Where in the Bible does Jesus give authority to the first Pope?

Answer 1

A:

The pope is not mentioned anywhere in The Bible. True, Matthew 16:8 does report Jesus as saying that Peter was the rock on which he would build his church, but this is not found in the original passage in Mark's Gospel. Nevertheless, this statement im Matthew is grounds for considering Peter to be the first leader of the Christian Church.

If the pope is the Catholic bishop of Rome, then the Catholic Church needed to link Peter in some way to Rome, so that it could claim Peter as the first pope. There is no mention in the Bible that Peter ever went to Rome and the consensus of scholars is that there was no bishop appointed or elected in Rome during the first century, but a second-century Catholic tradition has Peter go to Rome and even has him executed there. In the absence of this tradition, the Orthodox patriarchs could have a better claim to being the true successors to Peter.

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Catholic AnswerThe Pope is the Vicar of Christ, since the time of St. Peter, who was appointed the first Vicar to head His Church by Christ, Himself, in St. Matthew 16:17-19. When Our Blessed Lord appointed Peter as His first Vicar, He was referencing Isaiah 22:15-25. St. Peter was martyred at Rome, St. Peter's Basilica was built over his tomb (immediately below the high altar - you may see it today on a trip to Rome).

Isaiah 22: 15-25

Thus says the Lord God of hosts, "Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him: What have you to do here and whom have you here, that you have hewn here a tomb for yourself, you who hew a tomb on the height, and carve a habitation for yourself in the rock? Behold, the Lord will hurl you away violently, O you strong man. He will seize firm hold on you, and whirl you round and round, and throw you like a ball into a wide land; there you shall die, and there shall be your splendid chariots, you shame of your master's house. I will thrust you from your office, and you will be cast down from your station. In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your girdle on him, and will commit your authority to his hand; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him like a peg in a sure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father's house. And they will hang on him the whole weight of his father's house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons. In that day, says the Lord of hosts, the peg that was fastened in a sure place will give way; and it will be cut down and fall, and the burden that was upon it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken."

St. Matthew 16:17-19:

And Jesus answering, said to him [Peter]: 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.

Another Answer:

It simply does not as only Christ is the cornerstone of God's Church.

Another school of thought for the above is that Peter would act as the 'Chief Administrator to the disciples of Christ - The title of Pope was not used until the late 4th Century A.D.. This role for Peter is supported by Matthew 16:17-19 (verse 19 in particular as verse 18 uses 'you' in the plural therefore it is to all the Apostles).

Matthew 16:18 clearly shows Jesus as 'the rock' not Peter (term used for Peter translates to 'small rock or pebble' as a 'play on words perhaps). Peter was a leading apostle of the early New Testament Church of God for many years, but not its chief cornerstone-that was and is Jesus Christ (see Ephesians 2:20).

Further, as the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition, translates Matthew 16:19 with its 'future passive participles' as, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in Heaven." With this wording then it seems quite logical to say that God is not obligated to bind an ungodly decision of any man/woman. In other words, His Christ would lead His Church's leadership to decisions that He had already bound in heaven, not vice versa.

Concerning the verses in Isaiah 22:15-25 that have been noted above and by others as support by the Bible for the Pope's authority, these verses are speaking of Eliakim the priest, receiving the 'key of the house of David,' a symbol of authority as a trusted servant of the King. This is the same symbolism used by Jesus in Revelation 3:7 who gave His Apostles His authority on Earth to follow His example and teachings (thinking of the vision of Peter and the unclean animals being told to eat and he refusing in Acts 10 reflects their understanding of the proper interpretation of the Scripture via God's Holy Spirit). No, the Apostles followed Christ in every respect.

Concluding then, in ancient Israel, the human king was in fact the steward of God, the true King of the land. Similarly, the divine Christ will be the steward of His Father's Kingdom - and no one else. With that authority, Jesus could allow or disallow someone entrance into the Kingdom-but no man had or has that authority. Christ's statement in Matthew 16:19 simply meant that His Apostles had His authority to represent Him, teaching as He taught and no other way and to be instruments in helping people live the way the Kingdom of God.