Catholics...why?

Question

Why do you give the Pope, who is a MAN, so much divine power? He's only a man for Pete's sake?

Answer 1

The Pope does not have divine power. He is not God. He has authority because he is chosen by God to lead His people.

Look at the amount of Power that King David had. King David just a man?

It is funny that you use the phrase "for Pete's sake." Gues who the "Pete" is that this refers to.

Answer 2

Why do you think Catholics give the Pope divine power? Where do you get your information from? This is a misconception.

Catholics know the Pope is a human being, no different from us. The office he holds as the Vicar of Christ, gives him the authority that Christ gave Peter. It has been handed down through Apostolic Succession.

To mandbturner: - you say the "Bible is the final authority" and yet...the Bible does not say that anywhere. So where do you get your authority to pronounce the Bible as the final authority? Jesus gave Peter authority...he did not tell Peter that the scripture had all final authority. Where do you all get this stuff from?

Answer 3

Catholics do not give anyone any Divine Power. Only the Divine Trinity has such power.

However, we believe that the Office of the Bishop of Rome, the Papacy, is sacred and holy for it was instituted by Jesus Christ, when He changed Simon's name to Peter (from the Greek Petros, from the Aramaic Kephas) and said on this Kepha He would build His Church. Jesus also said that He gave the Keys to the Kingdom to Peter. Jesus also commanded Peter to feed His sheep and lambs.

Answer 4

You may also want to ask why Jesus would give a MAN the keys to Heaven, and the authority to bind things in the name of the Church. I'm not sure which "divine" powers you think Catholics (humans) have given the Pope. Catholics realize the pope is just a man. His role is to act as a representative for the Church.

Catholics believe the apostles were entrusted with preserving the integrity of Jesus's message, as many false prophets came along in Jesus's name and produced false scripture ( such as the Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Judas, Gospel of Barnabas, etc. ) If you are in need of a scriptural reference, here are a couple which demonstrate Jesus entrusting MEN with the power to "speak" for the Church:

Matthew [16:19] And I will give unto thee ( Peter ) the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

and

Matthew [18:18] Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye ( the other apostles ) shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

The binding of authority has been passed down ( bound ) from generation to generation, in the form of Apostolic Succession. Peter was appointed by Jesus with the "keys", while both Peter and the apostles were given the power to BIND what is on Earth to what is in Heaven...that is, if you trust scripture.

God bless, and happy All Souls Day.

Answer 5

The Pope doesn't have ANY "divine power" because he is, as you say, just a man. However, he is our global pastor. Just as Protestant Christians look to their ministers for doctrinal guidance and decision-making as regards their churches, we look to the Pope and other clergy. I think what's probably giving you difficulty is our belief about papal infallibility.

It's ironic that you punctuated your question with the phrase "for Pete's sake." The "Pete" in this phrase is St. Peter, and the Popes are Peter's successors. In Mat 16:17-19, Jesus tells Peter:

"And Jesus answering said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven."

This passage tells us many things about the Church Jesus established.

1. Peter was privileged to receive direct divine revelations. He received unique guidance from God that allowed him to know truths about Christ that most other people did not.

2. When Jesus established His Church, He put Peter in charge of it. We can argue all day about ancient languages and was Peter really the "rock" on which the Church was built, but the fact remains that *Peter* was given the keys to Heaven. Furthermore, Jesus gave *Peter* the authority to make decisions that would be binding both in Heaven and on Earth.

3. Jesus promised that "the gates of hell shall not prevail" against the Church. We take this to mean that the Church, itself, is safe from corruption and evil. Note that this does NOT mean that all the *people* (including priests) in the Church are free from corruption, but the faith on which the Church is built cannot be brought down by evil.

Given that Peter (and his successors) was gifted with divine guidance, that he had a mandate from Christ to lead the Church, and that the faith of the Church is not corruptible, we believe that when the Pope speaks "ex cathedra" (from the chair of St. Peter), he is under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and cannot be incorrect in what he says. So what does this mean? The only time a Pope can speak ex cathedra is when he makes a formal pronouncement about dogma and doctrine - the actual substance of what we believe. Social positions, value judgments, political statements, personal opinions, etc, do NOT count. He's just as fallible as the rest of us at every other time. Ex cathedra proclaimations are exceedingly rare. It's not like the Pope can use his infallibility for anything he likes. There has not been an ex cathedra statement issued in my lifetime (30 years).

So, to sum up, Catholics do not believe that the Pope has divine powers. We believe that he has a very specific, strictly limited ability to issue infallible statements under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and that this ability was promised to Peter (and his successors) by Jesus. We call the Pope the "Vicar of Christ", but that's just a fancy way of saying that the Pope is minding the flock until Jesus returns. He doesn't take the place of God; he's simply a steward. He is our pastor, not some sort of deity or demigod.

Answer 6

The Pope
(Ecclesiastical Latin papa from Greek papas, a variant of pappas father, in classical Latin pappas -- Juvenal, "Satires" 6:633).

The title pope, once used with far greater latitude (see below, section V), is at present employed solely to denote the Bishop of Rome, who, in virtue of his position as successor of St. Peter, is the chief pastor of the whole Church, the Vicar of Christ upon earth.

Besides the bishopric of the Roman Diocese, certain other dignities are held by the pope as well as the supreme and universal pastorate: he is Archbishop of the Roman Province, Primate of Italy and the adjacent islands, and sole Patriarch of the Western Church. The Church's doctrine as to the pope was authoritatively declared in the Vatican Council in the Constitution "Pastor Aeternus". The four chapters of that Constitution deal respectively with the office of Supreme Head conferred on St. Peter, the perpetuity of this office in the person of the Roman pontiff, the pope's jurisdiction over the faithful, and his supreme authority to define in all questions of faith and morals. This last point has been sufficiently discussed in the article INFALLIBILITY, and will be only incidentally touched on here.

The present article is divided as follows:

I. Institution of a Supreme Head by Christ
II. Primacy of the Roman See
III. Nature and Extent of the Papal Power
IV. Jurisdictional Rights and Prerogatives of the Pope
V. Primacy of Honour: Titles and Insignia

Answer 7

Catholics do not give the pope divine power. You should change your name to ignorant one.

Answer 8

They have their rites,just like every other cult. But to put that much power in one mans hands is a bit ludicrous,just like the Mormons with the Leader of their church essentially treated as a Prophet,so that essentially his word is law.

AD

Answer 9

Amazing! Why would any one follow any thing which cannot be supported by Scripture? The Bible is the final authority on all matters and yet we see people who simply cannot cling to the truth. We are not surprised as we are told in the last days men would depart from the truth and teach for doctrine, the commandments of men.
It's little wonder the Lord will destroy the Catholic church during the tribulation for the reasons given in Revelation Ch.17 V1-9

Answer 10

Is this the best you can dish out against the Catholic Church?

First of all, we do not give the Pope divine powers. He is just like us. He is subject to temptation and sin. As a matter of fact the present pope goes to confession every week. Surprised?

The New Testament contains five different metaphors for the foundation of the Church (Matt. 16:18, 1 Cor. 3:11, Eph. 2:20, 1 Pet. 2:5–6, Rev. 21:14). One metaphor that has been disputed is Jesus Christ’s calling the apostle Peter "rock": "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18).

Some have tried to argue that Jesus did not mean that his Church would be built on Peter but on something else.

Some argue that in this passage there is a minor difference between the Greek term for Peter (Petros) and the term for rock (petra), yet they ignore the obvious explanation: petra, a feminine noun, has simply been modifed to have a masculine ending, since one would not refer to a man (Peter) as feminine. The change in the gender is purely for stylistic reasons.

These critics also neglect the fact that Jesus spoke Aramaic, and, as John 1:42 tells us, in everyday life he actually referred to Peter as Kepha or Cephas (depending on how it is transliterated). It is that term which is then translated into Greek as petros. Thus, what Jesus actually said to Peter in Aramaic was: "You are Kepha and on this very kepha I will build my Church."

The Church Fathers, those Christians closest to the apostles in time, culture, and theological background, clearly understood that Jesus promised to build the Church on Peter, as the following passages show.

Tatian the Syrian

"Simon Cephas answered and said, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus answered and said unto him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah: flesh and blood has not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say unto thee also, that you are Cephas, and on this rock will I build my Church; and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it" (The Diatesseron 23 [A.D. 170]).

Tertullian

"Was anything withheld from the knowledge of Peter, who is called ‘the rock on which the Church would be built’ [Matt. 16:18] with the power of ‘loosing and binding in heaven and on earth’ [Matt. 16:19]?" (Demurrer Against the Heretics 22 [A.D. 200]).

"[T]he Lord said to Peter, ‘On this rock I will build my Church, I have given you the keys of the kingdom of heaven [and] whatever you shall have bound or loosed on earth will be bound or loosed in heaven’ [Matt. 16:18–19]. . . . What kind of man are you, subverting and changing what was the manifest intent of the Lord when he conferred this personally upon Peter? Upon you, he says, I will build my Church; and I will give to you the keys" (Modesty 21:9–10 [A.D. 220]).

The Letter of Clement to James

"Be it known to you, my lord, that Simon [Peter], who, for the sake of the true faith, and the most sure foundation of his doctrine, was set apart to be the foundation of the Church, and for this end was by Jesus himself, with his truthful mouth, named Peter" (Letter of Clement to James 2 [A.D. 221]).

CHALLENGE
Why do you say these things about my faith? Oh, I know what you will say, “we don't want you to go to hell; we love you.” That has to be the lamest and dullest excuse in years. Do you really expect us to fall for that line? Catholics do not bash other religions because we know we belong to the true Church. If you are so sure about your beliefs why bash Catholicism? You have already told us a million times what you do not like about our faith. And you have also warned us a million times we will go to hell with those beliefs. So, what really is your reason for attacking our faith again and again? I can only think of two reasons: to validate your own faith which means you are insecure and unsure of your own faith or you just want to bash my faith.

Fundamentalists, Evangelicals and Pentecostals talk as if no case can be made for the Catholic Church. How sure are you that you are right and we are wrong?

If you are so sure about your faith you should not turn your back on this challenge.
http://www.fisheaters.com/challenge.html

Do you really think a fourth of all Americans would be Catholic if their religion were as odd as its opponents claim? Isn’t it rather likely that you haven’t been told the whole story? To make an informed decision, you need to hear both sides. Why not study the Catholic faith? Either your suspicions will be confirmed, or you will discover that there is more to Catholicism than you once thought.