Libertarian, I don’t see how the Bible quote you cited answers NiceGuyJack’s question. It’s a very good question, IMHO.
It’s me again.
When you raised Lazarus from the dead, did his wife have to give back the life insurance money?
Actually, I’m gonna have to disagree with you here. The catholic church claims him as the first pope, but Peter himself didn’t seem to think he was any sort of pope.
In both of his Epistles, he opens the letters with a greeting to equals, not to subordinates:
Doesn’t sound like he considered himself a pope.
Interesting. He appealed as a fellow elder, he didn’t command as the ‘Pontifex Maximus’. Let’s see if he agrees with and behaves like the other 200-odd popes:
Definitely does not sound like a pope. Did he dress in fancy expensive clothes and keep servants? Nope, he made himself a servant and lived like a pauper. Are popes allowed to be married? Nope. But Peter was. Popes have spent the centuries ruling over, installing, and deposing kings and emperors. Jesus said “My kingdom is not of this world.” Popes ordered and supported the inquisitions, and caused thousands upon thousands of christians to be murdered for the crime of rejecting the teachings of the catholic church, uniting church and state in order to consolidate their power. Peter did none of that, and was in fact crucified BY the state. Popes ordered veneration and genuflection to statues of saints, as well as praying to saints. Popes claim to be infallible (funny thing is that there is a papal bull stating that the doctrine of papal infallibility is heresy and untrue. Since it was a pope speaking ex cathedra on the topic of morality and doctrine, it is, by church definition, infallible. How’s that for a paradox?), yet Peter was rebuked by Paul and accepted the rebuke. At one of the first councils of the Apostles (Acts 15), James presided, and said
[quote]
Brothers, listen to me. Simon [Peter] has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself…It is my judgment, therefore [not Peter’s], that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God…
[quote]
Peter would have presided over the council if he had been given special authority over the other apostles. Not only was Peter not the bishop of Rome, but the bishop of Rome did not have (or claim to have) any special authority over the other bishops until several centuries after Jesus’s death.
So let’s see…who else dressed in scarlet and purple, ruled over the common people with an iron fist, tortured christian dissenters to death, encouraged pagan worship of idols, claimed to be infallible and the only source of salvation, hoarded riches beyond imagination, and took power through bribery, forgery, murder, and military force?
It seems like the Popes are the successors of the Roman Emperors Nero and Constantine, rather than St Peter.
Last post was mine, not JerseyDiamond’s. I really hate when I forget to change the username & password when I make a post.
All hate and flames for it should go to me, not to her, Thanks.
Any chance a mod can C&P the text to my post and delete the mistake?
But, dude–at the very least, you’d be receiving an e-mail from a guy who has been dead for 2,000 years! That’s got to change your worldview a little.
More accurately, “an e-mail from a guy who claims he is a guy who has been dead for 2,000 years.”
My question:
In relation to my own ethical and belief codes, how do you explain that your codes leads to a spiritual weakness?
Why ask Jesus? Why not go to the top and ask God himself? If you really want an answer from the big cheese, you don’t ask his publicity officer, do you?
JerseyDiamond wrote:
More importantly, did Peter’s face appear on the pizza in Father Guido Sarducci’s “Find the Popes in the Pizza” contest?
If it did, well, obviously, that settles the matter.
Dear Jesus:
Will you answer “no” to this question?