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Hi Jesse,
Thanks for e-mailing.
The authority of the Church is rooted in God, as revealed to us in the Bible. There
are several places where we can find this. One is where Jesus renamed Simon to Peter
and made him the head of the Church, effectively making him chief steward or prime
minister and expressly giving him the keys of the kingdom of Heaven and the power
to bind and loose. Jesus also said the Church has the power to judge, and instructed
His followers to treat as a pagan anyone who did not listen to the Church. Jude condemns
those, apparently rejecting the authority of Church, who acted like Korah in the
Old Testament, who rebelled against Moses. We see in Scripture that the Church is
the pillar and foundation of the truth, and that the Apostles have the
authority to hold sins unforgiven.
The first place to look is Matthew 16:18-19, where Jesus makes Peter the
foundation of the Church (effectively, making him the first pope). Here Jesus asks
His disciples who He is, and Simon responds saying that He is the Son of
God, and Jesus replies,
"Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For
flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. 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."
Matthew 16:17-19
So we see four things:
- He renames Simon Peter
- He says he will build His Church upon him
- He will give him the
keys of the kingdom of Heaven, and
- He gives him the power of loosing and
binding.
"Peter", from the Greek word petros or petra, where
we get the term petrified, means rock.
This was
significant because they were passing a large rock in Caesarea Philippi
which had sacred meaning to the pagans. Jesus is making Peter the foundation
of the Church. It's always significant when God renames someone; their
new name indicates their new role. He renamed Abram to Abraham,
which means father of many nations, and so he became.
The next thing we see is that God gives him the keys of the kingdom
of Heaven.
W.F. Albright, in his (Protestant)
Anchor Bible Commentary on Matthew speaks about them. Here's what he says:
"Isaiah
22, verse 15, undoubtedly lies behind this saying of Jesus. The keys are
the symbol of authority and Father Roland DeVoe rightly sees here the same
authority vested in the vicar, the master of the house, the chamberlain
of the royal household in ancient Israel. In Isaiah 22 Eliakim is described
as having the same authority. Other Protestant scholars admit it too, that
when Jesus gives to Peter the keys of the kingdom, Peter is receiving the
Prime Minister's office, which means dynastic authority from the Son of
David, Jesus, the King of Israel, but also an office where there will be
dynastic succession."
Isaiah 22 says,
"In that day I will summon
my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. I will clothe him with your robe and
fasten your sash around him and hand your authority over to him. He will
be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. I
will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens
no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open."
Speaking of
vicar and master of the house, this is precisely the imagery used in the
parable of the wicked servant, Matthew 24:45-51. Here, the master goes
away and puts a servant in charge of his house (known as the vicar). The
imagery of the master going away is always associated with Jesus departing
until the Second Coming. The vicar feeds and takes charge of the household
while the master is gone. He becomes the father of the household.
Thus this is why we call the Pope, the Holy Father.
The next thing He does is give Peter the power of loosing and binding.
According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, this is the power to forbid and permit,
and banish and readmit whom they pleased. In essence, it's investing authority
in him. Later, this authority of binding and loosing was given to the other
Apostles.
So Peter is given a great deal of power here, and according to Apostolic
Tradition, that authority was handed down to a successor on Peter's death,
and continues to be handed down.
The Church has the authority to judge, according to Jesus. He says in
Matthew 18:15-18,
"If your brother sins against you, go and show him
his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have
won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others
along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two
or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church;
and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would
a pagan or a tax collector. I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on
earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be
loosed in heaven."
Here again we see the binding and loosing. Anyone
who does not listen to the Church should be treated as a pagan.
One reference in the New Testament to the Israel of the Old Covenant is
found in Jude 1. Jude is talking about those who have departed from the faith
once for all handed on to the saints (verse 3). He compares them to
the rebellion of Korah and denounces them. Let's look at the Rebellion
of Korah, Numbers 16. This was a rebellion against Moses, the leader of
the People of God. A group comes to oppose him, and they say,
"You
have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and
the Lord is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord's
assembly?
(Numbers 16:3)
Moses rebukes them for not being content with their role
as Levites, and trying to grab the priesthood too (verse 10). Then God consumed
the sinful rebels by swallowing them, their families, and their possessions
up into the earth (verse 32). Apparently there was a similar rebellion in
the early church, and St. Jude tells us under divine inspiration that this
rebellion is just as sinful in the New Covenant as it was in the Old. Let
us not incur the condemnation of Korah by rejecting the ecclesiastical
authority which God has established.
1 Timothy 3:15 tells us as well that the Church is the pillar and foundation
of the truth. So we should listen to the Church and believe what
She tells us. Isaiah 2:2-3 reinforces this; it prophesizes that one day, many peoples will come and say,
"Come, let us go up to the mountain
of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths."
In other words, God would establish
a teaching authority for the whole world.
Another sort of authority is given in John 20:22, where Jesus tells the
Apostles,
"Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins,
they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
This
is where we get the Sacrament of Confession. The priests have the authority
to forgive sins or hold them unforgiven, and naturally the only way they
can determine whether they should be forgiven or unforgiven is to hear
what they are.
So to summarize, Jesus made Peter the head of the Church (the Pope), with
the authority of the keys (the prime ministership) and the power to loose
and bind. This authority was handed on through the Popes up until today.
The Apostles also received the authority to loose and bind, to forbid and
permit and to forgive our sins or hold them unforgiven. When the Church
judges someone to be committing sin, and they refuse to accept that judgment, we are
to treat them like a non-believer. The Church is the pillar and foundation
of the truth, and the teaching authority of the world. Those who rebel
against Church authority incur severe punishment by God. Hopefully, this
establishes the source of authority for the Church.
Hope this helps,
Eric
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