Why the Pope is not Biblical or Christian
Is the pope the leader of the Christian world? I regularly interact with young believers who assume that the Roman Catholic Church is just a variation of legitimate Christianity, similar to the difference between Baptists and Presbyterians. However, the differences between Catholics and other Christians are very significant. Indeed, these differences are actually irreconcilable.
That is why Protestants celebrate the Reformation every October 31. On October 31, 1517, a young priest by the name of Martin Luther posted 95 theses on a castle door in Wittenberg, Germany. These 95 theses were revolutionary and ended up being a partial catalyst for launching the Reformation away from the Catholic doctrine and teaching.
Catholicism and a Different Way of Salvation
One of the most significant differences between the Catholic church and those who broke away from Catholicism is the issue of salvation. Catholic theology teaches that man must work in cooperation to help achieve justification. However, as I have explained elsewhere, the Catholic emphasis on works is contrary to what the Bible teaches about salvation being all of grace. So, in a very real sense, Catholics reject the core belief of Christianity. Although Catholics are labeled as “Christian,” the reality is that if they hold to Catholic theology, they are a part of the billions of Christians who are not real Christians.
Catholicism and the Inerrant Pope
In addition to the significant problems of Catholic belief about salvation, Catholics also have errant beliefs about the pope being an inerrant leader of the church. Notice James O’Connor’s words about the Catholic Pope.
We teach and declare that it is a dogma of faith that the Roman Pontiff … is not able to err when, exercising his office as supreme teacher of all Christians, he defines, by his apostolic authority, what must be held as belonging to the faith or must be rejected as contrary to the faith by the universal Church in matters of faith and morals; and his decrees or judgments, irreformable of themselves, must be accepted and held with the full submission of faith as soon as one becomes aware of them.
James O’Connor, The Gift of Infallibility, 7.
Now, I just want to clarify that I have good friends who are members of the Roman Catholic Church (RCC). I definitely love them and appreciate them. However, at the same time, it saddens me to see them give undue authority and power to someone who claims to be Christ’s “vicar [special representative] on the earth.” Hence, I would like to challenge my friends who believe in the authenticity of the pope to consider the following thoughts.
Does the Bible give reason to believe Peter was the first pope?
RCC theologians champion Matthew 16:18-20 saying it is here that Peter is given his papal commission. However, it is ironic that just a few verses later Peter demonstrates his impetuous and sinful nature by playing the role of Satan, trying to hinder Christ (Matt 16:22-23). There was also a similar occurrence in Matthew 17 at the Mount of Transfiguration. Peter once again impetuously speaks and Luke reminds us that Peter did not know what he was saying (Luke 9:33).
If it is true that Matthew 16 tells us Peter was commissioned in some special way, then it seems odd that later in Luke 22:24-30 the disciples would still be arguing about which of them was the greatest. It seems Peter would have the ultimate trump card to play in that argument.
After Christ’s ascension, one would expect Peter to operate in accord with his position as head of the church. Instead, he is rebuked by Paul for acting in a way that went against Christ’s commands (Gal 2:11). Not exactly something the pope should be guilty of.
Lastly, Peter’s own personal testimony in 1 Peter 5:1 indicates that he identified himself not as some supreme ruler in the church—rather, he identifies himself as a “fellow elder” with those who were ministering in that area.
This small sampling of Scripture seems to indicate that others did not view Peter as pope, nor did he himself! But, for the sake of argument, let’s pretend that the above reasons don’t matter, and we will pretend that Peter was the pope anyway. Because there is an additional and significant problem.
If Peter was the first pope, where is the evidence for an unbroken succession to the current pope?
The RCC teaches papal succession from Peter all the way to the current pope. Why would one expect this special authority to pass down from individual to individual?
The Scriptures are completely silent regarding a papal succession from person to person. The idea of papal succession can’t be supported from Scripture. In addition, while Scripture is silent on the issue, historically proving papal succession also has vast serious problems. I have written elsewhere about the black mark on the Catholic papacy, but let me summarize it this way.
During 1378-1415 AD, the papacy was so corrupted that at one time (in the early 1400s) there were three individuals all claiming to be pope, all pronouncing curses on one another. This is aptly named the “Great Papal Schism,” and was one of the underlying causes of undermining the Catholic church’s authority, which eventually led to the Protestant Reformation. It did not take much for some people to see that the RCC was corrupt and no longer following Scripture. Needless to say, when you believe in papal succession, but there are three popes to choose from, it becomes a little more difficult to keep your followers.
In order to keep this brief I will end with a question. We are given true and reliable divine revelation from God in the Scriptures. If you read through your Bible plainly and naturally, are you given the picture of an individual who has special power over the church? Well, let me tell you that you are! But, this individual is Jesus Christ! He alone is the head of the church, and His authority is never passed on by succession.
photo credit: POPE JOHN PAUL II via photopin (license)
Peter Goeman
Peter serves at Shepherd's Theological Seminary in Cary, NC as the professor of Old Testament and Biblical Languages. He loves studying the Bible and helping others understand it. He also runs The Bible Sojourner podcast and Youtube channel.
6 Comments
Marie
I am a 24-year old Catholic, and I am sad to say that I am more informed than the adults writing this article and its comments.
I was wondering if I would enter into this article and my mind would be changed, but truly it has not. Reason being, this article portrays a completely inaccurate view of the papacy and its infallibility.
Here’s a quote that will hopefully inspire everyone to do a bit more research into the actual teachings of the Church before writing them off:
“There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church — which is, of course, quite a different thing. These millions can hardly be blamed for hating Catholics because Catholics “adore statues”; because they “put the Blessed Mother on the same level with God”; because they say “indulgence is a permission to commit sin”; because the Pope “is a Fascist”; because the “Church is the defender of Capitalism.” If the Church taught or believed any one of these things it should be hated, but the fact is that the Church does not believe nor teach any one of them. It follows then that the hatred of the millions is directed against error and not against truth. As a matter of fact, if we Catholics believed all of the untruths and lies which were said against the Church, we probably would hate the Church a thousand times more than they do.
If I were not a Catholic, and were looking for the true Church in the world today, I would look for the one Church which did not get along well with the world; in other words, I would look for the Church which the world hates… Look for the Church that is hated by the world, as Christ was hated by the world. Look for the Church which is accused of being behind the times, as Our Lord was accused of being ignorant and never having learned. Look for the Church which men sneer at as socially inferior, as they sneered at Our Lord because He came from Nazareth. Look for the Church which is accused of having a devil, as Our Lord was accused of being possessed by Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils. Look for the Church which, in seasons of bigotry, men say must be destroyed in the name of God as men crucified Christ and thought they had done a service to God. Look for the Church which the world rejects because it claims it is infallible, as Pilate rejected Christ because He called Himself the Truth. Look for the Church which is rejected by the world as Our Lord was rejected by men…
If then, the hatred of the Church is founded on erroneous beliefs, it follows that basic need of the day is instruction. Love depends on knowledge for we cannot aspire nor desire the unknown.”
Terry Franco
The Pope teaches a dangerous doctrine.
Summarizing the Catholic understanding of salvation is difficult because it is extensive. Here is a summary of the official Roman Catholic teaching on salvation: to be saved, a person must receive Christ as Savior by faith, be baptized in the Trinitarian formula, be infused with additional grace by observing the Catholic sacraments, especially the Eucharist, and then die without any unconfessed mortal sins. If one accomplishes the above, he or she will be saved and granted entrance into heaven, likely after an extensive time of further cleansing in purgatory.
The Roman Catholic process is significantly different from the apostle Paul’s teaching on how salvation is received: “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). John 3:16 ascribes salvation to everyone who believes in Christ. Ephesians 2:8–9 explicitly teaches that salvation is not by works, with verse 10 then clarifying that works are the result of salvation not what saves you. Simply put, the Catholic teaching on salvation is very different from what the Bible teaches.
If a person holds to the official Roman Catholic understanding of salvation, he or she is not saved. Despite their vigorous affirmations, Roman Catholicism does not truly hold to salvation by grace through faith.
Sharon Sproul
In the Old Testament the people of Israel wanted a King. God was supposed to be their King but even when Samuel told them how a King would treat them, they still wanted a King. You see how that went. This leads me to believe that neither do we need a Pope.
Christine Heavey
when you know Christ and his requirements after having your eyes opened and shown the way from reading the scriptures, you see everything is false. Catholicism has been the biggest distroyer of finding the truth and feeling the love of Christ our Father our Creator. but they won’t hear us until their eyes are opened.
Great piece of writing.
Gary Schooley
Since Jesus walked the Earth, Satan has set about inspiring the creation of thousands of false and damning religions (to muddy the water). His most successful lies are Catholicism and Islam. The arrival of Trump has shown how easily man goes astray, as people literally worship him and call him “savior”.
True Christians are born again, as Jesus commanded we must be if we want eternal life. Most so-called “Christians” are nowhere near that; they have no daily relationship with the Living Lord Jesus. Getting born again is an ACT of extreme honesty, sincerity and utter humility. It is like joining AA: you first must admit that you are lost. Most so-called Christians simply can not humble themselves to that level, and thus, never surrender to the Lordship of Jesus. They are rendered hellbound religious hypocrites.
Satan’s Catholic church has played a large role in preventing people from coming to Jesus. They have no assurance of salvation and eternal life; no real joy as having ALL your sins forgiven brings, nor do they have any real fellowship with the Living Lord Jesus as real Christians enjoy.
To see just some irrefutable proof of Satan’s Catholic intent, open the Christian Scripture next to a Catholic bible to the Ten Commandments and compare. See anything wrong there? Next, open a copy of the Council of Trent. Look at the 200 (180 + 20) anathema curses the church has pronounced, as they tried to rule by fear. Trent curses the very fabric of faith for salvation. There is even a curse for reading the Scripture.
BTW, Jesus made a big deal of READING the Scripture; Satan’s Catholic church has made a big deal of NOT reading the Scriptures. You see, Scripture DAMNS Cathholicism, which is why they had to make their own bible.
David Anderson
Since this article was written, it has been confirmed over and over. Many Priests, Arch-Bishops and a Cardinal have called for the Pope’s resign. Obviously, they are in the minority.
Btw, it looks as if Peter’s first Papal Bull was a dud and required a reproof. So much for Papal infalibility.
Matt. 16:19-23 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. ¶ From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.