The Pope, a.k.a Papa, Vicar of Christ, Vicar of Peter, Holy Father, Bishop of Rome, Servant of the servants of God, Supreme Pastor, His Holiness, The Rock, Supreme Pontiff, Father of Kings, Governor of the World, Successor of St. Peter, Shepherd of the Universal Church, etc.
Which ones did I miss?
His office is often referred to as the papacy.
Holy See and Apostolic See refer to the Pope’s ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
His authority in the Church has been passed down to him, in a direct line of succession, from the apostle Peter. Peter was given this authority to lead the Church by Jesus Christ:
“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven’” (Matt. 16:18-19).
“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 that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep’” (John 21:15-17).
Note: It is important to remember that the Pope is especially revered by virtue of his apostolic authority and position in the Church as established and given by Jesus Christ. So any act of respect or title given to the Pope is done so directly out of respect and obedience to Christ and His work.
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He is also known as the Patriarch of the West. I enjoy your blog very much.
No one doubts that one bit. I know I don’t.
However, it was the popes that came after and thier rather odd decisions that led to the Protestant reformation itself. It was losing what was truly important as a priority. Which is the faith itself, not money and power.
Benedict dropped “Patriarch of the West” a year or so a go as one of his titles.
i dare say, in the whole Bible through, the rock is always a reference to Jesus Himself. songs sing “Jesus is the rock of my salvation” and the like. read it for yourself; the rock in the Bible is always a representation of Jesus…
that being said, in this particular conversation, could it be that Jesus, pointed to Himself, and told Peter “on this rock….” – meaning Himself? its highly possible. after all, nowhere else in the Bible does God indicate that anyone except the Christ is the Rock. :) build your house upon the Rock. read the Word. its never wrong. humans are. someone made a mistake with this verse, and its no one’s fault, but its something to think about.
e,
Actually, I disagree that this is “highly possible”. In fact, the idea that Jesus pointed to himself when saying this, yet the Gospel writer decided to write it down so that it would seem to mean something entirely different (that Peter is the Rock) is simply not plausible. And I don’t think I’ve heard any serious historian or biblical scholar (protestant, catholic or otherwise) make any such claim (that Jesus pointed to himself here while clearly indicating verbally that Peter is the Rock).
Read the verse. It’s extremely clear. It takes a lot of twisting and people not really meaning what they say for it to mean anything other than Peter being the Rock. It really does. And yes, Jesus is ultimately the Rock. Catholics agree with you there. But before he ascended back to Heaven, he left leaders of His Church. And he made one in particular (Peter and his successors) to be His human representation on Earth in the meantime. Right after that He uniquely gives to Peter the Keys to the Kingdom of heaven. It’s actually pretty cool.
Additionally, if we look at history and how the earliest Christians interpreted this, we see that they believed Peter to be the Rock.
Here is some further reading if you’d like:
- Peter the Rock
- Origins of Peter as Pope
- More links to early Christian understanding
Peace be with you and thanks for your thoughts!
You forgot to include the scriptural title for the Pope…from 2Th 2:3…that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
Em – I don’t follow? All of that sounds like the exact opposite of the pope. *confused*
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