Roman Catholics?

Question

Given this:
Roman Catholic scholar Joseph F. Kelly wrote in The Concise Dictionary of Early Christianity (1992, p. 2), "The word 'pope' was not used exclusively of the bishop of Rome until the ninth century, and it is likely that in the earliest Roman community a college of presbyters rather than a single bishop provided the leadership."

Doesn't the Roman Church's assertion that the supremecy of the bishop(singular) of Rome goes back to the Apostle Peter seem a little odd to you? I mean, either there was always only one, or there wasn't right?

Nice try Agellius but Clement's epistle actually does speak of a plurality of elders and no single authoritative bishop of Rome. Ignatius does have a more monarchical view of ecclesiology, but that hardly proves the legitimacy of the papacy. As far as Irenaeus is concerned, he claimed that it was a matter of apostolic tradition that Jesus lived to be fifty years old. In fact, this statement of his is one of the, if not the earliest known appeal to apostolic tradition in order to substantiate ones own claims. How reliable is that oral tradition again?

Oh and about Matthew 16, what do you do with Matthew 18 where Jesus gives that authority to all the apostles? Remember, Jesus statement in ch.16 is in the future tense, while 18 is in the present. Seems maybe using that particular text to prove Petrine supremecy is a little bit of a stretch.

Answer 1

Sorry, still not Catholic but...
Historically the first bishop was James of Jerusalem. This is the James that Scripture calls "the brother of our Lord". This is the same James whose ossiairy was allegedly discovered a few years ago.

Mark

Answer 2

Before then, he was just the bishop or patriarch of Rome. Every large city had one. But after the collapse of civil government in the Western Roman Empire, the Church moved into the power vacuum, taking over basic city services. It was during the Sixth Century that they started using the term "papa" to indicate the bishop of Rome. The other patriarchs tended to ignore this.

Answer 3

Doesn't seem at all odd to me. There is other evidence than this one citation of a very modern author. If you were to read the writings of St. Irenaeus or St. Ignatius of Antioch, or Clement of Rome, who actually lived in the very early days of the church, you might get a different impression.

Also... you know... Matthew 16:18.

Answer 4

Actually Jesus was referring to Himself when He said upon THIS ROCK I will build my Church. The original word used for Peter was translated 'pebble' but then when Jesus said 'this rock' a different word was used which translates more closely to boulder or corner stone. And Jesus is mentioned as the 'corner stone which the builders rejected'.