Doctrine
Apologetics – Unit 3
Direct, we beseech you, O Lord,
all our actions by your holy
inspirations, and carry them on
by your gracious assistance, that
every work of ours may begin
with you, and through you be
brought to completion. Amen.
Prayer

Dear Jesus, help me to spread Your fragrance
everywhere I go.
Flood my soul with Your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess my whole being so
utterly,
That my life may only be a radiance of Yours.
Shine through me, and be so in me
That every soul I come in contact with
May feel Your presence in my soul.
Let them look up and see no longer me, but
only Jesus!
Blessed John Henry Newman’s Prayer

Revelation
◦ Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition
Development of Doctrine
 The Church
 Magisterium
 Peter & Apostolic Succession

Overview
 “God
chose to
reveal Himself and
to make known to
us the hidden
purpose of His
will...”
–
Dei Verbum #2
 The
fullness of this
revelation comes in
His Son Jesus
Christ
Divine Revelation
3 Sources of Divine Revelation

Sacred Scripture – the collection of all the
canonical books (written form)

Sacred Tradition – the living transmission
of the message of the Gospel of the
Church (oral form)

Magisterium – the teaching authority of
the Church which, guided by the Holy
Spirit, interprets Scripture and Tradition
We need all three parts of Divine
Revelation. If one is missing the stool
will fall down, our faith will be lacking.
Magisterium
OUR CATHOLIC FAITH




In the last unit we looked at
how we can come to know God
with certainty through the use of
reason
However, God also chose to
reveal himself even more fully
through Divine Revelation
This was a slow process over
thousands of years, starting
with Creation and moving
through the history of the
Israelites
Divine Revelation comes to
fulfillment in the person of Jesus
Christ, God become man
Divine Revelation


Jesus is the Word of God – he IS Divine
Revelation
God said everything in his Word
◦ “In time past, God spoke in partial and various ways to
our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days,
he spoke to us through a son, whom he made heir of all
things and through whom he created the universe.” (Heb
1:1-2)
In him Revelation is complete and there can be
no further Revelation
 However, it is not completely explicit

◦ The Church has continued to grasp the significance of
everything in Revelation for 2000 years and will continue
to do so
Divine Revelation

God “desires all men to be saved and to
come to the knowledge of the truth” (1
Tim 2:4)
◦ The truth is Christ Jesus himself
In order for this to happen, the Revelation
of Christ must be passed on from one
generation to the next
 This is done through two separate yet
united vehicles: Sacred Scripture and
Sacred Tradition

Handing on Revelation


Sacred Scripture is handed on through the
words of the Bible
Both the Old Testament and the New
Testament are part of Sacred Scripture
◦ There are 46 Old Testament books and 27 New
Testament Books


Canon = the authoritative collection of
Sacred Scriptures in the Old and New
Testaments of the Bible
We cannot remove parts of the Bible as we
consider the entire Bible to be Divinely
Inspired
Sacred Scripture

One question that frequently comes up is
why the Catholic Bible and the Protestant
Bibles have different numbers of books
◦ The difference comes in the Old Testament (46
in Catholic, 39 in Protestant)
Until the time of Luther, all Christians
used the same Bible
 Luther, and the other Protestants, decided
to remove a number of books from the OT
and change various passages in the NT

Catholic vs. Protestant Bibles

The first thing Luther did was remove seven
books from the OT
◦ Wisdom, Sirach, Judith, Baruch, Tobit, 1st & 2nd
Maccabees
 (Why Should Jesus Buy a Taco and 2 Mushrooms)
◦ These are called the Apocrypha (rejected books) in
Protestant Bibles and the Deutero-Canonical books
in Catholic Bibles

His argument was basically that these books
are found in the Greek version of the OT
(called the Septuagint or LXX) and not in the
original Hebrew
◦ One of the teachings Luther disagreed with was
Purgatory which, oddly enough, is supported in
Maccabees…coincidence???
Luther’s Change
Luther argued that the LXX wasn’t the
inspired word of God
 However, when the NT authors quote from
Scripture, they are using the LXX
 Therefore, the human authors of the NT
believed that the LXX was the Word of
God

Does that argument hold up?



The argument adds that the Canon of the
Bible wasn’t actually set until the Council of
Trent (1545-1563) and so Luther was in his
right to change the Canon
It is true that Trent solemnly defined the
Canon. However, Trent referred back to the
Canon listed at the Council of Florence
(1434-1445) which in turn referred back to
the Canon from the Council of Hippo
(393) which referred back to the Canon used
by the Church in the late 3rd century.
In other words, the Canon has been the
same since before 300 AD!
When the Canon was set

Luther changed some texts in the NT in order
to support his various teachings
◦ Rom 3:28 – “Therefore we conclude that a man is
justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.”
 Luther added the word “alone” after faith
 He actually admitted this one but claimed it was okay
because “Dr. Martin Luther will have it so”
◦ Acts 19:18 – “And many who had believed came
confessing and telling their deeds”
 Luther translated this as “they acknowledge the
miracles of the Apostles”

He also wanted to ignore some of the NT
books, especially James
◦ “St. James’ epistle is really an epistle of straw…for
it has nothing of the nature of the gospel about it.”
(Luther, Preface to the New Testament, 1546)
Changing text

“I warn everyone who hears the prophetic words
in this book: if anyone adds to them, God will
add to him the plagues described in this book,
and if anyone takes away from the words in this
prophetic book, God will take away his share in
the tree of life and in the holy city described in
this book.” (Rev 22:18-19)
◦ This is actually speaking directly about the book of
Revelations, but is quite strong language that can
be applied to the rest of the Canon

It is really the fact that the Bible is Divinely
Inspired that makes us not change it!
What the Bible says about that


When we say the Bible is Divinely Inspired,
we are saying that we see it not as human
words, but as the Word of God
God is the author of Sacred Scripture
◦ The Bible was written under the inspiration of
the Holy Spirit

Because they are inspired by God, we hold
the Scriptures to teach the truth
◦ The Bible teaches “that truth which God, for the
sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the
Sacred Scriptures” (DV 11)
Divine Inspiration

“But these are written that you may come
to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the
Son of God, and that through this belief
you may have life in his name.” (Jn
20:31)
◦ Scripture is written for our salvation

“All Scripture is inspired by God and is
useful for teaching, for refutation, for
correction, and for training in
righteousness.” (2 Tim 3:16)
◦ The purpose of Scripture
God as Author of Scripture
 “Know
this first of all, that there is
no prophecy of scripture that is a
matter of personal interpretation,
for no prophecy ever came
through human will; but rather
human beings moved by the holy
Spirit spoke under the influence of
God.” (2 Pet 1:20-21)
◦ Prophecy is not so much seeing the
future but speaking the Word of God
God as Author of Scripture

“And consider the patience of our Lord
as salvation, as our beloved brother
Paul, according to the wisdom given to
him, also wrote to you, speaking of
these things as he does in all his
letters. In them are some things hard
to understand that the ignorant and
unstable distort to their own
destruction, just as they do the other
scriptures” (2 Pet 3:15-16)
◦ We have to be careful when we try to
interpret Scripture
God as Author of Scripture
To say that God inspired the Scriptures
does NOT mean that humans weren’t
involved
 The human author are also true authors

◦ God chose certain men who made full use
of their own faculties and powers
◦ They wrote only what God wanted written,
and nothing more
Divine Inspiration

There are two main senses of Scripture –
Literal and Spiritual – with the later
being divided into three different types for
a total of four senses
◦ Literal
◦ Spiritual
 Allegorical
 Moral
 Anagogical
Senses of Scripture


Literal Sense = the meaning which the
human author intended
This is the sense that is conveyed by the
words of Scripture
◦ This is not the same as saying the words are
“literally” true
◦ Reading the Bible literally can lead to some
unpleasant circumstances
 “And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and
throw it away” (Mt 5:30)


The actual event, person, thing described in
the biblical text.
All the other senses of Scripture are based on
the literal sense
Literal Sense
Spiritual Sense = the meaning intended
by the Holy Spirit
 This sense is broken into the three senses
of allegorical, moral, and anagogical
 A medieval couplet summarizes the
significance of the four senses:

◦ “The Letter speaks of deeds; Allegory to faith;
The Moral how to act; Anagogy our destiny”
Spiritual Sense
In the allegorical sense we read
Scripture to “acquire a more profound
understanding of events by recognizing
their significance in Christ” (CCC 117)
 How those things, events, or persons in
the literal sense point to Christ and the
Paschal Mystery.
 For example, the crossing of the Red Sea
is seen as a sign of Christ’s victory and
Christian Baptism

Allegorical Sense
The moral sense helps us to read
Scripture in a way to live the moral life
 As St. Paul says they were written "for our
instruction".

Moral Sense
The anagogical sense (from the Greek
word for “leading”) helps us to read the
Scripture with a view to our end goal of
Heaven.
 We can view realities and events in terms
of their eternal significance, leading us
toward our true homeland: thus the
Church on earth is a sign of the heavenly
Jerusalem.

Anagogical Sense
We read Scripture using all four senses
 We have to be careful in the interpretation
of Scripture
 Requires solid exegesis and sound
interpretation to determine the literal
sense

◦ Context and Genre are critical to this!
◦ If we don’t understand these two things it is
extremely easy to misread the Bible
◦ The first rule is to know the context
How to read Scripture


The other method used to pass on
Divine Revelation is that of Sacred
Tradition
Tradition was handed on by the
apostles by “the spoken word of
their preaching, by the example they
gave, by the institutions they
established, what they themselves
had received – whether from the lips
of Christ, from his way of life and his
works, or whether they had learned
it at the prompting of the Holy
Spirit” (DV 7)
Sacred Tradition
Sacred Tradition is another area that
Luther said was an invention of man that
should be thrown out
 This is seen in his philosophy “sola
scriptura” (Scripture alone)
 In fact, Luther tried to use Scripture to
support the idea of sola scriptura

Challenges against Tradition

Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from
Jerusalem and said, "Why do your disciples break the
tradition of the elders? They do not wash (their) hands
when they eat a meal." He said to them in reply, "And
why do you break the commandment of God for
the sake of your tradition? For God said, 'Honor your
father and your mother,' and 'Whoever curses father or
mother shall die.' But you say, 'Whoever says to father
or mother, "Any support you might have had from me is
dedicated to God," need not honor his father.' You have
nullified the word of God for the sake of your
tradition. Hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy about
you when he said: 'This people honors me with their
lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they
worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts.‘”
(Mt 15:1-9)
Luther’s Scriptural argument
It could seem that Jesus does condemn
traditions in that text, but you have to
understand the context of the verse
 Jesus is not condemning tradition flat out.

◦ He does not come out and say something like
“you shouldn’t wash your hands”
Instead, he is condemning their following
human traditions over following
God’s law
 Scripture and the Fathers both hold to the
importance of Tradition

The basic response
We do need to distinguish between
Tradition and traditions
 Tradition comes from the apostles and
hands on what they received from Jesus

◦ These cannot be done away with

“t”raditions are various theological,
disciplinary, liturgical, or devotional
traditions born in the local churches over
time
◦ These can be kept, changed, or even
abandoned under the guidance of the
Magisterium
Human traditions

Which came first – Scripture or Tradition?

Luke explicitly says that he heard this
material (Tradition) and then wrote it down
(Scripture)
◦ Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative
of the events that have been fulfilled among us,
just as those who were eyewitnesses from the
beginning and ministers of the word have handed
them down to us, I too have decided, after
investigating everything accurately anew, to write it
down in an orderly sequence for you, most
excellent Theophilus, so that you may realize the
certainty of the teachings you have received. (Lk
1:1-4)
Scriptural support for Tradition

Mk 16:15 – “Go into the whole world and
proclaim the gospel to every creature.”
◦ Wait, there wasn’t any Bible to read to the
others…what did they proclaim?

Jn 21:25 – “There are also many other things
that Jesus did, but if these were to be
described individually, I do not think the
whole world would contain the books that
would be written
◦ So the disciples just decided not to talk about
anything that wasn’t written down? Does that
really make any sense?
Other Scriptural support

1 Cor 11:2 – “I praise you because you
remember me in everything and hold fast to
the traditions, just as I handed them onto
you.”
◦ Paul is praising them for holding onto traditions

1 Pet 1:25 = “but the word of the Lord
remains forever. This is the word that has
been proclaimed to you.”
◦ Not read to you…proclaimed to you!

2 Thes 2:15 – “Therefore, brothers, stand
firm and hold fast to the traditions that you
were taught, either by an oral statement or
by a letter of ours.”
◦ Both written and oral held to be important
Other Scriptural support

“Then the reverence of the law is chanted,
and the grace of the prophets is known,
and the faith of the Gospels is
established, and the Tradition of the
Apostles is preserved, and the grace of
the Church exults.”
◦ Pope St. Clement I, c. 80 A.D.
◦ The last Apostle (John)
was still alive when Clement
said this!
The Fathers on Tradition

“While the languages of the world are
diverse, nevertheless, the authority of the
Tradition is one and the same…What if the
Apostles had not in fact left writings to
us? Would it not be necessary to follow
the order of Tradition, which was handed
down to those to whom they entrusted
the Churches?”
◦ St. Irenaeus of Lyons, 189 AD
The Fathers on Tradition

“Well, they preserving the Tradition of the
blessed doctrine derived directly from the
holy Apostles, Peter, James, John, and
Paul…came by God’s will to us also.”
◦ St. Clement of Alexandria, 208 AD
The Fathers on Tradition

“Of the dogmas and messages
preserved in the Church, some we
possess from written teaching and
others we receive from the Tradition
of the Apostles, handed on to us in
mystery. In respect to piety both are
of the same force…Were we to try to
reject unwritten customs as having no
great authority, we would unwittingly
injure the gospel in its vitals; or
rather, we would reduce the message
[of the gospel] to a mere term.”
◦ St. Basil the Great, 375 AD
The Fathers on Tradition

“But in regard to those observances…
which derive not from Scripture but from
Tradition, we are given to understand
that they are recommended and ordained
to be kept, either by the Apostles
themselves or by plenary councils, the
authority of which is quite vital in the
Church.”
◦ St. Augustine, 400 AD
The Fathers on Tradition

An incomplete list of other Fathers who
spoke favorably about Tradition:
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
Origen, 225
St. Cyprian of Carthage, 253
Eusebius of Caesarae, 312
St. Athanasius of Alexandria, 330
St. John Chrysostom, 402
St. Vincent of Lerins, 434
Pope St. Agatho, 680
The Fathers on Tradition



“Go therefore, and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have
commanded you.” (Mt 28:19-20)
“Whoever listens to you listens to me.” (Lk
10:16)
“You should know how to behave in the
household of God, which is the church of
the living God, the pillar and foundation
of truth.”(1 Tim 3:15)
◦ Scripture itself says that something other than
Scripture (i.e. the Church) is the foundation of
truth!
What about Sola Scriptura?
The Church holds that both Sacred Scripture
and Sacred Tradition are necessary
 They are bound closely together and
communicate one with the other
 They flow out from the same divine well-spring,
come together in some fashion to form one thing
and move towards the same goal (DV 9)
 “Each of them makes present and fruitful in the
Church the mystery of Christ, who promised to
remain with his own ‘always, to the close of the
age.’” (CCC 80)

Relationship of Scripture and
Tradition

“The Church, to whom the transmission
and interpretation of Revelation is
entrusted, does not derive her certainty
about all revealed truths from the holy
Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and
Tradition must be accepted and
honored with equal sentiments of
devotion and reverence.” (CCC 83)
Relationship of Scripture and
Tradition




We hold that Divine Revelation passes down
to this day through the vehicles of Sacred
Scripture and Sacred Tradition
We also hold that the teachings of Sacred
Scripture and Sacred Tradition are the same
today as they were 2000 years ago
However, that does not mean that the
understanding of the various doctrines
does not change
Rather, the Church is constantly coming to a
deeper understanding of what Christ taught
Change or development?
I am amazed that you are so quickly forsaking the
one who called you by (the) grace (of Christ) for a
different gospel (not that there is another). But
there are some who are disturbing you and wish to
pervert the gospel of Christ.
But even if we or an angel from heaven should
preach (to you) a gospel other than the one that
we preached to you, let that one be accursed!
As we have said before, and now I say again, if
anyone preaches to you a gospel other than the
one that you received, let that one be accursed.
 We do not want to preach a new Gospel
but must always keep to the teachings of
Christ
Galatians 1:6-9
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.
 At the same time we see here the right
for the Church to set doctrine (bind &
loose)
Matthew 16:18-19
How do we maintain this balance between
keeping the truth that Christ taught and
still being able to allow for the Church’s
authority to bind and loose Heaven?
 The answer, as put forth by St. John
Henry Cardinal Newman is found in the
idea of the development of Doctrine

Development of Doctrine
Lived 1801-1890
Extremely respected and
important priest in the
Church of England
 Started to investigate the
Faith and found the fullness
of truth in Catholicism
 Became a Catholic (at great
personal loss of power in
England) and ultimate
becomes a Cardinal
 Wrote the important work
called “An Essay on the
Development of Christian
Doctrine”


St. John Henry Cardinal Newman



Newman’s basic question was the same
question we posed: how can the truth stay
the same and yet continue to grow
He wrote his essay to investigate that
question, trying to figure out whether present
day doctrine was new or if it was maturation
In this process, he came to realize that the
only Church which could show maturation
and not new doctrine was the Catholic
Church (which is why he converted)
Development of Christian Doctrine
Newman said there were 7 conditions that
must be met by a present day doctrine to
show growth rather than change
 The 7 conditions are:

◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
Preservation of Type
Continuity of its Principles
Assimilative Power
Logical Sequence
Anticipation of its Future
Conservative Action on its Past
Chronic Vigor
Development of Christian Doctrine


Universal & Religious
Basically, preservation of type says ignore
the external form and look at the substance
◦ E.g. Look at a human. When first born, a person
looks very different from what he will when old.
It’s still the same person.

E.g. Reception of the Eucharist
◦ In Middle Ages, once a year out of reverence
◦ In current days, frequently but with reverence
◦ The doctrine isn’t about how often but whether or
not we have great reverence for the Eucharist
Preservation of Type
No contradictions; differing only in
maturity
 Every doctrine has an underlying principle
 If the principle itself has changed, then
the doctrine is new
 E.g. Math

◦ There are axioms in math (principles)
◦ We use those axioms to develop a deeper
understanding of things like right angles
◦ The axioms themselves don’t change
Continuity of its Principles
Unitive; draws into itself through
Truth and Grace
 Example from life

◦ Whatever has life is characterized by growth
◦ Things grow by taking into their substance
◦ They become one by assimilating

Doctrine grows as well
◦ Brings into itself other things without changing
from what it was
Assimilative Power
One leads to the Other
Can we look at the various “changes” in
doctrines and see a logical progression or
does it seem like a huge jump into
something new
 “A doctrine, then, professed in its mature
years by a philosophy or religion, is likely
to be a true development, not a
corruption, in proportion as it seems to be
the logical issue of its original teaching.”


Logical Sequence
Leads to the Resurrection; Heaven
 An idea that is living will develop
according to its own nature
 Does it lead to death or to life?
 Much like logical sequence, can we look a
doctrine years later and see that what
was in place in the beginning pointed to
the later

Anticipation of its Future



Doesn’t lose what was before it
If a doctrine contradicts or reverses what
came before it, then it is not a true
development but a corruption
E.g. Mormonism
◦ Joseph Smith gets a “revelation” of his new religion
◦ Years later, he gets a new revelation which changes
some of the earlier teachings
◦ Newman would see this as a corruption, not
development
Conservative Action on its Past
Staying power; not brief duration
 Does the doctrine take off like a huge
success only to die a few years later
 Many of the early Gnostic groups fell into
this problem

Chronic Vigor
The basic idea to keep in mind is that true
doctrine does not change, it merely
develops
 The underlying deposit of Faith (Divine
Revelation) must always stay the same,
but the doctrine itself can grow
 We will now move into looking at the
Church, specifically the Magisterium as
she is the one who can develop doctrine

Who develops


We hold that “the task of giving an authentic
interpretation of the Word of God, whether in
its written form or in the form of Tradition,
has been entrusted to the living, teaching
office of the Church alone. It’s authority in
this matter is exercised in the name of Jesus
Christ.” (DV 10)
Magisterium – the teaching office of the
Church made up of the Pope as its head and
the Bishops in union with the Pope
The Magisterium

We hold to the authority through the
notion of Apostolic succession
◦ The Bishops are the successors of the Apostles
◦ The Pope is the successor of Peter
This is one area that Protestants have
particular disdain for
 Luther was adamant that there was no
hierarchy, no authority, and no Apostolic
succession

◦ Even today, a major attack against Catholics is
that we follow the Pope
Authority
To look at the notion of Hierarchy and
Authority, we first look at what Christ
himself did
 A simple look through Scripture shows
that Christ immediately began to gather
disciples to himself once his ministry
started
 Christ has many disciples, some of whom
would leave him after the Bread of Life
discourse (John 6)

Hierarchy & Authority

However, within the group of disciples, Christ
also pulled out an “inner group” of 12 that he
called Apostles
◦ Lk 5, Mt 10:1-4, Mk 3:13-19


The Apostles were Jesus’ closest collaborators
and witnesses to whom he gave a mission:
preach the kingdom of God and heal (Lk 9:2)
These were the 12 men who would form the
foundation of Christ’s Church and were called
to be the first priests at the Last Supper
◦ Unfortunately only 11 would remain true since
Judas betrayed Christ
Hierarchy & Authority



Although all 12 men were called by Christ,
they did not all have the same level of
leadership
Instead, there was a definite hierarchy that is
readily seen in the New Testament
Of the 12, when Jesus performed some major
act there were 3 who were singled out to be
with him: Peter, James, and John
◦ Some examples are the Transfiguration, the raising
of Jairus’ daughter, and the Agony in the Garden

So, we see that there is a differing level of
closeness to Christ even among the 12
Hierarchy among the Apostles


Among those three – Peter, James, and John
– Peter stands out throughout the entire New
Testament as the head of the Apostles
This is most readily seen by a simple count of
name usage
◦ Simon Peter is mentioned by name 195 times
◦ St. John is named the second most at 29

Whenever the 12 Apostles are listed, Peter is
always at the front of the list
◦ He wasn’t actually called first, but is listed first
◦ Judas is always listed last
Peter is first

Frequently, the NT doesn’t even
mention the other Apostles other
than as an addendum to Peter
◦ i.e. “Peter and the rest of the Apostles”
or “Peter and his companions” (Lk 9:32;
Mk 16:7; Acts 2:37)

This is even done when it’s just the
three main Apostles. It would have
been just as easy to write Peter,
James, and John.
Peter and the rest


Peter is shown to be the spokesman for the
Apostles
Examples
◦ Right before raising Jairus’ daughter, Jesus asks his
disciples who touched him. It is Peter who answers
him. (Lk 8:43)
◦ At the Transfiguration, it is Peter who speaks and
offers to set up the tents (Lk 9:33)

Generally speaking, when the disciples say
something the Gospels either say “they
asked” or “Peter asked”
Peter as spokesman
Raphael’s Transfiguration – painted 1518-1520
Peter also plays a prominent role in the
various stories involving the Apostles
 Examples

◦ Peter tries to walk on water to Jesus. (Mt
14:22-31)
◦ Peter makes the great confession saying that
Jesus is the Messiah (Mk 8:29)
Peter is prominent

One of the most important Biblical passages
showing the importance of Peter is when
Christ names him Peter right after Peter says
Jesus is the Messiah
◦ “Jesus said to him in reply, ‘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.’” (Mt
16:17-19)
Peter as rock

Jesus gives the name to Peter
◦ In Jewish world, giving a new name changes
the status of the person who receives the name
◦ Jesus is changing the status of Peter

The name he gives is “Kephas” or “rock”
◦ In the Old Testament, God is seen as the rock
◦ This is a powerful name for Christ to choose
Important elements

Peter is given the Keys to Heaven
◦ Points to Isaiah 22:22 (God gives key of David
to Eliakim) which references dominion over the
descendants of David

Peter is given the power to bind and loose
◦ This comes directly from Rabbinical language
where it primarily means having the authority
to make doctrinal decisions and also to impose
or lift a penalty
◦ Unlike the Rabbis, Peter is given this authority
over both Earth and Heaven
Important elements
There are some common attacks against
this verse by Protestants that are good to
know about, although Luther himself had
no problem with calling Peter the Rock
 The first argument is that the rock that is
Peter is not the same rock that Christ will
build his Church on

◦ This is ultimately a translation argument
◦ In the Greek, “petra” is the rock but Peter is
named “Petros”
 “Petra” is feminine. Jesus just turns it masculine
◦ In Aramaic, which Jesus would have spoken,
they are both the same word: “Kephas”
Common arguments
Jesus is not above making a play on
words. Why would he name Simon “rock”
and then say he was going to build his
Church on “this rock” if it weren’t Peter
 Another argument: “This rock” is actually
the physical rock that Jesus is sitting on
when he makes this statement

◦ Yes, some Protestants do make this argument
although not as many any more
◦ Jesus never built a physical Church anywhere,
much less on a particular rock so does that
mean he’s a liar??
More about the rock
Graphical explanation

Another argument deals with who is given
the keys and the power to bind and loose
◦ In a later Gospel passage (Mt 18:18), all of the
Apostles are given the power to bind and loose
◦ People argue that this just shows that Peter is just
another one of the Apostles

This is yet another English translation
problem
◦ In English, the word “you” can be singular or plural
◦ In Greek, the plurality is more obvious
◦ In the Greek text, it is specifically to the singular
“you” (i.e. Peter) that the keys and the power to
bind and loose are given
Common arguments

There is basically unanimous consent among
the Fathers about Peter being the rock that
Jesus built on. For example:
◦ Tertullian – “Was anything hid from Peter, who was
called the Rock, whereon the Church was built?”
◦ St. Hippolytus – “Peter, the Rock of the Church”
◦ Origen – “Peter, that great foundation of the
Church”
◦ St. Gregory Nazianzen – “[Peter] is called a Rock
and entrusted with the foundations of the Church”
◦ St. Chrysostom – “and when I name Peter, I name
that unbroken Rock, that firm foundation, the Great
Apostle, the First of the disciples…”
What the Fathers say


This high role of Peter among the Apostles
doesn’t end with the Gospels but continues
on through the NT
Some areas we see this
◦ He takes the lead in the selection of Matthias (Acts
1:15-26)
◦ He is the first to address the crowd at Pentecost
(Acts 2:14)
◦ He performs the first public miracle (Acts 3:1-10)
◦ He exercises Church discipline on Ananias and
Sapphira (Acts 5:1-5)
◦ He makes the decision to allow Gentiles into the
Church and not have to follow dietary laws (Acts
10:1-48)
Peter in early Church

Summary of ideas on why we see Peter
having primacy among the Apostles:
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
1. Mentioned the most
2. Always mentioned first
3. Always at the important events with Christ
4. Speaks for the Apostles
5. Called the Rock on which the Church will be
built
◦ 6. Given the Keys of Heaven
◦ 7. Given the power to bind and loose
◦ 8. Takes charge at the events of the early
Church
Summary of Peter
Using these arguments, it should be
obvious that Peter is the first among the
Apostles
 However, the next argument that will be
brought up by Protestants is that even if
Peter does have a certain level of primacy,
that primacy stops with him and does not
continue on through the years

But does it continue?

Apostolic Succession = the unbroken
series of bishops since the apostles, their
successors in the episcopal ministry
◦ Every Bishop can trace his “lineage” back to
Peter
 Here’s Bishop Bruskewitz’s succession

The primary place we look to see the idea
of Apostolic succession is the selection of
Mathias at the beginning of the Acts of
the Apostles
Apostolic Succession
During those days Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers (there was
a group of about one hundred and twenty persons in the one place). He
said, “My brothers, the scripture had to be fulfilled which the holy Spirit
spoke beforehand through the mouth of David, concerning Judas, who
was the guide for those who arrested Jesus. He was numbered among us
and was allotted a share in this ministry. He bought a parcel of land with
the wages of his iniquity, and falling headlong, he burst open in the
middle, and all his insides spilled out. This became known to everyone
who lived in Jerusalem, so that the parcel of land was called in their
language ‘Akeldama,’ that is, Field of Blood. For it is written in the Book
of Psalms: ‘Let his encampment become desolate, and may no one dwell
in it.’ And: ‘May another take his office.’ Therefore, it is necessary that
one of the men who accompanied us the whole time the Lord Jesus came
and went among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day on
which he was taken up from us, become with us a witness to his
resurrection.” So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was
also known as Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed, “You, Lord, who
know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to
take the place in this apostolic ministry from which Judas turned away to
go to his own place.” Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell upon
Matthias, and he was counted with the eleven apostles.
Acts 1:15-26
It is Peter who says that there needs to
be a new Apostles to succeed Judas and
who lays out the conditions
 They allowed the Holy Spirit to do the
selection (casting lots)
 When the lots selected Mathias he was
“counted among the Apostles”
 This is a major event in the life of the
early Church and its an event of
succession!

Important Points


But, say the Protestants, in just a few verses
we see all of the disciples receiving the gift of
the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4)
First, we don’t know exactly who received the
gifts from those verses.
◦ It’s given to those in the house
◦ In the next verse, Peter and the others stand up
◦ Maybe it’s just the Apostles

Additionally, Eph 4:11 tells us that some are
chosen to be Apostles, others pastors,
teachers, etc.
◦ Not everybody gets the same gifts
Who is a successor?

Additionally, Christ himself promises that he
will be with the disciples/Church until the end
of time
◦ “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of
the age.” (Mt 28:20)


Did Christ mean this? Yes.
But if he truly meant it, then he is either
saying that the disciples will live until the
second coming (obviously not true) or that
he will be with the Church and the successors
of the Apostles which will live until the
second coming
◦ This view is also supported by the verse “and the
gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it”
(Mt 16:20)
Continuation
But does that mean that the primacy of
Peter continues on with the Popes
throughout the ages?
 The Fathers of the Church seem to think
so, with there being unanimous support of
the Pope’s authority

◦ Some who said this were Popes, some weren’t
◦ No matter who said it, there is no evidence of
anybody arguing against it
Apostolic Succession
Hegesippus (180) – “In each succession
and in each city there is a continuance of
that which is proclaimed by the Law, the
Prophets, and the Lord”
 St. Irenaeus (189) – “…pointing out here
the successions of the bishops of the
greatest and most ancient church known
to all, founded and organized at Rome by
the two most glorious Apostles, Peter and
Paul”

The Fathers on Apostolic
Succession
Origen (225) – “The teaching of the
Church has indeed been handed down
through an order of succession from the
Apostles and remains in the churches
even to the present time.”
 St. Ambrose of Milan (388) – “They have
not the succession of Peter.”
 St. Augustine (412) – “If the very order of
episcopal succession is to be considered,
how much more surely, truly, and safely
do we number them from Peter himself.”

The Fathers on Apostolic
Succession
We’ve covered a lot of material on Divine
Revelation
 Remember, Divine Revelation is found in
Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition
with the Magisterium having the authority
to develop it
 But, there are different levels of teaching
that requires different levels of belief
 Those levels are called the 4 Levels of
Magisterial Teaching

But what do we have to believe
Spend 15 minutes reading the hand out
silently to yourself
 I will then divide you into groups
 Each group will put all the student names
on a piece of paper and answer the 6
Group Questions on page two of the
handout
 Keep the handout as a study guide for the
four levels

Class work on the 4 levels

Definitive Declarations of Revealed Truth
(Dogma)
◦ Requires Divine Faith
◦ Not following is formal heresy & excommunication
◦ These teachings are infallible and cannot change

Definitive Declarations of non-Revealed Truth
(Doctrine)
◦ Requires to be firmly accepted and held
◦ Not following is to be out of full communion with
the Catholic Church
◦ The teachings are infallible and cannot change
Four Levels of Magisterial
Teaching

Ordinary Teaching on Faith and Morals
◦ Requires religious assent of intellect & will
◦ Not following would be erroneous judgment
 Does allow for questioning but not for public dissent –
we should assume these are right
◦ These teachings can change as they are not
considered infallible

Prudential Judgments
◦ Requires external obedience
◦ Not following is rash or dangerous
 Does allow for questioning but be very careful about
public dissent – that only hurts the Church and doesn’t
help
◦ These teachings can change
Four Levels of Magisterial
Teaching

The first two levels must be held by Catholics
if they want to be Catholic
◦ Regardless of what a person says, if they don’t hold
to the teachings of the first two levels then they are
not fully Catholic and should not seek to fully enter
the Church

The second two levels should be held by all
Catholics, but do allow for debates
◦ Remember a lack of assent is not the same as
dissent
◦ Also, unless you’ve been deeply studying the Faith
for many years at a highly advanced level, it is best
to assume that the Church is right and you are
wrong. A few classes don’t make us experts!
Summary of what to believe