Why is peter the first pope

After His resurrection, Jesus appeared and spoke to a gathered group of disciples. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld. Letting Scripture interpret Scripture, a number of passages point to Christ as the sole foundation. You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

For it stands in Scripture:. Jesus is also clearly portrayed as the head of the Church Colossians with believers making up the body I Corinthians Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. Peter and his office so closely with Himself that he became a visible force for protecting the Church and keeping back the power of hell.

Therefore, St. Peter and each of his successors represent our Lord on this earth as His Vicar and lead the faithful flock of the Church to the Kingdom of Heaven. A rabbi could bind, declaring an act forbidden or excommunicating a person for serious sin; or, a rabbi could loose, declaring an act permissible or reconciling an excommunicated sinner to the community. Here Christ entrusted a special authority to St.

Peter to preserve, interpret, and teach His truth. In all, this understanding of Matthew 16 was unchallenged until the Protestant leaders wanted to legitimize their rejection of papal authority and the office of the Pope. Even the Orthodox Churches recognize the Pope as the successor of St. Peter held a preeminent position among the apostles.

He is always listed first Matthew ; Mark ; Luke ; Acts and sometimes the only one mentioned Luke He speaks for the apostles Matthew ; Mark ; Luke ; John Are all Protestants going to Hell Catholic Dogma? Who is the One True Church? Do you agree with what the Roman Catholic teaches? Answer by Dr. Joseph R. Nally, Jr. Advanced Search Go. Search Term Type any of these words all of these words exact phrase. Results should display: full details author names only.

More search tips. Was Peter the First Pope? Question Was Peter the First Pope? Answer Thanks for your question. The short answer is "No. All rights reserved. Roman Christianity was in fact predominantly composed of foreigners who had come to the city from other parts of the empire.

It was essential for those groups gravitating to Rome, who had no interest in association with any form of Judaism, to be recognized as a valid new religion. To do so they had to demonstrate the highest credentials. Paul had clearly been in Rome, but he was never a favorite until rehabilitated by Augustine in the fifth century.

So finding a way to place that other great apostle, Peter, within the hierarchy of the Roman church would serve to establish the authority and the line of succession—and thus the credibility—that the church needed to assert itself over all the other Christian sects. All of this occurred on the heels of another empire-shaking event.

Jerusalem had been destroyed by Hadrian in C. The church had existed in Jerusalem until that time, but with the demise of the city the believers became scattered.

The early church had lived in hope of the return of Jesus Christ to the Mount of Olives, and to Jerusalem in particular. As long as Jerusalem remained, it fed that hope. In the fourth century, Eusebius provided a detailed list of the leaders of the church in Jerusalem until its fall, beginning with James the brother of Jesus, then Simeon the son of Cleophas, and then other relatives. Given his pro-Roman bias, Eusebius would undoubtedly have presented a list of the bishops of Rome as well, had there been such a list.

In fact, no reference to a bishop of Rome was made until the second century. Clement never claimed that role, even though the Corinthian church wrote to him about their difficulties. Ignatius of Antioch, writing to various churches as he traveled to Rome to be martyred, addressed no particular individual or leader in his epistle to the church at Rome, whereas in his other epistles to the churches in Asia Minor he mentioned the leaders by name.

All the evidence suggests that no real office of a bishop had been established in Rome prior to that point. The destruction of Jerusalem provided an opportunity for the church at Rome, located as it was at the heart of the empire, to lay claim to preeminence.

The best scenario to support that claim was simply that Peter had been in Rome. This offered a clear alternative to the challenges from Gnostic and other leaders who were descending on the imperial capital.