Popes Authority

[Guest]

Peace pham,

What is a good book or some good reading material to show why the pope has the authority he does. I also have a thread going in the debate phorum and hopefully will get some answers there. But I dont want to debate with this thread. I just want to know some good stuff to read and some stuff from you guys if you want to share.

I just want to have a sound mind why I should have complete confidence that the pope does indeed have the keys. Why does the eastern church not hold to this ? I posed the question in the debate phorum if it would be possible the pope could fall into error and at the very worst become an antichrist or a false prophet ?

Hopefully those questions will be debated and answered in the other thread. So if anyone wants to take the time to tell me some stuff to read or websites to go to I'd aprrecaite it. Or if you just want to tell me what you know and how you have a sound mind on this I would like to hear that also. Thanks.

Godbless,

Josh

Edited April 16, 2009 by Guest

[Ziggamafu]

Oh goodness. I am all over this one.

Best three books I know of:

[i]Upon This Rock[/i] by Steve Ray (best part is the appendix on the key-bearers)
[i]Jesus, Peter, and the Keys[/i] by Scott Butler
[i]The Keys of the Kingdom[/i] by Stanley Jaki (this one is my favorite)

[CatherineM]

By What Authority? A primer on Scripture, the Magisterium, and the Sense of the Faithful by Richard R. Gaillardetz. It was one of my text books for Ecclesiology.

From the summary: a helpful introduction to the forms of church authority that are concerned with authentic Christian belief. It explains in clear and non-technical language what it means to say that the Bible is inspired, how Scripture and tradition are related to one another, the role of the Pope and bishops in preserving the Christian faith, the levels of church teaching authority, how to deal with disagreements with church teaching, the distinctive role of theologians, and the contribution of all the baptized in the formation of church teaching.

[Guest]

Thank you both.

[Resurrexi]

[i]Pastor Aeternus[/i]

[thessalonian]

[quote name='Ziggamafu' post='1836680' date='Apr 15 2009, 08:54 PM']Oh goodness. I am all over this one.

Best three books I know of:

[i]Upon This Rock[/i] by Steve Ray (best part is the appendix on the key-bearers)
[i]Jesus, Peter, and the Keys[/i] by Scott Butler
[i]The Keys of the Kingdom[/i] by Stanley Jaki (this one is my favorite)[/quote]

Good call zig. I would have suggested the same 3. There are mountains of evidence for the papacy. Next to the Eucharist it is the most defendable of Catholc doctrines for those who will liesten.

[abercius24]

Jesus, Peter, and the Keys by Scott Butler -- An account from the Early Church Fathers
Pastor Aeternus -- From Vatican I

The Eastern Church holds that all Bishops have the keys, which in a sense is true, but incomplete. As Pastor Aeternus indicates, there must be 1 bishop who acts as the focal point for unity between all bishops -- which we call the Pope. Without that focal point, it is difficult to know what bishops are correct in their doctrinal positions if substantial disagreements occur -- as was the case with the Arian heresy at the Council of Nicea. Though the Papacy should not be used as a means to usurp the authority of local bishops, it must stand as a landmark from which all other bishops know they are still well-rooted into the Church as a whole.

A comparison between Matthew 16:18-19 and Matthew 18:18 helps to demonstrate this. In Matthew 18:18 the Apostles as a whole are given the power to bind and loosen on earth as it would be in heaven. This establishes them as Chief Ministers of the Kingdom of God as the same language is used in Isaiah 22:22, where the powers of King David's Prime Minister is described. But in Matthew 16, Peter ALONE is given the keys AND the power to bind and loosen on earth as it would be in heaven. This establishes Peter as THE Prime Minister of the Kingdom. Furthermore, Peter is told he is the rock upon which the Church is built. In the spirit of Matthew 7:24-27 Jesus built his Church upon the Rock of Peter so that the winds and the rain would not overcome His house. So even though Peter and the other Apostles share the heavenly power to bind and loosen, Peter is the exclusive point where that authority can exist alone and unshaken for the long term benefit of the Church.

Edited April 18, 2009 by abercius24

[CatherineM]

Another good book that might help you understand how decisions about false teachings have been made in the past. "Dissent From The Creed: Heresies Past and Present," by Richard M. Hogan.

[phatcatholic]

"Jesus, Peter, and the Keys" is a great book because it uses Protestant scholarship to come to its various conclusions regarding the pertinent passages from Scripture. This is very effective b/c it opens the way for Protestants to actually come to terms with the Bible on this topic, since their very own scholars and theologians are saying what we've always said, i.e. that "the rock" in Mt 16:18 refers to Peter, that Jesus was using the model of the steward found in Isaiah, that the keys are a symbol of authority, etc. Then, all that is left for the Catholic apologist is to show that once you bring all of these points together, the logical conclusion is the papacy.

[phatcatholic]

A taste of what's in the book:
[url="http://phatcatholic.blogspot.com/2006/09/protestant-scholars-on-mt-1616-19.html"]http://phatcatholic.blogspot.com/2006/09/p...mt-1616-19.html[/url]