Apologetics for the Masses #509 - Reasons Why Your Church Should Have a Pope

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Topic

Why the Office of the Pope makes sense - Biblical sense, historical sense, and just plain ol' common sense.

General Comments

Hey folks,

I hope all of you are having a happy and holy Easter Season!

I have 2 announcements regarding all of our audio talks:

1) We've discontinued offering CDs of our talks (we were only getting a few orders for CDs per month and, as you all know, the CD format has pretty much gone the way of the 8-track tape).

2) We are about to start offering all of our talks - 28 in English and 5 in Spanish - on a single USB flash drive. All of them on one flash drive. All of the talks will be available in 3 different audio formats - FLAC, M4A (AAC), and MP3 - so as to be compatible with a range of devices. The flash drive will be a 2 in 1 format - USB C and USB A - and will be compatible with your desktop computers and most mobile devices. The flash drives will be either 64 gb or 128 gb. Which means, since the audio files will only take up a small amount of the space on the drive, you'll have plenty of room to store photos, files, etc. on the drive as well, so it will serve a dual purpose - physical and spiritual. Oh, and the flash drive will be a 3.0, which I'm told has a lot faster download/upload speed than the 2.0 versions.

And, one last thing - as you know, we used to offer our CDs for free ($1 for postage), because I've tried to follow the business model of "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God...and all these things [what you are to eat, to wear, where you will live, and so on] will be added unto you." So, my first concern has always been to try and get Catholic teaching out there to as many people as possible - and I think we've done a decent job of doing that - and then my second concern has been earning a living. And so far God has lived up to His Word - I've always been able to feed and clothe my family and put a roof over their heads. This time around, I won't be offering the flash drive completely for free, but I will be offering it well below our cost, so as to make it easy for folks to get ahold of, thus disseminating the truths of the Catholic Faith as widely as possible. In other words, you won't find a better offer for apologetics talks out there - anywhere! I guarantee it.

I'll let you know when they're available.

Introduction

With the death of Pope Francis, I thought this would be a good "catechetical moment" to offer some reasons for why having a Pope, as the Catholic Church does, makes more sense than any other structure of authority in any other Christian faith tradition.

(Please keep the repose of the Pope's soul in your prayers. And pray, pray, pray for the College of Cardinals to elect a strong, capable, holy, and bold Pope...and pray for him to have courage.)

Challenge/Response/Strategy

Reasons Why Your Church Should Have a Pope

1) Because the Bible tells us that Jesus left the church He started with a Pope - Now, I know that the very 1st thing non-Catholics will say is, "No He did not! Nowhere in the Bible does it mention the word 'Pope'." Well, actually, it does. Oh, not the English version of the word, but it does mention what the word "Pope" means - father. The word "pope" is derived from the Greek word "pappas" - papa; father - Il Papa; Holy Father. And, specifically, the Bible mentions that word - father - in relation to the man who held an office that put him over the household of the king...the house of David. Isaiah 22:15, 19-22, "Thus says the Lord God of hosts, 'Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is over the household, and say to him...I will thrust you [Shebna] from your office, and you will be cast down from your station. In that day I will call my servant, Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your girdle on him, and will commit your authority to his hand; and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open."

Some things to note here:

A) The king's steward is over the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the House of Judah...the household of the king..the House of David.

B) The steward holds an "office". So, when one office holder is removed, or dies, then another takes his place. The office holders change, but the office stays the same.

C) The steward of the House of David has authority over the entire household. This is stated here specifically, but it is also symbolized by the fact that he holds the key of the House of David. The key symbolizes authority.

D) This authority is indisputable - "He shall open, and none shall shut." "He shall shut, and none shall open." In other words, there is no one with more authority except for the king himself.

E) The holder of the office of steward shall be a "father" to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the House of Judah...the House of David. A father...a pappas...a papa...a pope.

Do we anywhere find a New Testament equivalent to this steward and his office and his authority?

Well, what is the New Testament equivalent of the House of David? The Church. The Church is the House of God. Jesus Christ is the Son of God...He is the Son of David...He is the King...His House is the House of David...the Church.

Now, let's turn to Matthew 16:17-19, "And Jesus answered him [Peter], 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father Who is in Heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I wil build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.'"

Notice any similarity to that passage from Isaiah I just quoted? Do you think Jesus maybe had that in mind when He was talking to Peter?

A) Jesus gives Peter authority, as symbolized by the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. God gave Eliakim authority, as symbolized by the key of the House of David.

B) Peter's authority was indisputable. Whatever he binds or looses on Earth, is bound and loosed in Heaven. In other words, it is backed by God's own authority. Eliakim's authority was indisputable. Whatever he opens or closes, no one shuts or opens.

C) What was Peter given authority over? Well, the only thing mentioned in this passage that he could have authority over is the Church. Eliakim had authority over the house of David. The Church - the New Testament House of David - is mentioned here as being built on the rock of Peter. And, even if you believe, as most Protestants do, that the Church is built on the rock of Peter's "confession" of Jesus as the Son of God, instead of Peter himself, it is still the Church that is the entity Peter is being given authority over - as symbolized by the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Church also being known as the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, since it is Jesus Who is our King.

D) So, if the holder of the Office of Steward of the House of David, the holder of the key of the House of David, was a "father" to the members of the House of David, then the holder of the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, the steward of the New Testament House of David - the Church - must also be a "father" to the members of the Church. A father...a pappas...a papa...a pope.

To interpret Scripture with Scripture, as the Protestants tell us to do, we also note that the New Testament tells us that the Church is the flock of Christ. Who rules over a flock? The shepherd. Jesus is THE Shepherd. However, in His earthly absence, has He left His flock without a shepherd to rule over them? Of course not. That wouldn't be kosher. In John 22:15-19, Jesus, knowing He is soon to ascend into Heaven, tells Peter to, "Feed My lambs. Tend My sheep. Feed My sheep." What do we call the person who feeds the lambs, tends the sheep, and feeds the sheep? A shepherd. Jesus is appointing Peter the shepherd of His flock to rule over them here on Earth in His absence. Thus confirming what we see in Matthew 16 where Jesus is, in essence, appointing Peter the steward of the New Testament House of David...the Church.

2) Because history tells us that Jesus left the church He started with a Pope - We have historical records that trace the history of the Papacy all the way back to Peter as the first Bishop of Rome, and, through Peter, to Jesus Christ Himself. Peter was the first head of the Church, and since, at the end of his life, he was exercising his universal authority over the Church as the Bishop of Rome, then his successors as Bishop of Rome also exercised universal authority over the Church from the Chair of Peter.

Eusebius of Caesarea was a bishop in the early 4th century, and he wrote the first comprehensive history of the Church around 325 A.D. In it, he left us a record of the successors of Peter in the bishopric of Rome, beginning with Linus, then Anencletus, then Clement and so on all the way down to the time of Eusebius in 325 A.D. We have other historical documents from writers in the those early centuries of the Church that corroborate a good bit of what Eusebius wrote and that the Church outside of Rome often looked to the See of Rome for guidance. Then, we have the history of the line of Bishops of Rome from the time of Eusebius on down to our time, with Pope Francis and whoever our next Pope will be. So, the Church of Jesus Christ has always had a steward of the House of David at the helm ever since the King Himself ascended into Heaven. First it was Peter, and then it was Peter's successors in the bishopric of Rome.

3) Because common sense tells us that Jesus left the church He started with a Pope - Let me ask a question: Which makes more sense...that Jesus would leave the church He started with one Pope, or with hundreds of thousands if not even millions of Popes? What do I mean by that? Well, if there is not one ultimate authority in the Church here on Earth - one authority that can bind and loose on Earth what will be bound and loosed in Heaven - then how many authorities are there in the Church who are able to do so? We know, from Scripture, that Jesus left us a church with authority - e.g., Matt 16:19, Matt 18:17-18, and 1 Tim 3:15 - so the question is: Who in the Church has the power to wield that authority? Who is it in the Church that has the power to bind and loose on Earth what is then bound and loosed in Heaven? Who is it in the Church that has the power to authoritatively decide disputes between Christians (Matt 18:17-18)? Who is it in the Church that has the power to authoritatively decide, what is and is not authentic Christian doctrine, morality, and practice and bind all Christians by those decisions? Who? Someone has got to be able to do those things.

If it's not one man, then how many men? 2? 10? 100? 1000? 1,000,000? Is each pastor the "Pope" of his or her own church? Is each reader of the Bible his or her own "Pope" of his or her own private "church"? Here's the thing, if there isn't one man given that authority by Jesus Christ, then that means there isn't any man given that authority by Jesus Christ. Which is, in essence, what all Protestants - and Orthodox - believe. If the Pope isn't that guy, then there isn't such a guy. I mean, who else even makes the claim to have such authority? No one! Who else has history shown to have such authority? No one!

The problem is, though, that Jesus left His Church with that authority. According to Sola Scriptura, with each person who can read, essentially being "Pope" of his or her own church - being able to decide by themselves, on their own authority, by their own fallible interpretations of the Bible, what is or is not authentic Christian doctrine, morality, and practice - then that means either everyone has that authority Jesus gave His Church or no one has that authority. And, if everyone has that authority, then, essentially, that's the same as no one having that authority. And if no one has that authority, then the church Jesus Christ started, no longer exists here on Earth.

Summary
The Bible, history, and common sense all tell us that Jesus left the Church He started with a Pope - with one man who was the ultimate authority in the Church here on Earth - so as to avoid doctrinal confusion, amongst other things, and to be a father to the House of David. The fact that there is no equivalent in Protestantism, nor in the Orthodox Churches, is why they have so many divisions...especially the Protestants. Martin Luther's rejection of papal authority, was a rejection of Church authority, which was a rejection of the authority of Jesus Christ Himself. Once you do that...it's Katy bar the door. That's why you have tens of thousands upon tens of thousands of divisions (aka denominations) within Protestantism, with more happening pretty much every day.

All of which is why your church should have a Pope. And, if it doesn't, you're in the wrong church...

Closing Comments

I hope all of you have a great week...keeping you in my prayers!

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