Maybe it’s because I am listening to a lecture series on the history of the papacy[1] or maybe it’s because I just returned from a lengthy vacation in Italy which included visits to the Vatican Museum and St. Peters Basilica, but I keep thinking about how lucky we are, as Catholics, to have the Pope to lead us! Some may suggest that papal authority through apostolic succession is not biblical, but I beg to differ. It is very biblical.
If one starts with the obvious, in Matthew 16, Jesus told Peter that he was the rock on which he would build his Church, gave him the keys of the Kingdom[2], and gave him the power to “bind and loose” (in the Aramaic language that Jesus used, a customary expression to denote the highest authority[3]). In John 21, Jesus charges Peter to tend and feed His flock. Then we see in the first chapter of Acts that when an Apostle died (in this case, Judas), a successor was chosen.
What happened after the Ascension? In Acts 1, it was Peter who proclaimed that a successor to Judas needed to be named. In Acts 2, Peter stands and delivers the first sermon after Pentecost. In Acts 5, Peter inflicts the first punishments on Ananias and Saphira. In Acts 8, Peter excommunicates the first heretic, Simon Magnus. In Acts 10, the angel tells Cornelius to bring “Simon who is called Peter” to admit the first Gentile into the Church. In Acts 15, it was Peter who stood and settled the controversy of whether the Gentiles had to follow the Mosaic Laws. After he spoke in Acts 15, the “assembly kept silence.” The issue was settled once Peter spoke. In Galatians, Paul explains how, after his conversion and three years in Arabia, he goes to Jerusalem to spend fifteen days with Peter.
The Bible supports the establishment of a shepherd who can judge, teach, minister, and interpret. The Bible also supports Apostolic succession. As Catholics, we have the unbroken line of these shepherds in Peter and his 265 successors. How great is that?
[1] Thomas F. X. Nobel, “Popes and the Papacy: A History,” The Great Courses.
[2] A clear reference to the role of chief steward of the Davidic kingdom found in Isaiah 22:22.
[3] James M. Freeman and Harold J. Chadwick, Manners & Customs of the Bible (North Brunswick, NJ: Bridge-Logos Publishers, 1998), 443.
Scott
Do you know What happened to the Popes between 199 and 461? Looking list of Popes and there’s a gap there.
Buen Camino
Interesting, the list (I actually consulted two sources) I have has 30 popes that served during that time frame. I am not sure why your list would omit that period. St. Victor I served from 189 to 199, then St. Zephyrinus from 199-217-222, and on and on. St. Leo the Great (only three popes have been called “the Great”) served from 440 to 461.