| | | | Matt 16:18 is the only passage used as a foundation for RC's claim of Roman papal supremacy. It struck me odd as I read the bible with any spiritual understanding after conversion in '75 that there was a complete lack of any other witness to this RC doctrine in the NT. None from Paul in any of his letters, none by Luke who records many of the words of Paul as he founded churches among the Gentiles. If our Lord indeed established Peter as the foundation of the entire church, Paul would have been required to command all his churches to submit to Peter and his successors. Not doing so made Paul negligent and not the wise master builder he claims he was in 1 Corinthians 3. He would have also shunned to declare the entire counsel of God to the Ephesian elders. Not only did he not promote Peter as the Rock of Jesus' Church, neither did John, Peter's closest apostolic companion, in his gospel or letters; neither did Luke in his investigations as he compiled his gospel, and most significantly, neither did Mark, whose gospel is Peter's own memoirs. Finally, the apostle Peter never confirmed himself as the Rock of the Church in his letters as he should have done as he left this world; but rather called himself a fellow elder. The lack of any subsequent confirmation for this most important doctrine, as the RCs have it, makes it as stable as a one-legged stool. |
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