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11 Reasons the Authority of Christianity Is Centered on St. Peter and Rome
stpeterslist ^ | December 19, 2012

Posted on 01/06/2013 3:56:49 PM PST by NYer

Bl. John Henry Newman said it best: “To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant.” History paints an overwhelming picture of St. Peter’s apostolic ministry in Rome and this is confirmed by a multitude of different sources within the Early Church. Catholic Encyclopedia states, “In opposition to this distinct and unanimous testimony of early Christendom, some few Protestant historians have attempted in recent times to set aside the residence and death of Peter at Rome as legendary. These attempts have resulted in complete failure.” 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. To wit, the belief has as its end the ultimate end of all Catholic and Protestant dialogue – who has authority in Christianity?

 

Why is it important to defend the tradition of St. Peter and Rome?
The importance of establishing St. Peter’s ministry in Rome may be boiled down to authority and more specifically the historic existence and continuance of the Office of Vicar held by St. Peter. To understand why St. Peter was important and what authority was given to him by Christ SPL has composed two lists – 10 Biblical Reasons Christ Founded the Papacy and 13 Reasons St. Peter Was the Prince of the Apostles.

The rest of the list is cited from the Catholic Encyclopedia on St. Peter and represents only a small fraction of the evidence set therein.

 

The Apostolic Primacy of St. Peter and Rome

It is an indisputably established historical fact that St. Peter laboured in Rome during the last portion of his life, and there ended his earthly course by martyrdom. As to the duration of his Apostolic activity in the Roman capital, the continuity or otherwise of his residence there, the details and success of his labours, and the chronology of his arrival and death, all these questions are uncertain, and can be solved only on hypotheses more or less well-founded. The essential fact is that Peter died at Rome: this constitutes the historical foundation of the claim of the Bishops of Rome to the Apostolic Primacy of Peter.

St. Peter’s residence and death in Rome are established beyond contention as historical facts by a series of distinct testimonies extending from the end of the first to the end of the second centuries, and issuing from several lands.

 

1. The Gospel of St. John

That the manner, and therefore the place of his death, must have been known in widely extended Christian circles at the end of the first century is clear from the remark introduced into the Gospel of St. John concerning Christ’s prophecy that Peter was bound to Him and would be led whither he would not — “And this he said, signifying by what death he should glorify God” (John 21:18-19, see above). Such a remark presupposes in the readers of the Fourth Gospel a knowledge of the death of Peter.

 

2. Salutations, from Babylon

St. Peter’s First Epistle was written almost undoubtedly from Rome, since the salutation at the end reads: “The church that is in Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you: and so doth my son Mark” (5:13). Babylon must here be identified with the Roman capital; since Babylon on the Euphrates, which lay in ruins, or New Babylon (Seleucia) on the Tigris, or the Egyptian Babylon near Memphis, or Jerusalem cannot be meant, the reference must be to Rome, the only city which is called Babylon elsewhere in ancient Christian literature (Revelation 17:5; 18:10; “Oracula Sibyl.”, V, verses 143 and 159, ed. Geffcken, Leipzig, 1902, 111).

 

3. Gospel of St. Mark

From Bishop Papias of Hierapolis and Clement of Alexandria, who both appeal to the testimony of the old presbyters (i.e., the disciples of the Apostles), we learn that Mark wrote his Gospel in Rome at the request of the Roman Christians, who desired a written memorial of the doctrine preached to them by St. Peter and his disciples (Eusebius, Church History II.15, 3.40, 6.14); this is confirmed by Irenaeus (Against Heresies 3.1). In connection with this information concerning the Gospel of St. Mark, Eusebius, relying perhaps on an earlier source, says that Peter described Rome figuratively as Babylon in his First Epistle.

 

4. Testimony of Pope St. Clement I

Another testimony concerning the martyrdom of Peter and Paul is supplied by Clement of Rome in his Epistle to the Corinthians (written about A.D. 95-97), wherein he says (chapter 5):

“Through zeal and cunning the greatest and most righteous supports [of the Church] have suffered persecution and been warred to death. Let us place before our eyes the good Apostles — St. Peter, who in consequence of unjust zeal, suffered not one or two, but numerous miseries, and, having thus given testimony (martyresas), has entered the merited place of glory”.

He then mentions Paul and a number of elect, who were assembled with the others and suffered martyrdom “among us” (en hemin, i.e., among the Romans, the meaning that the expression also bears in chapter 4). He is speaking undoubtedly, as the whole passage proves, of the Neronian persecution, and thus refers the martyrdom of Peter and Paul to that epoch.

 

5. Testimony of St. Ignatius of Antioch

In his letter written at the beginning of the second century (before 117), while being brought to Rome for martyrdom, the venerable Bishop Ignatius of Antioch endeavours by every means to restrain the Roman Christians from striving for his pardon, remarking: “I issue you no commands, like Peter and Paul: they were Apostles, while I am but a captive” (Epistle to the Romans 4). The meaning of this remark must be that the two Apostles laboured personally in Rome, and with Apostolic authority preached the Gospel there.

 

6. Taught in the Same Place in Italy

Bishop Dionysius of Corinth, in his letter to the Roman Church in the time of Pope Soter (165-74), says:

“You have therefore by your urgent exhortation bound close together the sowing of Peter and Paul at Rome and Corinth. For both planted the seed of the Gospel also in Corinth, and together instructed us, just as they likewise taught in the same place in Italy and at the same time suffered martyrdom” (in Eusebius, Church History II.25).

 

 

7. Rome: Founded by Sts. Peter and Paul

Irenaeus of Lyons, a native of Asia Minor and a disciple of Polycarp of Smyrna (a disciple of St. John), passed a considerable time in Rome shortly after the middle of the second century, and then proceeded to Lyons, where he became bishop in 177; he described the Roman Church as the most prominent and chief preserver of the Apostolic tradition, as “the greatest and most ancient church, known by all, founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious Apostles, Peter and Paul” (Against Heresies 3.3; cf. 3.1). He thus makes use of the universally known and recognized fact of the Apostolic activity of Peter and Paul in Rome, to find therein a proof from tradition against the heretics.

 

8. St. Peter Announced the Word of God in Rome

In his “Hypotyposes” (Eusebius, Church History IV.14), Clement of Alexandria, teacher in the catechetical school of that city from about 190, says on the strength of the tradition of the presbyters: “After Peter had announced the Word of God in Rome and preached the Gospel in the spirit of God, the multitude of hearers requested Mark, who had long accompanied Peter on all his journeys, to write down what the Apostles had preached to them” (see above).

 

9. Rome: Where Authority is Ever Within Reach

Like Irenaeus, Tertullian appeals, in his writings against heretics, to the proof afforded by the Apostolic labours of Peter and Paul in Rome of the truth of ecclesiastical tradition. In De Præscriptione 36, he says:

“If thou art near Italy, thou hast Rome where authority is ever within reach. How fortunate is this Church for which the Apostles have poured out their whole teaching with their blood, where Peter has emulated the Passion of the Lord, where Paul was crowned with the death of John.”

In Scorpiace 15, he also speaks of Peter’s crucifixion. “The budding faith Nero first made bloody in Rome. There Peter was girded by another, since he was bound to the cross”. As an illustration that it was immaterial with what water baptism is administered, he states in his book (On Baptism 5) that there is “no difference between that with which John baptized in the Jordan and that with which Peter baptized in the Tiber”; and against Marcion he appeals to the testimony of the Roman Christians, “to whom Peter and Paul have bequeathed the Gospel sealed with their blood” (Against Marcion 4.5).

 

10. Come to the Vatican and See for Yourself

The Roman, Caius, who lived in Rome in the time of Pope Zephyrinus (198-217), wrote in his “Dialogue with Proclus” (in Eusebius, Church History II.25) directed against the Montanists: “But I can show the trophies of the Apostles. If you care to go to the Vatican or to the road to Ostia, thou shalt find the trophies of those who have founded this Church”.

By the trophies (tropaia) Eusebius understands the graves of the Apostles, but his view is opposed by modern investigators who believe that the place of execution is meant. For our purpose it is immaterial which opinion is correct, as the testimony retains its full value in either case. At any rate the place of execution and burial of both were close together; St. Peter, who was executed on the Vatican, received also his burial there. Eusebius also refers to “the inscription of the names of Peter and Paul, which have been preserved to the present day on the burial-places there” (i.e. at Rome).

 

11. Ancient Epigraphic Memorial

There thus existed in Rome an ancient epigraphic memorial commemorating the death of the Apostles. The obscure notice in the Muratorian Fragment (“Lucas optime theofile conprindit quia sub praesentia eius singula gerebantur sicuti et semote passionem petri evidenter declarat”, ed. Preuschen, Tübingen, 1910, p. 29) also presupposes an ancient definite tradition concerning Peter’s death in Rome.

The apocryphal Acts of St. Peter and the Acts of Sts. Peter and Paul likewise belong to the series of testimonies of the death of the two Apostles in Rome.


TOPICS: Apologetics; Catholic; History
KEYWORDS: churchhistory
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To: CynicalBear
put down the RCC propaganda and simply read scripture while asking the Holy Spirit to guide them?

I finally agree with you, read scripture and ask the holy Spirit to guide you.................however.........., you cannot read any scripture that the RCC preserved, edited, saved, wrote, printed, copied, etc etc....lots of luck there

961 posted on 01/10/2013 8:07:30 PM PST by terycarl
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To: RobbyS; Natural Law
Well, Luther had a couple of advantages over German Jerome had a couple of advantages over Luther. In his day both Latin and Greek were living languages, with many works extant back to previous times, to help him in trying to “fix” the language of the New Testament. As to Hebrew, the early Church used the Septuagint, which was in Greek.

Not really. Even today scholars are able to go back to the original languages (many are experts in them) and develop translations that fit modern usage. The Douay-Rheims Bible, with extensive revisions later by Bishop Challoner, wasn't done until the sixteenth - seventeenth centuries and it was a translation from the Latin Vulgate into English (a translation of a translation). Jerome was not an expert in Hebrew when he began to create the Vulgate and he insisted on translating most of the Old Testament from the Hebrew and not the Greek Septuagint:

    Jerome did not embark on the work with the intention of creating a new version of the whole Bible, but the changing nature of his program can be tracked in his voluminous correspondence. He had been commissioned by Damasus I in 382 to revise the Old Latin text of the four Gospels from the best Greek texts, and by the time of Damasus' death in 384 he had thoroughly completed this task, together with a more cursory revision from the Greek Septuagint of the Old Latin text of the Psalms in the Roman Psalter which is now lost. How much of the rest of the New Testament he then revised is difficult to judge today, but little of his work survived in the Vulgate text.

    In 385, Jerome was forced out of Rome, and eventually settled in Bethlehem, where he was able to use a surviving manuscript of the Hexapla, likely from the nearby Theological Library of Caesarea Maritima, a columnar comparison of the variant versions of the Old Testament undertaken 150 years before by Origen. Jerome first embarked on a revision of the Psalms, translated from the revised Septuagint Greek column of the Hexapla, which later came to be called the Gallican version. He also appears to have undertaken further new translations into Latin from the Hexaplar Septuagint column for other books. But from 390 to 405, Jerome translated anew from the Hebrew all 39 books in the Hebrew Bible, including a further version of the Psalms. This new translation of the Psalms was labelled by him as "iuxta Hebraeos" (i.e. "close to the Hebrews", "immediately following the Hebrews"), and was commonly found in the Vulgate, until it was widely replaced by his Gallican psalms beginning in the 9th century.

    The Vulgate is usually credited as being the first translation of the Old Testament into Latin directly from the Hebrew Tanakh, rather than the Greek Septuagint. Jerome's extensive use of exegetical material written in Greek, on the other hand, as well as his use of the Aquiline and Theodotiontic columns of the Hexapla, along with the somewhat paraphrastic style in which he translated makes it difficult to determine exactly how direct the conversion of Hebrew to Latin was.[4][5][6]

    As Jerome completed his translations of each book of the Bible, he recorded his observations and comments in an extensive correspondence with other scholars; and these letters were subsequently collected and appended as prologues to the Vulgate text for those books where they survived. In these letters, Jerome described those books or portions of books in the Septuagint that were not found in the Hebrew as being non-canonical: he called them apocrypha.[7] Jerome's views did not, however, prevail; and all complete manuscripts and editions of the Vulgate include some or all these books. Of the Old Testament texts not found in the Hebrew, Jerome translated Tobit and Judith anew from the Aramaic; and from the Greek, the additions to Esther from the Septuagint, and the additions to Daniel from Theodotion. Other books; Baruch, Letter of Jeremiah, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, 1 and 2 Maccabees[8] are variously found in Vulgate manuscripts with texts derived from the Old Latin; sometimes together with Latin versions of other texts found neither in the Hebrew Bible, nor in the Septuagint, 4 Esdras, the Prayer of Manasses and Laodiceans. Their style is still markedly distinguishable from Jerome's. In the Vulgate text, Jerome's translations from the Greek of the additions to Esther and Daniel are combined with his separate translations of these books from the Hebrew.

    A recurring theme of the Old Testament prologues is Jerome's preference for the Hebraica veritas (i.e., Hebrew truth) to the Septuagint, a preference which he defended from his detractors. He stated that the Hebrew text more clearly prefigures Christ than the Greek. Among the most remarkable of these prologues is the Prologus Galeatus, in which Jerome described an Old Testament canon of 22 books, which he found represented in the 22-letter Hebrew alphabet. Alternatively, he numbered the books as 24, which he described as the 24 elders in the Book of Revelation casting their crowns before the Lamb. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulgate

So, Martin Luther, along with several colleagues - including Erasmus, were trained in Hebrew, Greek and Latin and they translated the entire Bible into the German vernacular using, probably, the same resources Jerome may have (i.e.; the Masoretic text). I think we may be having a semantics issue here. A translation is not necessarily an entirely NEW interpretation each time it is attempted. Luther did not act alone in his work to produce the work he did and he continued to revise and perfect it throughout the rest of his life as vernacular changed and words evolved - much like is STILL done today.

My disagreement with NL was not centered around Jerome but on his insistence that Luther spent too little time, in his estimation, to produce a satisfactory enough work without adding his own "slant" and misinterpretations. He reasoned Luther must have skipped necessary "leg work" to have been able to do a complete enough job even though the sources I gave stated he worked on the New Testament for a year and completed the entire Bible after another 12 years (including modifications and corrections). Again, he was not the only one working on this project and he had multiple resources to assist him. I only brought up Jerome to address the imbalance of criticism directed at Luther's presumed "haste" when Jerome hurriedly translated the books he did not consider canonical into the Latin Vulgate.

Of course, this argument was but a sideline/diversion from the actual argument which was that Luther supposedly removed certain books from "his" German translation of the Bible. Luther did not do that, but no proof seems good enough for those who refuse to let go of the few remaining arrows they think they have to take down "Protestantism".

I appreciate your comments.

962 posted on 01/10/2013 8:11:11 PM PST by boatbums (God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him.)
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To: Elsie
Quit pointing out error in our church; you damned HERETICS!

Elsie, calm down!!!!! Heretics are those who contradict the true church of Christ, Catholicism.....see!

963 posted on 01/10/2013 8:16:21 PM PST by terycarl
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To: stfassisi
.

..however, those who are baptized in these communities are, by Baptism, incorporated in Christ and thus are in a certain communion, albeit imperfect, with the Church.62 Baptism in fact tends per se toward the full development of life in Christ, through the integral profession of faith, the Eucharist, and full communion in the Church

While you may post this in the positive sense, if you have been following a recent thread, you can see how this is so defined so strictly by an zealous RC like yourself so as to effectively negate most any baptized Protestant as having the Holy Spirit now and eternal life, unless they convert to Rome and reject Protestant doctrines.

And in reality, there is much disagreement in Rome on what the magisterium really means by such statements.

964 posted on 01/10/2013 8:18:01 PM PST by daniel1212 (Come to the Lord Jesus as a contrite damned+destitute sinner, trust Him to save you, then live 4 Him)
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To: terycarl
>> you cannot read any scripture that the RCC preserved, edited, saved, wrote, printed, copied, etc etc....lots of luck there<<

I’ll rely on the scriptures that were translated from the original languages. It’s the polluted RCC stuff that we need to stay away from.

965 posted on 01/10/2013 8:19:02 PM PST by CynicalBear
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To: Elsie
h, the Catholics give good lipservice to the horror of abortion; but how many have blockaded the doors lately of a clinic?

we've had to back off a little lately, too many protestants were being injured and insuted by our actions and taunts....pathetic

966 posted on 01/10/2013 8:21:56 PM PST by terycarl
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To: Elsie
So THAT's whats going on!!!

ELSIE!!!!!!!is that you with the mitre?????I had no idea !!!

967 posted on 01/10/2013 8:24:30 PM PST by terycarl
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To: Elsie
think GOD can use just about whatever He wants to get the job done.

whatever???? Like perhaps an unsoiled vessel, like perhaps a sinless virgin.???? After all, He created 1 other....remember Eve???

968 posted on 01/10/2013 8:29:34 PM PST by terycarl
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To: terycarl; Elsie; metmom; boatbums; CynicalBear
how on earth could you ever determine that God Almighty would allow His begotten Son to be housed in a soiled vessel?

The answer to "how" is just as easily as He used soiled yet holy souls to bring forth His wholly inspired word to men. For as it says, "with God all things are possible."

And your tradition-based Orthodox brethren disagree with your on the IM (among other things.

969 posted on 01/10/2013 8:30:51 PM PST by daniel1212 (Come to the Lord Jesus as a contrite damned+destitute sinner, trust Him to save you, then live 4 Him)
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To: CynicalBear
Anyone who honestly compares the teaching of the RCC with scripture understands that the RCC is often in contradiction to scripture.

So, you checked with all the billions and billions and billions of people in the world, and (on your own and by your own infallible judgment and perfect understanding and interpretation of Sacred Scripture) determined who among those billions and billions and billions of people had honestly and completely compared the teachings of the RCC with Scripture, then you interviewed all of those people, and found out that they all understand that the RCC is often in contradiction to Scripture?

I don't mean to sound insulting, CynicalBear, but your claim sounds very similar to the types of claims that B-O and his supporters often make in a roundabout way, such as "Most Americans want to do away with the 2nd Amendment", or "Most Americans want to do away with the 1st Amendment", etc., without any real corroborating evidence other than B-O's glib assertions.

Forgive me if I am just a tad skeptical!

Might there not be at least one or two Scripture scholars in that large group of people who disagree with your assertion?

I'll try to check back tomorrow to see your possible reply.

970 posted on 01/10/2013 8:31:44 PM PST by Heart-Rest ("The Church is the pillar and bulwark of the truth." (1 Timothy 3:15))
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To: CynicalBear
Talking about heretics. I’ve just been doing some research on the Catholic Church and the inquisition. What an awful horrid church to claim as ones historical home.

recheck your facts...the protestants killed more "witches" in Europe and the U.S. than the inquisition ever thought of!!!! Nice bunch you have there

971 posted on 01/10/2013 8:34:31 PM PST by terycarl
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To: Elsie
He simply chooses to let man do as man does... Get thee behind me...

so you deny free will???? you're into predestination???pathetic!!!

972 posted on 01/10/2013 8:36:33 PM PST by terycarl
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To: metmom
"When the RCC teaches that the pope can speak ex cathedra, they are saying that they believe that that is the ultimate source of truth from God. The Catholic church rejects the authority of Scripture and replaces it with the authority of a man."

Ex Cathedra means that it is the Holy Spirit is speaking through the chair (office) of St. Peter which the same authority and author as Scripture. It is very rarely exercised.

Peace be with you

973 posted on 01/10/2013 8:38:08 PM PST by Natural Law (Jesus did not leave us a Bible, He left us a Church.)
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To: roamer_1
Can you imagine how many booger-eatin' sinners personally TOUCHED HIM??? How could God ALLOW it? Why weren't they all struck down dead? [/sarc]

after He was born, god allowed us to KILL Him, but before He was born, He had all the protection that the almighty could provide....

974 posted on 01/10/2013 8:40:47 PM PST by terycarl
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To: Syncro
So very true, dear brother in Christ!

But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. - Hebrews 11:6

God's Name is I AM.

975 posted on 01/10/2013 8:40:47 PM PST by Alamo-Girl
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To: metmom
Some things in Scripture can be understood by the unsaved, but the rest to the unsaved heart is like light to the blind.

So very true, dear sister in Christ!

Thank you for sharing your insights!

976 posted on 01/10/2013 8:43:12 PM PST by Alamo-Girl
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To: metmom
The Catholic church claiming to do the job of the Holy Spirit and Jesus.

your understanding of the Catholic church is woefully inadequate. The Catholic church only states that the Holy Spirit works through the church....has done so for 2013 years so far!!!!

977 posted on 01/10/2013 8:46:14 PM PST by terycarl
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To: daniel1212
Fascinating! Thank you so very much for sharing that, dear daniel1212!
978 posted on 01/10/2013 8:47:19 PM PST by Alamo-Girl
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To: metmom
You can partake of the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, and it is ONLY in the Catholic church that you can do so. Chapter and verse?

I don't feel like looking it up for you but it goes something like "TAKE THIS ALL OF YOU AND EAT IT, tHIS IS MY BODY"....TAKE AND DRINK FROM THIS CHALICE IT IS MY BLOOD WHICH SHALL BE SHED FOR YOU AND FOR THE REMISSION OF SIN" that pretty much wraps it up for me...He has the power to do it and......He did!!

979 posted on 01/10/2013 8:53:23 PM PST by terycarl
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To: terycarl
"Like perhaps an unsoiled vessel, like perhaps a sinless virgin.???? After all, He created 1 other....remember Eve???"

Everything in this universe was willed into existance by the mind of God. That includes Mary. Mary's perfection was best addressed by the venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen:

"When Whistler painted the picture of his mother, did he not have the image of her in his mind before he ever gathered his colors on his palette? If you could have preexisted your mother (not artistically, but really), would you not have made her the most perfect woman that ever lived—one so beautiful she would have been the sweet envy of all women, and one so gentle and so merciful that all other mothers would have sought to imitate her virtues? Why, then, should we think that God would do otherwise? When Whistler was complimented on the portrait of his mother, he said, "You know how it is; one tries to make one's Mummy just as nice as he can." When God became Man, He too, I believe, would make His Mother as nice as He could—and that would make her a perfect Mother."

Peace be with you

980 posted on 01/10/2013 8:55:22 PM PST by Natural Law (Jesus did not leave us a Bible, He left us a Church.)
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