The Catholic Church claims to have God given authority, but how and when did they get that?
and from whom did the Catholic Church get its authority, if they got authority?
2006-06-20 06:19:29 · 9 answers · asked by LOW-BATT(dennis85k8) 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Depends on who you ask.
If you ask the Bible, which seems the most authoritive source for such a question, then here's what you'll learn:
Christ himself gave Peter the authority. And Peter gave it to others, who gave it to others, who formed a preisthood and continued spreading it. The Vatican actually keeps a record of who gave Holy Orders (the ceremony that "makes" a priest) to whom. Every Catholic priest can only receive Holy Orders from another Catholic priest, and the lineage is tracked all the way back to Peter and Christ. So, every Catholic priest is a direct descendant through Holy Orders from Christ himself.
If you mean political authority, it comes from the fact that church and state didn't use to be nearly as separate as they are now. They were closley intertwined, and the church pretty much ran several nations. They gained political power during that time whose effects last through today though shear size of followership.
The protestant churches all fragmented off from the main Catholic church, and none of them have been around for as long and none of them have grown as large as the Catholic church.
The church maintains it's authority through the simple fact that they have more followers than any other religion on Earth.
The Roman Catholic Pope is truly a world leader, because he has followers in every part of the world.
2006-06-20 06:33:09 · answer #1 · answered by Waynez 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The answer has already been given: The authority comes from Christ who gave it and continues to give it. If it did not as was not from God, history would have crushed under the Catholic Church by now. The Catholic Church has always been what it is now and it has be uneffected by the crush of history
For those of you that think that the Catholic Church wasn't around from the begining, I invite you to read Christian History.
Go out and buy The Faith of the Early Fathers by Jurgens
or read Pope Clement of Rome http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1010.htm
Ignatius of Antioch
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0109.htm
Irenaeus of Lyons
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103.htm
All individuals who lived within 100 years of the death of Christ.
2006-06-20 08:09:16 · answer #2 · answered by Liet Kynes 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The Catholic church says they got their authority from God. This is not true. One thing Jesus wanted to get rid of was organized religion, which is exactly what catholicism is. They got it like in 350 A.D.
2006-06-20 06:24:03 · answer #3 · answered by ac28 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The same way anyone acquires power- people allow them to have it. A person can't preside over anyone or anything without that overpowered person or thing allowing it. If you don't give someone the power to control you, they can't control you. Sick sad cycle.
2006-06-20 06:24:11 · answer #4 · answered by Another Nickname 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
like a rabbit out of a hat...
no, they enforced it...
think of it as if a plane crashed on an island and one survivor takes two others as his army, and secures all the fruit trees for himself...
everyone else is subjigated to him and has to work to survive whilst he just needs to put wafers dipped in wine into people's mouth on sundays!
2006-06-20 08:00:35 · answer #5 · answered by Piffle 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
From Jesus. As the Gospels state:
"On this rock I will build my Church, and not even the powers of hell shall prevail against it."
"He who listens to you, listens to me."
"What you bind on earth is bound in heaven; what you loose on earth is loosed in heaven."
"Whose sins you forgive are forgiven; whose sins you hold bound are held bound."
"Go therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you."
2006-06-20 06:27:11 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
from Emperor Constantine and the Nicean councils
2006-06-20 06:29:50 · answer #7 · answered by What?? 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
convincing people to believe in heaven.
and than work their whole lives benefiting priests, ect.
its all sad, really.
2006-06-20 06:23:43 · answer #8 · answered by sarah76767 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
themselves
2006-06-20 06:22:24 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋