The Authority of the Church

 

The Roman Catholic Church believes it has authority from God to be the arbitrator of that which is Biblically true or accurate. With that authority, they have created a number of doctrines that contradict the Scriptures, including their treatment of Mary, the mother of Jesus as deity, the recognition of a special class of people as “saints” and the existence of purgatory as a place where many Christians go before heaven. This happens when a man-centered organization or institution is given absolute authority. In contrast, the arbitration of Biblical truth belongs to God and His Word, by His Holy Spirit.

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter [Petros – a detached stone], and upon this rock [petra – an immovable rock] I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 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."       Matthew 16:13-19 

The Catholic Church believes it has been given its authority by Jesus, Himself in Matthew 16:18 when Jesus tells Peter, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church.” When you look closely at the entire passage above, you see the context of that verse. Peter is asked by Jesus who he thinks Jesus is and his “confession” in verse 16 is, "You are the Christ [Messiah], the Son of the living God." He recognizes that Jesus is the Messiah, God’s Son. Examining the original Greek language of verse 18 shows us that the Greek word translated Peter is petros and it means a detached stone while the Greek word for rock is petra and means an immovable rock. In 1 Corinthians 10:4, the Bible says, and the rock was Christ. Jesus was trying to say that the church would be built on the rock, Jesus, and Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God. 

Testimonies 

The early church fathers confirmed this interpretation when they wrote: 

Cyprian in AD 250

Epistle of Cyprian 70.3 - [Peter] did not insolently claim anything to himself. Nor did he arrogantly assume anything when Paul later disputed with him about circumcision. He did not say that he held the primacy and that he needed to be obeyed by novices and those lately come!

Victorinus in AD 280

            Commentary on the Apocalypse 22 – Christ is the rock by which and on which the church is                    founded

Origen in AD 240

Commentary on Matthew 16 – If you should think that the whole Church was built by God only on that one, Peter, what will you say of John… or each of the apostles?

Augustine in AD 378

Retractationes – I have somewhere said, concerning the apostle Peter, that the Church was founded on him, as a petra, or rock; but I know that I have since very often explained that our Lord meant Peter’s confession of Him. 

Keys to the Kingdom

The early church fathers also believed that the keys to the kingdom and the power of binding and loosing were given to the Apostles and not just to Peter and his successors (Popes). In Matthew 19:28, Jesus told them, "Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” To misinterpret the verses above lays the foundation for the Catholic Church to believe that Peter and the Popes are infallible when deciding church doctrine and matters of morality since the gates of Hades will not overpower it. Yet we see many examples of doctrinal errors associated with a number of the early Popes. [See the list of Roman Catholic Church Declarations following]. For example, Irenaeus addresses an issue in Fragment 3 of Anicetus who would rather follow the Roman traditions of celebrating the resurrection rather than the way of the apostles themselves, suggesting that paganism was creeping into Rome, even early in the Roman church’s formation. 

“When the blessed Polycarp was visiting Rome… Anicetus [second bishop of Rome] could not persuade Polycarp to forgo his observance [of Passover customs]. For these things have always been observed by John, the disciple of the Lord, and the other apostles with whom Polycarp had been conversant. Nor, on the other hand, could Polycarp persuade Anicetus to keep [Passover rituals instead of Easter rituals] for Anicetus maintained that he was bound to adhere to the usage of the presbyters who preceded him.”

Misplaced Authority

When one looks at Catholic Church history, we see that the beginnings of apostacy related to the authority of the Church verses the authority of the Word of God occurred when certain Bishops of Rome began declaring doctrines not found in Scripture. In Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History 5:20, Irenaeus corrects several schisms and heresies of Roman bishops Blastus, Florinus, Eleuterus, Victor, Zephyrinus, and Callistus. Eleuteras was deceived by a false prophet and cult leader, Montanus. Eleuterus actually declared Montanus to be a true prophet of God. In 177 AD, Irenaeus actually travelled to Rome and persuaded Eleuterus to publically declare Montanus a false prophet and excommunicated him. Pope Victor is said to have reintroduced the false prophet, Montanus, until Irenaeus brought to light his heresy again. Victor finally expelled Montanus and his followers from Rome.

Many religious systems in the world, including Judaism and Catholicism take authority that is not given them by God and ultimately create laws and enforce them as God’s laws. Jesus addresses this problem in Mark 7 when he references the “tradition of the elders.” These were laws enacted by the Jewish leadership after their return to Jerusalem from captivity to create a man-made fence around the Law of Moses. They were trying to come up with a way for Israel to avoid falling back into captivity and their plan was to make man’s laws stricter than God’s laws. In this way, failure to keep man’s laws would not end up in captivity again. The real issue is this: man’s laws, however good they may be, can never supersede God’s laws. In Deuteronomy 4:2, “You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you”. In Proverbs 30:6, Do not add to His words or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar. 

Discerning the Spirit

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test [dokimazo – test, distinguish, discern] the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.     1 John 4:1-3

The Apostle John tells us in the above passage that the Spirit of God, not the church is the one who exposes false prophets/teachers. Only the Holy Spirit can discern the spirits; since He is the Spirit of Truth, He guides the believer into all of the truth (John 16:13). He is also the inspiration behind the Word of God, given to each author of the Bible. Peter says in 2 Peter 1:20-21, But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. Man, even church leaders are not capable or trustworthy to decide truth; only God, Himself by His Spirit is capable. 

Addressing Issues Within the Church 

The church’s responsibility is to manage the behavior of its membership within the authority given to it by Jesus in Matthew 18:15-18. To summarize, it lays out four steps in the process of administering church discipline. First, one approaches another privately, not publicly, to get him to confess the sin. If that doesn’t work, two or three should approach him. If he still is not willing to confess, then the church addresses the issue publicly. Finally, if the offender does not confess, then he is excommunicated. Paul speaks of this principle in 1 Corinthians 5:6, Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? When sin goes unchecked within the church, it will reproduce and expand, just like yeast.

I was raised a Catholic, having received the sacraments through Confirmation and attended a Catholic High School in the Boston area. After graduation, I attended a large university in Boston (Boston University) where I met a man who told me about the personal love of God and the relationship I could have with Him by faith in His Son. Through all my years in the Catholic Church, I never heard about or sensed that personal love of God for me. I always felt I could never measure up to what the church was expecting from me. I always wanted to know God this way and I was finally able enter into that relationship by faith. It did not require me becoming a Catholic or a Jew or any other religion. It was personal between God and me. And God is able, by His Spirit, to administer that relationship without the need for the church or the sacraments. And it is the Word of God and the Holy Spirit that directs my life to find a fullness in my life that no man-made institution can provide.

 

R. W. Alderson

Author of “Finding Full Assurance of Faith: The New Covenant in Three Dimensions”

  

Roman Catholic Church Declarations

Year	Event
379 AD	Praying to Mary & Saints. (prayers of Ephraim Syrus)
400 AD	Impossibility of apostasy or once saved always saved, (Augustine XII.9)
430 AD	Exhalation of Virgin Mary: "Mother of God" first applied by the Council of Ephesus
593 AD	The Doctrine of Purgatory popularized from the Apocrypha by Gregory the Great
787 AD	Worship of icons and statue approved (2nd council of Nicea)
995 AD	Canonization of dead saints, first by Pope John XV
1079 AD	Celibacy enforced for priests, bishops, presbyters (Pope Gregory VII)
1190 AD	Sale of Indulgences or "tickets to sin" (punishment of sin removed)
1215 AD	Transubstantiation by Pope Innocent III, Fourth Lateran Council
1215 AD	Mass a Sacrifice of Christ
1217 AD	Adoration and Elevation of Host: ie. communion bread (Pope Honrius III)
1268 AD	Priestly power of absolution
1311 AD	Baptism by sprinkling accepted as the universal standard, not just the sick. (Council of Ravenna)
1439 AD	Purgatory a dogma by the Council of Florence (see 593 AD)
1545 AD	Man-made tradition of church made equal to Bible (Council of Trent)
1545 AD	Apocryphal books added to Bible (Council of Trent)
1546 AD	Justification by human works of merit
1870 AD	Infallibility of Pope (Vatican council)
1950 AD	Assumption of the body of the Virgin Mary into heaven shortly after her death. (Pope Pius XII)
1954 AD	Immaculate conception of Mary proclaimed by Pope Pius XII
1996 AD	Catholics can believe in Evolution (Pope John Paul II)