lifted up before a fall.

James 4:6 "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

Have fun standing before God with that attitude.

[Elsie]

Are you saying you don't believe these Holy Scriptures?

 

 

 

 

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Micah 6:8

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

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John 6:28-29
Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?

 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

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1 John 3:21-23
Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.

---

James 1:27

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

 

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[Elsie]

...There is nothing there to put Peter on any Roman Throne...

Nothing THERE; eh?

Let's try to SWITCH to a DIFFERENT location in the Bible then!

19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."

20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you."

22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them , and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.

23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

 

 

 

 

[Elsie]

They're mostly Scripture.

Thanks goes to the Catholics who have compiled the Scriptures together for us.

[Elsie]

Then why did just about every Christian the world had ever seen until 600 years ago and disagree with you about Peter.

This one TOO??

As regards the oft-quoted Mt. 16:18

 

• Augustine, sermon:

"Christ, you see, built his Church not on a man but on Peter's confession. What is Peter's confession? 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' There's the rock for you, there's the foundation, there's where the Church has been built, which the gates of the underworld cannot conquer. — John Rotelle, O.S.A., Ed., The Works of Saint Augustine , © 1993 New City Press, Sermons, Vol III/6, Sermon 229P.1, p. 327

Upon this rock, said the Lord, I will build my Church. Upon this confession, upon this that you said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,' I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not conquer her (Mt. 16:18). — John Rotelle, Ed., The Works of Saint Augustine (New Rochelle: New City, 1993) Sermons, Volume III/7, Sermon 236A.3, p. 48.

 

• Augustine, sermon:

For petra (rock) is not derived from Peter, but Peter from petra; just as Christ is not called so from the Christian, but the Christian from Christ. For on this very account the Lord said, 'On this rock will I build my Church,' because Peter had said, 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.' On this rock, therefore, He said, which thou hast confessed, I will build my Church. For the Rock (Petra) was Christ; and on this foundation was Peter himself built. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Christ Jesus. The Church, therefore, which is founded in Christ received from Him the keys of the kingdom of heaven in the person of Peter, that is to say, the power of binding and loosing sins. For what the Church is essentially in Christ, such representatively is Peter in the rock (petra); and in this representation Christ is to be understood as the Rock, Peter as the Church. — Augustine Tractate CXXIV; Philip Schaff, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: First Series, Volume VII Tractate CXXIV (http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf107.iii.cxxv.html)

 

• Augustine, sermon:

And Peter, one speaking for the rest of them, one for all, said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God (Mt 16:15-16)...And I tell you: you are Peter; because I am the rock, you are Rocky, Peter-I mean, rock doesn't come from Rocky, but Rocky from rock, just as Christ doesn't come from Christian, but Christian from Christ; and upon this rock I will build my Church (Mt 16:17-18); not upon Peter, or Rocky, which is what you are, but upon the rock which you have confessed. I will build my Church though; I will build you, because in this answer of yours you represent the Church. — John Rotelle, O.S.A. Ed., The Works of Saint Augustine (New Rochelle: New City Press, 1993), Sermons, Volume III/7, Sermon 270.2, p. 289

 

• Augustine, sermon:

Peter had already said to him, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' He had already heard, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, because flesh and blood did not reveal it to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the underworld shall not conquer her' (Mt 16:16-18)...Christ himself was the rock, while Peter, Rocky, was only named from the rock. That's why the rock rose again, to make Peter solid and strong; because Peter would have perished, if the rock hadn't lived. — John Rotelle, Ed., The Works of Saint Augustine (New Rochelle: New City, 1993) Sermons, Volume III/7, Sermon 244.1, p. 95

 

• Augustine, sermon:

...because on this rock, he said, I will build my Church, and the gates of the underworld shall not overcome it (Mt. 16:18). Now the rock was Christ (1 Cor. 10:4). Was it Paul that was crucified for you? Hold on to these texts, love these texts, repeat them in a fraternal and peaceful manner. — John Rotelle, Ed., The Works of Saint Augustine (New Rochelle: New City Press, 1995), Sermons, Volume III/10, Sermon 358.5, p. 193

 

• Augustine, Psalm LXI:

Let us call to mind the Gospel: 'Upon this Rock I will build My Church.' Therefore She crieth from the ends of the earth, whom He hath willed to build upon a Rock. But in order that the Church might be builded upon the Rock, who was made the Rock? Hear Paul saying: 'But the Rock was Christ.' On Him therefore builded we have been. — Philip Schaff, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1956), Volume VIII, Saint Augustin, Exposition on the Book of Psalms, Psalm LXI.3, p. 249. (http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf108.ii.LXI.html)

 

• Augustine, in “Retractions,”

In a passage in this book, I said about the Apostle Peter: 'On him as on a rock the Church was built.'...But I know that very frequently at a later time, I so explained what the Lord said: 'Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church,' that it be understood as built upon Him whom Peter confessed saying: 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,' and so Peter, called after this rock, represented the person of the Church which is built upon this rock, and has received 'the keys of the kingdom of heaven.' For, 'Thou art Peter' and not 'Thou art the rock' was said to him. But 'the rock was Christ,' in confessing whom, as also the whole Church confesses, Simon was called Peter. But let the reader decide which of these two opinions is the more probable. — The Fathers of the Church (Washington D.C., Catholic University, 1968), Saint Augustine, The Retractations Chapter 20.1:.

 

[Elsie]

Tisk, tisk, right to personal stuff.

Of course!

Since Racist!! and HATER!! ain't gettin' much traction around here any more...

[Elsie]

Posts have been deleted for that exact same sort of question albeit when it was a Catholic asking that question of an anti-Catholic.

Says the guy with no data...

[Elsie]

I love the smell of napalm in the morning.

[Elsie]

[af_vet_1981]

You say "lapsed". I say "former."

I would only be guilty if I DIDNT include my experience with the Carholic Church as part of my life story- my "testimony" of what God offered and what I received by faith.

One (of the many ) error of the Catholic Church is the guilt that is placed on the minds of their adherents for not following all of their sundry rules ("don't touch, don't eat, make a "good" act of contrition)

A good act of contrition is fundamental, so to speak. It seems to me one flavor of the daily bread offered up on the Religion Forum is a persisent antiCatholicism baked by lapsed Catholics trying to scratch off their baptism by any means necessary. The witness is presents is negative and typical of a latter claimant to the throne whose legitimacy rests on destroying its predecessor. It cannot rest until the former is destroyed because the former is a living testimony that the new religion is illegitimate. Thus it has no message in and of itself; it is always defined by its opposition to its predecessor.

[kinsman redeemer]

A good act of contrition is fundamental, so to speak. It seems to me one flavor of the daily bread offered up on the Religion Forum is a persistent antiCatholicism baked by lapsed Catholics trying to scratch off their baptism by any means necessary. The witness is presents is negative and typical of a latter claimant to the throne whose legitimacy rests on destroying its predecessor. It cannot rest until the former is destroyed because the former is a living testimony that the new religion is illegitimate. Thus it has no message in and of itself; it is always defined by its opposition to its predecessor.

Thank you for the response.

You seized on the act of contrition - a memorized Catholic prayer. Then you repeated your claim that former Catholics are trying to relieve their consciences because Catholicism somehow sticks and must be "scratched off."

.

Let me say in no uncertain terms: When I trusted Christ as my personal Lord and Savior, old things (like my involvement in your religion) were passed away ("scratched off" in a sense) and everything became new. I was a new man. Born again by the Spirit of God.

Once saved, I was baptized - as a believer- I was baptized for the FIRST time. The choice that my parents made to undergo a baptism ritual when I was an infant had no real meaning at all. Neither did any of the other "sacraments" that I went through.

Everything I have declared here is based on God's Word. I can supply the support, if you'd like.

(If someone is reading and wants to know why I believe as I do, send me FREEPmail. I would love to communicate with you!)

.

Here is a funny anecdote relating to my "Act of Contrition" prayers.

Catholics say that if you're in the 2nd grade, then you should be trained to receive the "Holy Eucharist" ((or at least they did in the last century)) To accomplish this, you had to have been trained to go into the box to tell the priest your sins: "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned..." Then you would get your penalty list and count of memorized prayers to pray, along with a "good Act of Contrition."

I thought I had it down pretty good- and that if I died at the right time I'd go straight to heaven. If I died at the wrong time, fortunately there was a back-up plan and I would not go to hell.

But tragically, I had misunderstood something fundamental to a "good" Act of Contrition.

For a few years, I thought the prayer started like this:
Oh! My God, I am hardly sorry for having offended Thee..."

I don't think mine was a "good" prayer, since the adverb is supposed to be: "heartily" - It seems to change the meaning of the prayer slightly.

Every time I think about that, I laugh.

[jjotto]

Ping for the rich irony.

The witness [it] presents is negative and typical of a latter claimant to the throne whose legitimacy rests on destroying its predecessor. It cannot rest until the former is destroyed because the former is a living testimony that the new religion is illegitimate. Thus it has no message in and of itself; it is always defined by its opposition to its predecessor.

[jjotto]

Ping for the rich irony.

The witness [it] presents is negative and typical of a latter claimant to the throne whose legitimacy rests on destroying its predecessor. It cannot rest until the former is destroyed because the former is a living testimony that the new religion is illegitimate. Thus it has no message in and of itself; it is always defined by its opposition to its predecessor.

[af_vet_1981]

You seized on the act of contrition - a memorized Catholic prayer. Then you repeated your claim that former Catholics are trying to relieve their consciences because Catholicism somehow sticks and must be "scratched off."

Actually I pointed out that a perfect act of contrition is fundament. You brought up a prayer, and since you did, do you agree that the so-called Sinner's Prayer is a relatively new marketing tool to generate so-called decisions in certain denominations, faith communities, and sects ?

[af_vet_1981]

Let me say in no uncertain terms: When I trusted Christ as my personal Lord and Savior, old things (like my involvement in your religion) were passed away ("scratched off" in a sense) and everything became new. I was a new man. Born again by the Spirit of God.

Once saved, I was baptized - as a believer- I was baptized for the FIRST time. The choice that my parents made to undergo a baptism ritual when I was an infant had no real meaning at all. Neither did any of the other "sacraments" that I went through.

Which Protestant derived group baptized you, so to speak ?

[kinsman redeemer]

No.

[kinsman redeemer]

Which Protestant derived group baptized you, so to speak ?

Why do you add, "so to speak"?

[LurkingSince'98]

You have Scripture and hundreds of millions of protestants each with their own separate but equal personal interpretations of what that scripture means, each acting like their own little gods who know better than anyone what scripture means.

AMDG

[Zionist Conspirator]

The witness [it] presents is negative and typical of a latter claimant to the throne whose legitimacy rests on destroying its predecessor. It cannot rest until the former is destroyed because the former is a living testimony that the new religion is illegitimate. Thus it has no message in and of itself; it is always defined by its opposition to its predecessor.

I know, right? And the thing is, they never even listen to what they are saying!

[af_vet_1981]

Everything I have declared here is based on God's Word. I can supply the support, if you'd like.

Odd that; everyone seems to claim that privilege. It seems to me the so-called Sinner's Prayer is not there but the "Our Father" is; do you still say the "Our Father ?"