I STAND ON THE ROCK THAT IS PETER

When the Church made itself manifest at Pentecost, it was the teaching and preaching of the Apostles that persuaded people to become Christian.    Peter, to whom Jesus had given the Keys of the Kingdom, the authority to rule in his absence, was called Ceplhas, the one who led the Apostles and yes he was not called Pope.   Having been personally taught by Jesus himself the other Apostles were in their own way inerrant in the teaching of Jesus.    So how did we get from Cephas to Pople?   There were many things that the Holy Spirit had to gradually develop in the Church as it grew and this was one question.

Peter eventually went to Rome and was the leading Presbyter there for a time before he was executed.  But his successor in Rome was treated as Ceplhaso another Cephas.     The Presbyters in other parts of Christianity began to refer to Rome in disputes and questions on the Faith for as the successor of Peter they recognised he had succeeded Peter as Cephas.    As St Ignatius of Antioch, a contemporary of the Apostles,  wrote "If you want to know what is true you can obtain the opinion of all the Churches, but it is much better to just ask Rome because of her Superior Eminence"{The successor of Peter is there}.   In 96AD the Corinthians were deciding to sack their Elders and replace them with those of their own choosing.  Clement, the third successor of Peter, wrote to them and told them they could not do this. "they could not dismiss those who had been appointed by the Apostles and other eminent men"   It was the first example of the authority of Rome exercised and written.

Over the coming years the successors of Peter became knows as Papa, the Father, and Papa became Pope.    And as more and more attacks on the original teachings  of Jesus, and how the Church explained the hidden depths of many of the teachings the pride of many just as today caused divisions as they built a Church that suited their so called intellect.     There was one attack which what was called Arianism.    The Church in the development of Doctrine had taught that the Father and the Sone and the Holy Spirit were all one and the same God, They were the Trinity.   Arians argued that  at some tine in the past the Father had created the Son.    The Trinity was a very difficult doctrine and so any opposite view could appeal to human reason, and it is said that the majority of the bishops became Arian.    But the Pope remained steadfast.   Eventually at the Council of Nicea we had the Creed that told us that Jesus was Consubstantial with the Father.  But the position of the Pope as inerrant in his teaching began to be appreciated as the heresy began to fade.   It is a fair comment to say that had we not had a central authority in the Church, the authority created by Jesus Himself then Christianity would have been destroyed and would no longer exist, just as today the attacks on that authority are making the Church weaker as bishops like in the time of the Arian heresy believe that have no need for such authority.   Infected by Protestantism they claim they can think for themselves. and only need rely on Scripture.

So let us look at Scripture.  As I  said there was no scripture in the early Church.   But gradually the people began to write the story of Jesus and there were letters of instruction to different Churches and congregations, especially by St Pau.   There were letters to Churches from Rome and I already mentioned the letter of Clement to the Corinthians.   But there were many writings of doubtful origin in circulation as well.   So the question arose as to what writings we could trust.    In the 5th century at two Councils in Carthage and one in Hippo the bishops, replacing the word elders, studies all the documents and writings and eventually presented those books of the New Testament which are in our Catholic bible as the writings to be trusted and they used the term the Word of God.    So the Authority of Scripture comes from the Authority of the Church, and the Pope at that time ratified the agreement of the Bishops.   What has become evident since the Protestant Reformation is that unity in the Church is only achieved when we read the Bible ad accept the authority of the Church to guide us.   There can never be a United Ecumenical Church when people rely on their own thoughts, bias, and interpretations.  After the Reformation the Protestant movements met ad Geneva and tried to reach a common agreement on Scripture but they failed to do so.    After years of arguing among one another that their particular sect had the truth they came to the conclusion that none of them  had the whole truth,    The truth they were seeking was what did Christ actually teach and what did he want us to believe.   I say, and I humbly say, that I know what Christ revealed because I belong to the Church to which he gave Authority and I believe in the teachings of the Catholic Church.   I stand on the Rock that is Peter.