Was Peter really the first Pope?

Question

or did Jesus Christ appoint an earthly Head to His Church?

I found it reading the Holy Bible that the Lord Jesus Christ is the sole King and only Head of His Church and He never appointed any earthly Head of His Church.

My research mention in Matthew 16:18 "Thou art Peter and upon this Rock I will build my church."

The rock on which the Church is founded is not Peter, but Peter's confession, "thou art the Christ" mention in Matthew 16:16.

And Paul explicitly states, "For other foundation can "NO MAN" lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ". (1 Cor. 3:11). To take Peter as the foundation flatly contradicts this passage.

Regarding the key of Peter? The keys were used by Peter in preaching to the Jews on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2); to the household of Cornelius (Acts 14:27 cf. Acts 10); and to the Gentiles (Acts 11:18).

There is not a particle of historical evidence that Peter passed on any authority to anyone.

What is more important what I've found is that there is no New Testament evidence at all that Christ commanded Peter to pass any authority.

Well, without such a clear command of Christ, the successors of Peter must be regarded as having arrogated authority to themselves.

skepsis,

Since when did the Bishop became the successor of the Apostles?

Biblical answers please.

Peter is the bishop of Rome?

Peter first if he was the bishop of Rome as the Roman Catholic Church claims.

Peter was never the Bishop Of Rome if you don't read Vatican made text. Roman Catholic "TRADITION" states that the apostle Peter was the first pope and the first bishop of Rome.

Does the testimony of Scripture and history provide any substantiation of this claim?

Please forgive me for the length of this study.

Answer 1

You are correct.... that idea is the invention of The roman Catholics who's cult did not even get started untill 300 yrs after The One True Chruch was commisioned by Jesus The Christ.

Answer 2

However you wish to interpret it, in Matthew 16:18, Jesus is making a pun with the name "Peter". "Petros" is Greek for "rock". So Jesus declares that he intends to build his Church on Peter (or people such as Peter).

Does that make Peter pope? There is a long-standing tradition that Peter became the first bishop of Rome, and that Linus and Anacletus (people about whom we know virtually nothing) were his immediate successors. These facts are important to know but impossible to verify.

In the first two centuries of the Church, bishops represented and oversaw the administration of their Christian communities in various cities. The patriarchs of Jerusalem, Antioch, Byzantium, Alexandria, Rome, etc. were regarded as equals, more concerned with local issues than deep theological questions. But as the issues were raised, questions like what exactly Jesus' relationship with the Father was, these pastors found it necessary to confer and agree on these issues for the sake of Christian unity.

The term "pope" does not appear in history before 385 CE. The Latin term is "papa", which literally means "papa". The bishop of Rome was regarded as the Big Daddy bishop, the goto guy for quick action and snap decisions, at least among the Romans. (Well, he did live in the capital of the Empire.) Yet for the big policy decisions, councils were and are still held and all bishops were invited.

The question was, which happened when? It is doubtful that Peter foresaw a dynasty of ecclesiastical princes. He may have simply said, "Linus, hold down the fort until I get back." We just don't know. But there apparently was a Christian community in Rome and communities have leaders. Popes used to be referred to as the "vicar of Peter", which is a quite reasonable honorific. Then at some point, it became "vicar of Christ", which is more controversial.

Answer 3

I don't personally believe that Peter is the head of the church, nor do I believe he is the first pope or that popes should be the head of the church. In every respect, I believe Jesus is the head of the church.

Did you know, reading from the original Greek, that when Jesus talks to Peter about being the rock upon whom He'll build the church, He could have meant at least four different things?

1) He could have meant the traditional meaning taken by Catholics - "Peter...on this rock (meaning Peter) I will build my church."

2) He could have meant the view that I believe, that Peter, as a disciple of Christ, was representative of the church body.

3) He could have meant that the ground He was standing on was where the church would be - "Peter...on this rock (where the two were standing) I will build my church."

4) He could have been pointing at Himself - "Peter...on this rock (referring to Himself) I will build my church."

Answer 4

No, James the Just, the blood brother of Jesus was first Patriarch (Pope).

The first Bishop of Rome was Prince Linus of Britain, appointed by Paul of Tarsus himself, in direct defiance of James the Just and all the legitimate apostles.

Because of the actions of Paul of Tarsus forming christianity in defiance of the Nazarene beliefs of Jesus and the apostles, he was excommunicated by around 51/54 CE.

When around 62 CE, Paul of Tarsus had James murdered, Simon (Peter) a Zealot therefore a guerilla fighter because one of the key leaders of resistance in holding Jerusalem.

So how could he possibly have been the first Pope or Bishop of Rome?

The truth is well documented in the Supreme Bible of God
See:
http://one-faith-of-god.org/final_testament/bible_of_god.htm

The Vatican created the ficticious story about Peter being the first pope from around the 6th Century in its attempt to seize control of christianity over the other churches.

Why do you think the orthodox churches have never acknowledged the legitimacy of Rome?

Answer 5

Peter and not his declaration was the rock on which Christ founded His church,Peter is the earthly shepherd and no other Apostle was given this priviledge,to whom Peter passed the keys to by his authority as the Vicar of Christ they too inherit the Apostolic office.
What about the promise of Christ to Peter that whatever he bound on earth would be bound in Heaven,and whatever he loosed on earth would be loosed in Heaven too.
Go back to the original Latin Vulgate and this becomes clear and not the anti-Catholic Protestant versions of today.

Answer 6

No, Peter was never a pope of the catholic church. Mama only claims so in hopes of bring more people into its church. In fact, the catholic church wasn't even around in Peter's time. But base on what I was taught as a catholic, mama gave us the Bible. Therefore it should of been--but it wasn't. How do I know this, I started reading the Bible. Where do you find the word "church" in the OT?

Answer 7

Yes Jesus anointed Peter as it says. However, he was not any pope. Catholicism was not started until about 311 AD.
Peter was also married. Big NO-NO for Cath. priests.
Jesus made Peter the Apostle to the Jews, which is what the statement meant. And Paul was the Apostle of the Gentiles. The Catholic church insinuates that Peter did everything and that Mary is who should pray to. See some of my recent answers on Catholicism for more information.
And technically, Peter is translated pebble and Jesus as rock is really tranlated boulder.

Answer 8

Who was Jesus refering to when he says, "Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overpower it"? -Matthew 16:13-23; Mark 8:27-33; and Luke 9:19-22

If one looks into the place at which Jesus and the disciples were standing they would know that it was Caesarea Philippi (C.P.). It is known in the time of Jesus that C.P. was a place full of idol worship from Ba'al in Tanakh times and Paneas in Hellenistic times (because the god Pan - fertility). It is a place full of Gentile worship or basically a place where orgies and idol worship existed. It is also known that the place from which the river flows out of the mountain (refer to links for pictures) is often called the 'gates of hades'. It is also known that many establishments have been built at this place, but at certain times water flows out of the 'gates of hades' and destroys everything in it's path. It is for this reason that so much idol worship takes place here.

Now Jesus must have known of the evil in this place. So why did he take his disciples to the top of the Gates of Hades? Jesus may have been talking about the idols below him. The gentile worship below him.

Think about this, despite all of the evil which is going on at the base of the mountain, the rock Jesus is standing on, the very place where all of this evil is taking place, is where He will build His church, and the Gates of Hades will not overpower it like it did to so many other establishments before it.

One should now ask this question, "Who is Jesus refering to when he says, "Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overpower it?" Is the rock Peter or is the rock the literal rock Jesus is standing on? Is the church a place built on Peter or is it built on top of all evil, idols, demonic activity, sin, and through standing on all of that will withstand the Gates of Hades?

Answer 9

He also gave them the gift of the Holy Spirit and the power to bind or Loose sin, to facilitate forgiveness, Jesus left us the Church and the Sacraments to stay in the grace of God.

Peace!

P.S. Peter's faith was not always that strong, he denied Jesus 3 times... Why do you work so hard just to not be Catholic? It is really simple.

Peter IS given authority, Paul himself gives it to him by waiting at the tomb of Jesus for Peter to go in first even though Paul arrived first, that is a sign of obedience.

Answer 10

the roman catholic church sees peter as the first pope upon whom God had chosen to build his church

BUT the answer, according to scripture, is a clear and emphatic no. peter nowhere claims supremacy over the other apostles. nowhere is his writings 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, peter was the “rock” that Christ predicted he would be - 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.