To celebrate the election of Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope Francis, here is a copy of a talk that I gave at lunch today on the Scriptural origins of the papacy:
““Where is THAT in the Bible: The Pope”
Sharing the Catholic faith with non-Catholics, even non-Catholic
Christians, can seem overwhelming at times. There are just so many
doctrines that non-Catholics want answers about: justification, the
Eucharist, the Marian doctrines, intercession of the Saints, Purgatory,
the priesthood, etc. It’s easy to get bogged down by a series of
rapid-fire questions about a variety of unrelated topics. But
fortunately, there’s an easy doctrinal debate to turn to that resolves
the others, at least for non-Catholic Christians: the papacy.
Put simply, if the Catholic Church is right about the papacy, everyone
should be Catholic. And if the Catholic Church is wrong about the
papacy, no one should be Catholic.
So it’s vitally important that we Catholics are able to explain why we
believe in the papacy. And if we’re ever going to be able to convince
non-Catholic listeners on this topic, we should be able to make our case
from Sacred Scripture. This is all the more important now: the
abdication of Pope Benedict XVI, and the papal election, have made the
papacy a topic of everyday conversation for non-Catholics in a way that
rarely happens. Fortunately, as we shall see, the Scriptural case for
the papacy is very strong.
Three Errors Obscuring the Question of the Papacy
If the Scriptural case for the papacy is so strong, how do other
Christians miss it? I would suggest that there are three reasons.
First, they tend to misunderstand what Scripture means by “the Church.” Martin Luther
described the Protestant view of the Church
in this way: “Thank God, a seven-year-old child knows what the church
is, namely, holy believers and sheep who hear the voice of their
Shepherd.” John Calvin adopted
a similar view,
suggesting that while “the Church” sometimes refers to the visible body
containing “a very large mixture of hypocrites, who have nothing of
Christ but the name and outward appearance,” it other times refers to
“the Church as it really is before God,” an Invisible Church “into which
none are admitted but those who by the gift of adoption are sons of
God, and by the sanctification of the Spirit true members of Christ.”
The visible Church can drift nearer or further from the true, invisible
Church, but the two are essentially distinct.
Second, they tend to misunderstand what Catholics believe about the
papacy. More specifically, the view of the papacy is often one of an
ecclesial dictator in Rome who calls every shot. This straw-man view of
the papacy eliminates any roles for Church Councils, Patriarchs, the
college of bishops, and essentially any ecclesial structure other than
the Holy See. For example, Fr. Viktor Potapov, an Eastern Orthodox
priest,
has argued that
“The history of the Apostolic Council (Acts, Chapter 15) speaks
especially clearly against the supremacy of the Apostle Peter. The
Antiochian Christians appeal not to the Apostle Peter for the resolution
of their perplexity, as should have occurred if we are to believe the
Catholic dogma, but to all the apostles and presbyters.” By this logic,
the First Vatican Council “speaks especially clearly” against the
papacy, because the question of papal infallibility is answered by a
Council, rather than by Pope Pius IX.
Finally, most Christians (Protestants, Orthodox, and even Catholics) are
simply unaware of the strongest evidence for papal primacy from
Scripture. The silver lining here is that this creates a perfect
opportunity for Catholic apologetics.
How should we respond to these three errors? To the extent we’re dealing
with someone who misunderstands what the Church is, we need to lay out
some basic ecclesiology. To the extent we’re dealing with someone who
misunderstands what we mean by the papacy, we need to clarify, and not
overstate the pope’s role in the life of the Church. There can be a
tendency on the part of Catholics to speak as if no issue would ever be
resolved without direct papal intervention, and that characterization
only feeds a misunderstanding of the papacy. Finally, to the extent
we’re dealing with someone who is ignorant of the Scriptural evidence,
we should present “the truth in love” (
Ephesians 4:15).
Catholic Ecclesiology
To understand the papacy, it is necessary to understand at least the
basics about the Church. Here are some of the passages that you should
familiarize yourself with:
- Matthew 16:18. We can get so caught up in the debates about who the “Rock” of Matthew 16:18 is that we can overlook five critical words of Christ: “I will build My Church.”
- Matthew 13. This whole chapter is dedicated to Christ’s explanation of the nature of the Church as Kingdom. For example, in Mt. 13:47-50,
Christ describes the Kingdom of Heaven as a net containing both good
and bad fish, representing “the righteous” and “the evil.” This shows
that the Church isn’t simply an invisible collection of the saved.
- The Judas passages. Each of the four Gospels points out that Christ’s betrayer was “one of the Twelve” (Matthew 26:14; Mark 14:10; Mark 14:43; Luke 22:3; Luke 22:47; John 6:71). Judas possessed a share of the Apostolic “ministry and apostleship” (Acts 1:25), and Matthew 10:1-4
describes how Christ gave “authority over unclean spirits, to cast them
out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity” to all of the
Twelve, including Judas. As Jesus said, “Did I not choose you, the
twelve, and one of you is a devil?” (John 6:70).
This issue of Judas creates an insurmountable problem for Protestant
ecclesiology, since the Apostles possessed the highest office possible
within the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27-28).
- Ephesians 5:25-32. St. Paul’s beautiful description of the Church as the Body of Christ and the Bride of Christ.
- Acts 9:1-6 and Luke 10:16. Saul was “violently persecuting the church of God” (Galatians 1:13; cf. Acts 9:1)
until he is stopped on the road to Damascus by Christ, who says, “Saul,
Saul, why do you persecute me?” and reveals Himself by saying: “I am
Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” This shows that to attack the Church
is to attack Christ. Likewise, Jesus sends out the seventy, saying,
“Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects
me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me” (Luke 10:16). In this way, the Church is a continuation of the Incarnation of Christ.
- John 17:20-23. In
His Highly Priestly prayer, Jesus specifically prays for future
Christians (to my knowledge, the only time that He does this), and His
prayer is “that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me,
and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may
believe that thou hast sent me” (Jn. 17:21).
These passages provide a foundation to discuss the papacy: they
show that (1) Christ established a Church, (2-3) this Church is a
visible institution comprising both the saved and some of the damned,
(4) this Church is the Body and Bride of Christ, (5) this Church is a
continuation of the Incarnation of Christ, and (6) this Church is called
to be One, even in the post-Apostolic era.
Pope Peter, from Scripture
What is the role of St. Peter in the Church founded by Christ? I think
that the answer to this can be seen through a series of Scriptural
passages:
- Luke 22:24-32. This
is one of the strongest overlooked passages for Petrine primacy. The
Apostles argue over who is greatest. Christ says that “the greatest
among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the
one who serves” (v. 26). He then confers authority of the Church to the
Twelve (v. 29-30), before saying to Peter specifically (v. 31-32):
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have
prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have
turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
- The “Great Catches of Fish” passages. Remember that Christ compares the Church to a net filled with fish (Mt. 13:47-50). In the first great catch of fish (Luke 5:1-11),
Jesus comes upon Peter, Andrew, James, and John. After the first
miraculous catch, He singles Peter out of these four, and says to him,
“Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men” (Lk. 5:10). The second miraculous catch of fish is after the Resurrection (John 21:1-14). This time, the Apostles’ net is so full that “they were not able to haul it in, for the quantity of fish” (John 21:6). But at Jesus’ command, Peter is able to single-handedly haul the net in, without tearing it (Jn. 21:10-11). Immediately after this, Jesus commissions Peter as shepherd (John 21:15-19).
- John 10:1-21 and John 21:15-19. In John 10, Jesus gives two different shepherding images to describe His relationship with the Church. The second of these (Jn. 10:11-21) is quite famous, in which Jesus calls Himself the Good Shepherd. But often overlooked is the description He gives in John 1:1-10,
in which He describes Himself as the gate letting in His Shepherd. This
gatekeeping function points to His Old Testament promise in Jeremiah 3:15, to give us shepherds after His own heart. And we see Him fulfill this in John 21:15-19, when He commissions Peter to be His shepherd.
- Matthew 16:13-19. This
is the most famous “papacy passage,” and one of the best. Be prepared
to go through the passage slowly: show how Jesus contrasts the three
styles of governance (democratic, aristocratic, monarchical) in v.
13-16. Go through the blessing of v. 17-19 slowly, and compare it to the
Old Testament: specifically, Genesis 17:3-8 and Isaiah 22:20-24.
Many Protestants will claim that the “Rock” is Peter’s faith, so show
the numerous personal references Christ has to Peter. And compare it
with the other confessions of faith we see. For example, in John 1:49, it’s Nathanael who first confesses Jesus as the Christ, but it’s Simon that Jesus promises to rename Peter (John 1:42). Likewise, Martha’s confession of faith (John 11:27) is almost identical with Peter’s, yet Jesus never promises to build the Church upon her (or her faith).
Finally, some Protestants will argue that Jesus is calling Peter a “little rock” (Petros) in contrast with the “big rock” (petra) that He will build the Church upon. This distinction doesn’t exist in the Aramaic that Jesus gave the blessing in. Again, see John 1:42: Jesus names Simon “Cephas,” not “Petros” – Petros is a translation (and is translated as “Petros” rather than “Petra,” because “Petra” is feminine). Paul refers to Peter as Cephas several times (1 Cor. 15:5, Gal. 1:18, Gal. 2:11, etc.).
- Matthew 17:24-27.
The only time that Jesus ever uses first-personal plural to refer to
Himself and another human is with Peter. And He does so in a way that
intentionally limits this “We” to Peter alone.
- The Apostolic Lists. Matthew 10:2-4, Mark 3:16-19, Luke 6:13-16, and Acts 1:13 each provide lists of the Twelve. The Synoptic lists each end with Judas (by Acts 1:13,
Judas is dead). Judas’ position at the bottom is a place of dishonor.
In contrast, all four lists put Peter at the top. These are the only two
constants: the ordering of the Ten between Peter and Judas varies by
list.
- The “Peter and the others” Passages. There are several of these passages, in which the Twelve Apostles are listed as, for example, “Peter and the others” (Acts 5:29) and “the other Apostles and the Lord’s Brothers and Cephas” (1 Cor. 9:5). Acts 2:14 says that Peter stood up “with the Eleven.” This is significant, because there are Twelve Apostles at this point (Acts 1:26),
so Luke appears to be distinguishing Peter even from the other Eleven.
On Easter morning, the angel at the empty Tomb did the same thing,
sending the women to proclaim Jesus’ Resurrection to “His Disciples and
Peter” (Mark 16:6-7). And when Peter and John arrive at the Tomb, John waits for Peter to arrive, before entering (John 20:4-6). Finally, the first half of the Book of Acts (prior to Luke departing to accompany Paul, in Acts 16:10) clearly establishes Peter’s leadership in the Church.
Does the Papacy Survive Peter?
Occasionally, non-Catholics will concede that Peter was the leader of
the Apostles, but claim that this doesn’t prove the papacy. For example,
the Protestant apologist
Keith Mathison has argued:
[Catholic apologist Stephen] Ray also observes that Peter
was the leader of the twelve. However, since this is not disputed no
response is necessary. What neither Ray nor any Roman Catholic has
demonstrated is that this text which involves a specific prayer for one
specific man in one specific historical circumstance has anything to do
with the modern Roman Catholic papacy.
Mathison’s response
strains credulity. If the original structure of the Church was one man
(besides Christ) leading and supporting the Twelve, who lead and support
the rest of the Church, that looks very much like the modern papacy.
To
go from the first pope, to the second, to the 266th, we need to see the
connection between the papacy and Rome. Two things are helpful here.
First, Peter describes himself as in Rome (“Babylon”) in
1 Peter 5:13.
Second, the early Church Fathers are explicit about this connection.
(Here, we necessarily have to go outside of Scripture, since we’re
looking for historical evidence of the post-Apostolic period.)
For example, Pope Clement I, intervened in a dispute within the
Corinthian church. Bear in mind that St. Clement is the fourth pope, and
that this epistle dates to about the year 96. Clement
begins the letter
by making it clear that the Corinthians turned to him to resolve their
dispute: “Owing, dear brethren, to the sudden and successive calamitous
events which have happened to ourselves, we feel that we have been
somewhat tardy in turning our attention to the points respecting which
you consulted us…”
A few years later, St. Ignatius of Antioch, a disciple of the Apostle
John, describes the Roman Church as “presiding in love.” He pens these
words on the way to his martyrdom sometime before 110.
The Apostle John’s other famous student is St. Polycarp. Polycarp’s own
student was St. Irenaeus of Lyons, who proclaimed Roman and Petrine
supremacy, in no uncertain terms, in his
Against Heresies, written about 180 A.D.:
Since, however, it would
be very tedious, in such a volume as this, to reckon up the successions
of all the Churches, we do put to confusion all those who, in whatever
manner, whether by an evil self-pleasing, by vainglory, or by blindness
and perverse opinion, assemble in unauthorized meetings; [we do this, I
say,] by indicating that tradition derived from the apostles, of the
very great, the very ancient, and universally known Church founded and
organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul; as
also [by pointing out] the faith preached to men, which comes down to
our time by means of the successions of the bishops. For it is a matter
of necessity that every Church should agree with this Church, on account
of its preeminent authority, that is, the faithful everywhere, inasmuch
as the apostolical tradition has been preserved continuously by those
[faithful men] who exist everywhere.
Throughout the first few centuries, we hear various other
references to the pope as the successor of Peter, and head of the
Church. To take just one more example, St. Optatus of Milevis was a
fourth century Church Father from North Africa who was influential on
St. Augustine. In Optatus’ book
Against the Donatists, he writes:
So we have proved that the
Catholic Church is the Church which is spread throughout the world. […]
You cannot then deny that you do know that upon Peter first in the City
of Rome was bestowed the Episcopal Cathedra, on which sat Peter, the
Head of all the Apostles (for which reason he was called Cephas), that,
in this one Cathedra, unity should be preserved by all, lest the other
Apostles might claim----each for himself----separate Cathedras, so that
he who should set up a second Cathedra against the unique Cathedra would
already be a schismatic and a sinner.
Both
Irenaeus and Optatus provide evidence for their claims by listing every
pope from Peter to the present day. In this way, we can see clearly
from history that Peter is the first pope, and we can see the unbroken
lineage from Peter down to the modern papacy.
Conclusion
If the Catholic case for the papacy stands, several truths follow.
First, we should interpret other disputed doctrines (Mary, Purgatory,
the filioque, etc.) through the lens of Magisterial teaching. Second, we
have a moral obligation to be a part of the Catholic Church. St. Paul
appeals to the Corinthians “that all of you agree and that there be no
dissensions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the
same judgment” (
1 Corinthians 1:10).
If the papacy is the visible head of the true Church, founded by Jesus
Christ, we have an obligation to strive for unity with this head.
Finally, we are forbidden from schism, from breaking away from the pope.
In
Galatians 5:20-21,
St. Paul lists “selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy”
amongst sins of the flesh and warns that “those who live like this will
not inherit the kingdom of God.”
