Authority in Christ’s Church

Hello again dear reader! Okay, so at the risk of this article getting into the realm of apologetics… I want to talk to you about a subject that I had trouble with when I first started studying on this journey and, I think it’s a topic that a lot of people, if not everyone at some point in time, struggle with today, and that is authority… So let’s get to it!

In today’s increasingly secular culture, it seems that more and more people are “shrugging off” the notion of divine authority. It is interesting for us as Christians to experience this somewhat magnetic shift in the world. The prospect of divine authority goes back all the way to the beginning of humanity when God gave Adam authority / dominion over all the creatures of the Earth.

Throughout the scriptures, we see God’s authority passed down from Adam, to Noah, to Joseph, Moses, Saul, David to Solomon as well as others who I do not have time to name individually. Then there was, of course, Jesus who passed His Divine Authority to His Apostles… So what happened after that?

This was a big question I had at the start of my journey home to The Catholic Church. I knew about the Pope and the Bishops and I remembered from my RCIA classes many years ago that they were granted their offices through “apostolic succession” but 4 years ago I couldn’t have told anyone what that really meant if I’d been asked…

In Sacred Scripture, looking at Matthew 16:18-19, Jesus states: “And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 

In the verse above, Jesus as the new “David” is alluding to Isaiah 22, talking about the keys to the “Davidic Kingdom” being given to Eliakim as a symbol of his authority granted in that kingdom. In this way, Jesus is meaning exactly what he’s saying… He has given Simon the name of Peter (petros), meaning “Rock” or “Stone”, and right after that he says he will give him “the keys to the kingdom” symbolizing the fact that he will be given divine authority.

Let me say that everyone (both Protestants and Catholics) can agree that the the Word of God in scriptures is the “Living Word” in that it contains a vital power in and of itself as Hebrews 4:12 states. It is the inspired living word of God because it is given to us BY the living God. All Christians believe that the inspired word of God is free from error. To me, if God saw fit to divinely inspire the writers of our scriptures and keep them free from error… He could and WOULD see fit to keep the councils, who formally declared what our scriptures would be, free from error (those councils were Catholic by the way…)!

“Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.” – Hebrews 4:12

And, to take it a step further… If God saw fit to do both of those things I stated above, then what’s so hard to believe that God could keep The Pope (the successor of Peter’s office) free from error in formal teachings on faith and morals? What good would it be for us to have a divinely inspired text, kept free from error, and then not have a divinely inspired authority also preserved from error in interpreting the text? If we are supposed to have a book free from error but no one kept free from error in interpreting that book, what good is the book?!

On that note, let’s talk about The Pope for a minute… So many people have this misguided and, quite frankly, wrong opinion about the purpose of the divine office of Pope. Many incorrectly see him as an overbearing monarch who has no business telling people how to live their lives (especially when it comes to subjects below the belt). However, that is not what the office of The Pope is…

I’d like to expound slightly on an analogy I heard from a YouTube video of Bishop Robert Barron one time… Let’s say there’s a baseball game going on (our spiritual walk with Christ)… The players (us) have our rule book (Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition). We start playing the game but before long, a runner slides into home just as the catcher gets the ball and tags him. It’s a close call…

Now, we all know that at this point, the umpire (The Pope) has to make a call. If the umpire wasn’t present in the game to make that call, there’s a very high probability that the game would quickly devolve in short order and the field would become a chaotic place. If that happened, the game could not continue… THAT is the role of The Pope…

Bishop Barron will be quick in that same video to point out that there is a point where that analogy of the umpire in the game breaks down… Human umpires have the ability to make a bad call… However, in the divine authority of his office when teaching on matters of faith and morals, The Pope is protected from teaching error in matters of faith and morals by the power of The Holy Spirit (the same protection given to the authors of our sacred Scriptures).

Before anyone raises any objections, please hear me out… This does NOT mean that The Pope is not a fallible human… NO ONE is perfect (except for Jesus and his mother Mary of course). The Pope holds the divine office guided by the power of the holy Spirit and granted by The Father and Son… Peter himself was one of the weaker of the apostles, as is evident by his denial of Jesus three separate times, yet Jesus chose him to be the rock upon which His church would be built. I believe that Jesus did this, not because he thought Peter was holier than he actually was, but because to choose Peter even knowing Peter’s weaknesses, it would cause people to see how great He (God) is…

Below are verses that tell us the Apostles are the foundation of The Church (not the Bible)…

“So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.” – Ephesians 2:19-20

“The wall of the city have twelve courses of stones as its foundation, on which were inscribed the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” – Revelations 21:14

Jesus’ prayer for unity of His Church in John 17:17-23 makes evident the fact that he desires his followers to be ONE in communion with Him… How can that be accomplished if we do not have a central authority to act as a guide for us when we as a church experience trials and differences of opinion when it comes to doctrines and beliefs of what God’s Word is telling us?

With regard to Protestant churches that look to a “democratic” type of structure, I think that if we look at history, we’ll find that it doesn’t tend to work very well. How many of us know of a church or churches with no central authoritative figure that can’t seem to stay organized or they’re always fighting and squabbling within the various “councils”? Do you think they’d be able to “unify” with another entire church on all points of doctrine involving faith and morals if they can’t even get unified or organized within their own walls? To take an analogy I heard once when studying the “Protestant Revolution”… Would anyone really think that a country with 30,000+ political parties in Congress could ever be unified? I think not…

I know some of you are wondering, “well it’s all fine and dandy that Jesus gave His divine authority to His apostles… But I don’t see any evidence in The Bible that shows me that the Apostles passed their authority on…”

Okie dokie… Here we go!

Let’s start with John 20:21-23 which says “[Jesus] said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.'” This verse depicts the birth of Christ’s church when he breathed onto the Apostles and gave them power to forgive sins (we’ll cover the sacrament of reconciliation in a different article in the future).

Three verses which provide testimony to the fact that Jesus instituted Apostolic Succession in The Church are found in Acts 6:6, 1 Timothy 4:14 and 2 Timothy 1:6…

“They presented these men to the apostles who prayed and laid hands on them.” – Acts 6:6

“Do not neglect the gift you have, which was conferred on you through the prophetic word with the imposition of hands of the presbyterate.” – 1 Timothy 4:14

“For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.” – 2 Timothy 1:6

I believe that the verses I have cited above, testify to the Divine Authority given by Christ to His Church and that that Divine Authority has been passed down through the ages to today…

Lastly, let’s take a brief look at some writings from the early church fathers…

“Ignatius . . . to the church also which holds the presidency, in the location of the country of the Romans, worthy of God, worthy of honor, worthy of blessing, worthy of praise, worthy of success, worthy of sanctification, and, because you hold the presidency in love, named after Christ and named after the Father” (Ignatius of Antioch’s Letter to the Romans 1:1 [A.D. 110]). 

“You [the church at Rome] have envied no one, but others you have taught. I desire only that what you have enjoined in your instructions may remain in force” (ibid., 3:1).

-Ignatius of Antioch

“Therefore shall you [Hermas] write two little books and send one to Clement [Bishop of Rome] and one to Grapte. Clement shall then send it to the cities abroad, because that is his duty” (The Shepherd 2:4:3 [A.D. 80]). 

-Hermas

“For from the beginning it has been your custom to do good to all the brethren in various ways and to send contributions to all the churches in every city. . . . This custom your blessed Bishop Soter has not only preserved, but is augmenting, by furnishing an abundance of supplies to the saints and by urging with consoling words, as a loving father his children, the brethren who are journeying” (Letter to Pope Soter in Eusebius, Church History 4:23:9 [A.D. 170]). 

“Today we have observed the Lord’s holy day, in which we have read your letter [Pope Soter]. Whenever we do read it [in church], we shall be able to profit thereby, as also we do when we read the earlier letter written to us by Clement” (ibid., 4:23:11). 

-Dionysius of Corinth

The above quotes were taken from Catholic Answers

As you can see from the quotes mentioned above… From the earliest days of Christ’s Church, bishops and priests alike have looked to Rome for answers.

While I could go on and on and probably bore you to death with more explanations and quotes my dear reader… I’m going to end it with this…

Scripture clearly shows us that Jesus founded His church on the Apostles and that He gave His Apostles the ability to pass their Divine Authority to other Bishops and Presbyters (Priests)… The Authors of our Sacred Scripture, guided by The Holy Spirit, gave God’s words to us…. His One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church declared to the world, WITH His Divine Authority what our Sacred Scripture would be… And THROUGH Jesus’ Divine Authority, The Church was given the grace and wisdom to interpret God’s words in such a way as to guide the world into a deeper spiritual intimacy with our Lord and Savior…

Until next time dear reader…

Your Servant in Christ,

William

If you wish to read a fascinating article by Dr. Scott Hahn on The Papacy, please check out the following link: http://www.catholic-pages.com/pope/hahn.asp