Why do Catholics need the Pope. Can't they interpret the Bible on their own?

Answer 1

Jesus gave us the Pope.

John 21:15-17 states:

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs."

He then said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep."

He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." (Jesus) said to him, "Feed my sheep.

Matthew 16:17-19 states:

Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

The Catholic Church believes the Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the "rock" of his Church. He gave him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole flock.

The Pope is the senior pastor of 1.1 billion Catholics, the direct successor of Simon Peter.

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

I do know from being a Catholic growing up (not now), that they have published their own Bible. I study in the manuscripts, and I did go through their Catholic Bible and unfortunately, it does not concur with the Holy Scriptures, so thats a no-brainer.
As far as can people interpret the Bible on their own - well, they should be able to, but it seems that it is so much easier for people to just listen to what some pastor/priest says, instead of taking the time to check it out in Scripture for themselves.
This is the exact reason why the Bible states over and over that in the end generation, the mass majority of good Christians will be deceived. They just do not study the Word.
When I was in Catholic School, they told us that the Bible would be too difficult to understand. They also said that the Book of Revelation is not meant to be read - its sealed.
Well, the word Revelation means to uncover, to make known.
So you figure that one out. Things may have changed over the past forty years since I went to the Catholic school/Church, and I say that in fairness to all - It may be different there today.

Answer 3

The Pope isn't about interpreting the bible. That is what theologians do. And no one should try to do it on their own. This is how so much bad theology get around. I am not RC, but I can tell you that the Pope is there in an administrative capacity as the Bishop in the line of Apostolic Succession of Peter.

Answer 4

Are the snake handlers correct in their understanding of scripture, what about the JW who proclaim there will only be 144,000 people saved throughout history, or Calvin who said God decides before people are born who will be saved so what you do doesn't matter, or the Anglicans who felt God would let the rich only get into Heaven at some points since God obviously showed his favor, or the Anabaptists who said you must have your feet washed for salvation, or Menno Simmons who taught that Jesus was not actually born of Mary, or Luther who added the words "alone," to his translation of the bible to make his point, or what about the Methodists who decided alchohol was sinful and then the groups that teach the wine in the bible was really grape juice, and I can go on.

Answer 5

The 31,000 different protestant denominations, with their 31,000 different creeds and faith traditions, have already proved that nobody is capable of correctly interpreting scripture on their own.

The Pope would tell you that scripture can only be properly understood through the "lens" of sacred and apostolic tradition, which reflects the workings of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church, and which includes all the authentic oral teachings of Jesus and the apostles, many of which are not to be found in scripture, but are no less true.

Both scripture and authentic tradition are necessary if one is to correctly understand all the truths that God has revealed to his church.

The Pope would be right, too! That's why Jesus personally created and empowered the papal office, and why the papacy will always be an essential part of the one, true, and universal church.

Answer 6

Every Christian denomination has it leadership structure.

Are you trying to imply that you have read the bible and established your own doctrine, without influence from pastors, ministers, parents?

My guess is that your Faith is based on a variety of the places listed above, because if it isn't then you are probably on the verge of starting your own denomination. Which can be very lucrative as the leaders of your own denomination can attest to.

Answer 7

For the same reason that the Muslim need an Ayatollah, all of these religious idiots need a leader to tell them what to believe... through their interpretation of the founders preachings...

Answer 8

For political power. The Bible is inconsequential to them. The traditions of men.....mean everything.

Answer 9

What a valid suggestion, since we are at it, let's also get rid of governments, can't we interpret the law on our own?

Answer 10

Why does the US need a president? Can't we goof up on our own? Same principle. Human nature to have a leader.

Answer 11

They dont need the pope at all. They have all the resources they need.