I have thought I am a creature of a day, passing through life as an arrow through the air. I am a spirit come from God, and returning to God, just hovering over the great gulf, till a few moments hence, I am no more seen; I drop into an unchangeable eternity! I want to know one thing – the way to heaven, how to land safely on that happy shore. God Himself has condescended to teach the way; for this very end He came from heaven. He has written it down in a book. O give me that Book at any price, give me the Book of God!
John Wesley

Pope

Pope

POPE

BASIC R.C. BELIEF The name given to the Supreme head of the Roman Catholic Church; from papa, father. The pope is often called the Holy Father (See John 17:11).

Full title: Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Patriarch of the West, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City, now Gloriously Reigning. For these last 3 words are sometimes substituted “Servant of the Servants of God.”

In 1009 a man named Peter was elected pope and changed his name to Sergius IV. After that it became normal for a pope, to take a new name.

From THE ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE POPES-SAINT PETER TO JOHN PAUL II by Michael Walsh, S.J., Chapter I: “There has been a great debate over (Matthew 16:18) because, was we shall see, this is the crucial text by which the popes attempted to justify their claim to rule over the whole church, and not just over their local community in Rome. But whatever the interpretation of the facts, the facts themselves are these: in Aramaic, the language Jesus was using, the word `Peter’ and the word `rock’ are the same: kepha. Until Jesus bestowed it on Simon, kepha was not a personal name, and neither was its Greek equivalent, Petros … But the name kepha was translated into Greek as Petros. So those who were writing and translating the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles clearly did not want the significance of the word kepha (meaning rock) to be lost.”

Scriptural “proof” for the primacy of the pope is Matthew 16:18-19. In explaining this, Dr. Murray, Maynooth, Ireland, said: “By saying these words, Jesus appointed Peter supreme head of the Church, and gave him full authority to legislate for it; to teach, to inspect and judge; to reject and denounce all false doctrines, and to declare what is the true Faith; to appoint all its clergy and teachers and to arrange their work; in short, the whole church, its officers, its constitution, its work, were entrusted to Peter.”

From THE NEW CATHOLIC DICTIONARY, Imprimatur, Cardinal Hayes, New York, page 356: “Fabian, SAINT, POPE (236-250), b.Rome; d. there. A dove descended on his head while he attended the papal election. Considering this a sign from heaven he was elected by acclamation. Little is known of his reign.”

From HOW TO FIND THE TRUE CHURCH, page 45, “Peter acted as chief of the apostles, as for instance, at the election of Matthias. . . at the first council, after much discussion Peter gave his opinion to which all submitted.”

POST VATICAN II Roman Catholic ecumenists play down fears of papal jurisdiction over Protestants. They are saying that the Pope is a fellow bishop of all bishops in Christendom. Because he comes from the See where Peter and Paul were martyred he has a prominence that he uses to help his fellow bishops.

The Vatican II document LUMEN GENTIUM says, “For the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ namely, and as pastor of the entire church, has full supreme and universal power over the whole church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered” (Vatican II, edited by Austin Flannery, O.P., page 375).

From INTRODUCING CONTEMPORARY CATHOLICISM by Theo Weston. “Underlying conflict concerning the unfinished and, according to some, one-sided treatment of the papal primacy by Vatican I.”

From CURRENT TRENDS IN THEOLOGY by Jesuits Wolf and Schall, page 223, “At the first Vatican Council the Church developed in detail the function of the Pope in the life of the church. But the Council broke up before there was time to balance this announcement of papal prerogatives and papal duties with a definition of the status of the bishops in the church, or to balance the statement on the hierarchy with complimentary statements on the role of the laity in the Church.”

During a visit to Des Moines, Iowa (1979), John Paul II was welcomed by a Roman Catholic choir singing, “Joy to the world, the Pope has come” (BAPTIST BULLETIN, DEC. 1979).

(From KEEPERS OF THE KEYS, Wilton Wynn, Random House, New York. 1988, p. 11

  • “In the year 236 a farmer named Fabian wandered into Rome and stopped to watch the clergy and people select a pope. A dove landed on Fabian’s head, and the assembly instantly acclaimed him pope.”

CHRISTIAN COMMENT In Matthew 16:18, “petra” is used for Rock and means foundation stone; “petros” is used for Peter and means a small stone. See I Peter 2:4-5.

When Jesus first met Peter (John 1:42), He said to him, “Thy name shall be Cephas” (an Aramaic word that Catholic apologists insist can mean rock or stone), but the Holy Spirit defined it by saying “which is by interpretation, a stone (Greek: petros).

If Dr. Murray is correct in his interpretation, why didn’t Peter choose Matthias in Acts 1 instead of having to cast lots?

Five witnesses can be summoned to answer the question, “Did you understand that Jesus proclaimed Peter to be the infallible primate in Matthew 16:18- 19?” See if these witnesses testify that Peter exerted the two papal prerogatives, primacy and infallibility. (a) Jesus (Matthew 16:23); (b) The Apostles (Luke 22:24; Acts 8:14); (c) James (Acts 15:19); (d) Paul (Galatians 2:11); (e) Peter (I Peter 5:1; II Peter 1:1).

From paper by Hugh Greene, WAS PETER (CEPHAS) THE ROCK?: “The word kepha is derived from two ancient Hebrew (Chaldee-Aramaic) words. The first is keph, meaning a hollow rock. The other is kaphaph, meaning to be bent over, or the hollow palm of one’s hand. (Strong’s EXHAUSTIVE CONCORDANCE AND DICTIONARY OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS, Numbers 3710, 3721 in the Hebrew section.)

“Therefore it is obvious that kepha, or Cephas, Peter’s new name was never meant to mean or signify a massive, immovable foundation such as a mountain, or BEDROCK. Quite the contrary, Jesus (who used the word kepha in John 1:42) wanted to show the complete difference between Peter and Himself with regards to who He would build His church upon.”

CATHOLIC JOURNALS The Roman Catholic paper TWIN CIRCLE, July 1, 1979, stated: “It is customary for the pope to speak using the plural form `We’ which means `the Holy Spirit and I’.