Do Protestants think Jesus didn't know what He was doing when He entrusted the care of His sheep to Peter?

Question

"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.' A second time he said to him, '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 grieved because he said to him the 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.'" -- John 21:15-17

To those who asked me to spell it out: Jesus entrusted the care of His sheep to the Apostle Peter. We know the Church practiced Apostolic Succession (Acts 1:15-26). So why have some Christians strayed from the successor of Peter?

Answer 1

you forgot this verse:

Matthew 18:18 "Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. "

thus, Peter (the pope) is given permission by GOD himself (Jesus Christ) to "rule" the church on his behalf> When there is no central authority you get disunity and chaos as there is in protestantism, lets us pray for our seperated brethren.

Answer 2

He was a prominent leader of the Jerusalem church, initially certainly the key figure. In Galatians Paul says Peter, John and James (the bro of Jesus I think) were the key figures of the Jerusalem church, which was at least 17 years on from Pentecost.

Peter or a subordinate who learnt from him must have visited Corinth at some time because Paul mentions him as well as Apollos as admired teachers there.

Peter is believed to have gone to Rome, presumably becoming leader of the church, which one would expect, and getting martyred.

So he was a very prominent early church leader. But I don't think that his status passed onto the next Roman church leader, God is no respecter of titles surely. Leaders of other churches may have been more prominent, effective and loving. We know John the apostle outlasted Peter, and would presumably have been looked up to as the head pastor until he died, although I don't think the church was very hierarchical then anyway.

Answer 3

Tell you what kiddo, I'll answer this from Scripture & let Protestants answer from whatever k? In John 21, the disciples have returned to Galilee, which Jesus had told them to do in Mat. 28:7. He had appointed a certain mountain (Mat. 28:16) and probably had set a time to meet them there. While waiting for Christ they went back to their old business of fishing where they had first been called of Christ a few years earlier (Luke 5: 1-11). This time as before, Christ provided a great haul of fish representing to them how they would have great success in their redemptive movement. "More than these" v.15
could have meant "These Things" the "Fishing" OR "These Men"? We do not know as the masculine & neuter forms of the Greek word "These" are the same. "Do you love me more than These other Disciples?" OR "Do you love me more than you Love Fishing?". OR, was Jesus "Twitting" Peter for his forthcoming three fold Denial after Christ is arrested??? In v. 15-17, Jesus uses "Agapan" Love & Peter uses "Philein" Brotherly Love. The Agapan is the Highest form of Love but Peter refuses to use it. The third time Christ uses "Philein" coming down to Peters level. The "Feed My Sheep" in three variants seems to have Christ asking Peter do you Love ME more than your Fishing Business? If so than you better be giving your time to the care of MY Flocks; to My Business, Peter, rather than to yours. Hope this helps? John

Answer 4

You know, questions like this are why people have such a distorted and negative view of Catholics. Honestly now, in the grand scheme of things, what difference does it make which denomination of Christianity you choose to follow??

This is absolutely wasted energy. There is no need for a Catholic to "convert" a Protestant or for a Protestant to "convert" a Catholic. We are ALL Christians, we are ALL working towards the same goal and we are ALL living by the same moral values.

As a Catholic, I am very upset to see this sort of question posted and I hope the Protestants and people of other faiths who read your egotistical post understand that this is the opinion of ONE person and does NOT represent the views of Catholics as a whole.

"The Christian denominations which have not preserved the Apostolic succession [Line of Popes] are incorporated in Christ and thus are in a certain communion with the Catholic Church."

This is the official statement from the Catholic church published on 2000-AUG-6 by Cardinal Ratzinger (in a publication titled Dominus Iesus)

Answer 5

Not speaking for all Protestants but No. From my reading Jesus asked these question for assurance not to present Peter with a "job"
Peter denied the knowledge of Jesus three times and by asking the questions he was asking for the assurance of His love, and giving forgiveness by saying that he still had the work of Jesus to continue

Answer 6

Maybe Jesus was emphasizing to Peter that he should "feed his sheep" because He knew that the catholic church would do such an awful job of doing it. Sort of like reminding your husband to pick up the dry cleaning after work. You know he's going to forget it, so you remind him. Now Peter of course was a great leader, but those that came after clearly were not. So maybe Jesus was trying to reinforce to Peter to make sure that the church that he did form needed to be supportive, rather than judgmental and bound to persecute.

That is the reason for the protestant reformation after all, corruption within the church. And you do realize that the catholic church isn't in line with the way the church was in the first century, right? THAT is the goal of the protestant church, to RETURN to the ORIGINAL way, when they called it 'THE WAY'.

Answer 7

But while Peter was central in the early spread of the gospel (part of the meaning behind Matthew 16:18-19), the teaching of Scripture, taken in context, nowhere declares that he was in authority over the other apostles, or over the Church (having primacy). See Acts 15:1-23; Galatians 2:1-14; and 1 Peter 5:1-5. Nor is it ever taught in Scripture that the bishop of Rome, or any other bishop, was to have primacy over the Church. Scripture does not even explicitly record Peter even being in Rome. Rather there is only one reference in Scripture of Peter writing from “Babylon,” a name sometimes applied to Rome (1 Peter 5:13). Primarily upon this, and the historical rise of the influence of the Bishop of Rome, comes the Roman Catholic Church teaching of the primacy of the Bishop of Rome. However, Scripture shows that Peter’s authority was shared by the other apostles (Ephesians 2:19-20), and the “loosing and binding” authority attributed to him was likewise shared by the local churches, not just their church leaders (see Matthew 18:15-19; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; 2 Corinthians 13:10; Titus 2:15; 3:10-11).

Also, nowhere does Scripture state that in order to keep the church from error, the authority of the apostles was passed on to those they ordained (apostolic succession). Apostolic succession is “read into” those verses that the Roman Catholic Church uses to support this doctrine (2 Timothy 2:2; 4:2-5; Titus 1:5; 2:1; 2:15; 1 Timothy 5:19-22). Paul does NOT call on believers in various churches to receive Titus, Timothy, and other church leaders based on their authority as bishops, or their having apostolic authority, but rather based upon their being fellow laborers with him (1 Corinthians 16:10; 16:16; 2 Corinthians 8:23).

What Scripture DOES teach is that false teachings would arise even from among church leaders, and that Christians were to compare the teachings of these later church leaders with Scripture, which alone is infallible (Matthew 5:18; Psalm 19:7-8; 119:160; Proverbs 30:5; John 17:17; 2 Peter 1:19-21). The Bible does not teach that the apostles were infallible, apart from what was written by them and incorporated into Scripture. Paul, in talking to the church leaders in the large city of Ephesus, makes note of coming false teachers, and to fight against such error does NOT commend them to “the apostles and those who would carry on their authority,” but rather he commends them to “God and to the word of His grace...” (Acts 20:28-32). It is Scripture that was to be the infallible measuring stick for teaching and practice (2 Timothy 3:16-17), not apostolic successors. It is by examining the Scriptures that teachings are shown to be true or false (Acts 17:10-12).

Was Peter the first pope? The answer, according to Scripture, is a clear and emphatic no. Peter nowhere claims supremacy over the other apostles. Nowhere is his writings (1 and 2 Peter) did the Apostle Peter claim any special role, authority, or power over the church. Nowhere in Scripture does Peter, or any other apostle, state that their apostolic authority would be passed on to successors. Yes, the Apostle Peter had a leadership role among the disciples. Yes, Peter played a crucial role in the early spread of the Gospel (Acts chapters 1-10). Yes, Peter was the “rock” that Christ predicted he would be (Matthew 16:18). However, these truths about Peter in no way give support to the concept that Peter was the first pope, or that he was the “supreme leader” over the apostles, or that his authority would be passed on to the bishops of Rome. Peter himself points us all to the true Shepherd and Overseer of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:25).

Answer 8

There is a difference between Jesus telling Peter to help lead the church rather than Jesus giving full authority to every Pope who claims to have the authority of Peter.

Answer 9

The 'care and feeding' of the sheep of Christ is the duty of every Christian and NOT just one apostle once known as Peter! We are ALL ministers of the faith in Christ, and as such, we do service to our Lord and Savior by caring for and 'feeding' His sheep!
In 2 Corinthians, chapter 11, Paul gives a summary of the kinds of things he has experienced in his service for the Lord up to this point. 2 Corinthians was written about four or five years before the letter to the Colossians was written. So we've added to the list that he gives here by the time he writes Colossians. But you get some idea of what the life of the Apostle Paul was like. The context in 2 Corinthians is that some people were challenging Paul. Did he really serve the Lord? Pasted here below is the duty of every Christian according to the apostle Paul!

2 Corinthians 11:23-28 (NKJV) Are they ministers of Christ?; I speak as a fool; I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. 24 From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27 in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness; 28 besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.

Answer 10

Peter was given the leadership of Jesus' disciples. Where is the conflict? I don't know anyone who denies that. Jesus also said "You are the rock upon which I will build my church."

Answer 11

What makes you think they don't? Just because they don't belive the rituals of the Catholic Church are necessary to follow Jesus, doesn't mean they don't believe that verse. Peter is a rock for Protestants too. His faith and teaching are important. We just don't follow the rituals you do.