The Papal Keys, Symbol of Authority in the Church [Matthew 16:19]
Many Christians and non-Christians try so hard to discredit the Catholic Church's "authority" which are based on the few but clear examples that we will state below. Many times they would try to destroy the Church not because of the lack of "authority" anymore but through other issues which they themselves cannot agree upon. Such issues we shall also tackle later one by one. Hence the attacks on the Church is more like a guerilla warfare waged by various rebel groups upon an existing government of a State that after the collapse of the said government the State would either be divided by the rebels into smaller States to be respectively governed by them according to their differing ideologies or it would be in worse condition of war because each rebel group would want to rule over everyone else in accordance with their own ideology to the exclusion of others.
First of all, it is clear that the Lord did not come just to become man and go through His passion, death and resurrection for the sake of restoring man into his original status of having the divine life, which is grace, and then leave each man alone to enjoy such grace. When He changed Simon's name to Peter, He proceeded by saying that "upon this rock I will build my Church" [Matthew 16:18]. Peter writes that the believers in Jesus has now become a chosen people, a consecrated nation and that the believers have now become God's people [see I Peter 2: 9-10, see also Hosea 1:10 and 2:23, Romans 9:25 and 10:19]. Paul's writings about the Church and its being the body of Christ and as the bride of Christ also testify to the fact that Jesus our Lord meant to institute a "Church" and that His Apostles and followers clearly understood the same. Christ our Lord Himself told the Apostles that His objective is to have One Flock and One Shepherd [see John 10:16].
If a visible united institution composed of God's people is clearly intended by the Lord and God Himself for how can He say then that "they are my people" unless a "people" is present or formed [refer back to the passages from Hosea above], there cannot be a denial of the need for "authority" which shall guide that same "people of God" which is now the Church. God is a God of order not disorder [see I Corinthians 14:33 also Genesis 1: 1-4, about the Creation]. Hence it is but logical and natural that God would institute a Church that must have order which can only be implemented through the proper "authority".
The Jews themselves when Jesus our Lord was proclaiming the Kingdom of God among them mentioned about His teaching having "authority" [see Mark 1:27]. Jesus Himself said that the Father has committed everything to Him [see Matthew 11:27a] and because of the Father's love, God has placed everything in His hand [see John 3:35]. Before Jesus ascended into heaven, He told His disciples that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him [see Matthew 28:18].
Since God has given Jesus Christ our Lord all authority the question that we have to ask now since He has already ascended into heaven is with whom such authority did He leave behind. We are sure that He has left "authority" on His behalf and in His name here on earth as we can read from the Holy Bible. The following passages are important bases of such authority that He left with His Apostles:
First, in Matthew 16: 13-19 we read about the story of how Simon made the confession of faith about the Lord's being the Messiah and Jesus's statement that the same was a revelation from God not human in nature and which earned him Jesus's changing his name from Simon to Peter which means rock and right after we read Jesus declaring that He would build His Church upon "this rock" with Jesus further promising that not even the gates of hell could destroy it. He further tells Peter that it is with him that He would entrust the keys of the kingdom of heaven and the "authority" of binding and loosening followed.
First, in Matthew 16: 13-19 we read about the story of how Simon made the confession of faith about the Lord's being the Messiah and Jesus's statement that the same was a revelation from God not human in nature and which earned him Jesus's changing his name from Simon to Peter which means rock and right after we read Jesus declaring that He would build His Church upon "this rock" with Jesus further promising that not even the gates of hell could destroy it. He further tells Peter that it is with him that He would entrust the keys of the kingdom of heaven and the "authority" of binding and loosening followed.
Secondly, in John 20: 21-24, it is recorded that after the Lord's resurrection He appeared to the Apostles inside the closed room and after greeting them with "Peace", He told them that as He was sent by the Father, He now sends them and then He blew into them the Holy Spirit and told them that they now have the power to forgive or retain sins.
Third, the Council of Jerusalem, the First Council of the Church, attests also to the "authority" lodged in the Church to decide on matters pertaining to faith and morals [Acts 15: 1-29].
Other biblical passages especially from the various Epistles which were addressed to various Churches would also show how the Apostles relied on the "authority" which Jesus Christ the Lord has given them. One such passage is from Paul in his letter to the Galatians when he wrote about Peter, John and James as the acknowledged leaders of the Church. He actually visited them in order to confirm with them the Gospel that he was teaching though he claims that the same Gospel came directly from the Lord Himself through a vision which caused his conversion [see Galatians 1: 12, 16, 18; 2: 9 and Acts 9:1–22; 22:4–16; 26:9–18].
Other biblical passages especially from the various Epistles which were addressed to various Churches would also show how the Apostles relied on the "authority" which Jesus Christ the Lord has given them. One such passage is from Paul in his letter to the Galatians when he wrote about Peter, John and James as the acknowledged leaders of the Church. He actually visited them in order to confirm with them the Gospel that he was teaching though he claims that the same Gospel came directly from the Lord Himself through a vision which caused his conversion [see Galatians 1: 12, 16, 18; 2: 9 and Acts 9:1–22; 22:4–16; 26:9–18].
Jesus our Lord had delegated the "authority" to proclaim His message of salvation to all mankind to His Apostles particularly with Peter [see Luke 22:32 and John 21: 15-19 as to his important role as leader of the Twelve] since He cannot do it physically now that He was already returning to the Father. He did it by commanding them to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything" that He has commanded them with the promise of being with them until the end of the world [Matthew 28: 19-20].
Of course, we cannot disregard the very significant role of the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity with regards to the Church's "authority" but we shall discuss it in a special article because it is something that we must also talk about in a significantly particular manner.
Of course, we cannot disregard the very significant role of the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity with regards to the Church's "authority" but we shall discuss it in a special article because it is something that we must also talk about in a significantly particular manner.
Surely, no one could show any other biblical bases of Church authority which will contradict what the Evangelists and the Apostles wrote about the Lord delegating "authority" upon the Church through His Apostles. This same "authority" has been treasured by the Roman Catholic Church since the time of Peter, the first Pope, through the unbroken line of Popes with our present Pope, Benedict XVI being the 264th successor to Peter.
In the next article we shall discuss how the Church established by the Lord Jesus Christ upon Peter came to become the Roman Catholic Church to better understand why this Church could claim the "authority" left by the Lord Jesus Christ upon Peter and the other Apostles.
In the next article we shall discuss how the Church established by the Lord Jesus Christ upon Peter came to become the Roman Catholic Church to better understand why this Church could claim the "authority" left by the Lord Jesus Christ upon Peter and the other Apostles.
No comments:
Post a Comment