“Was Peter the first Pope?”

Sunday, April 30, 2017

Where in the Bible does it teach the concept of “Pope”? The term cannot be found. If anything, you learn from the scriptures that no apostle was above any other (Matt. 20:20-28). As a matter of fact, we are told that the foundation we are to build our faiths upon is the apostles with Christ being the chief cornerstone (Eph. 2:20). Peter is not specifically listed or called out in any way!

Consider Peter for a moment. He was the one that Paul had to confront due to his hypocrisy (Gal. 2:11-13). I do not want to suggest that Peter was not forgiven – he was. After all, he even became an elder within a local church (I Pet. 5:1-4). When you read the qualifications of an elder (I Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:6-9), we know he was married and had children. This is consistent with what we learned about him early in Christ’s earthly ministry when Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law (Matt. 8:14).

Peter’s role as an elder raises another interesting fact. Local churches were to have multiple, qualified elders. There were to be elders in every church, not a singular elder (Acts 14:23). An apostle could become an elder, but being an apostle was not a prerequisite. Why is that important? This means that when Peter worked with other elders, he as not the “head” elder. Why not? Because elders are to shepherd the flock/church of which Jesus is the head (I Pet. 5:2-5).

The reason why the false concepts about Peter even rose up in the first place was due to a misunderstanding of Matthew 16:17-18. In this text, Jesus asked all of His apostles a question (verse 13). We are told “they” answered Him (verse 14). When Jesus asked “them” another question (verse 15), Peter spoke up and answered (verse 16).  Christ then said “upon this rock I will build My church” (verse 18). It was “upon” this confession of faith Christ was talking about – not Peter specifically! If another apostle spoke up first, would the church have been built upon him?  These lines of questioning illustrate the problems with the non-Biblical concept of “Pope.” This just goes to show that all children of God need to handle His word properly and avoid elevating men beyond their intended roles.

                                                                                             Chuck 

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