The Authority of the Church (Part 1)

If one is going to examine the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, the first place one must start is with the Authority of the Church. This is key since not all doctrines of the Church have a solid biblical origin, but developed out of the traditions of the Church that arose over the last 2,000 years... such as Papal Infallibility and the Assumption of Mary for examples. In short, does the Church have a biblical and/or extra-biblical basis for having the authority to set doctrines and practices?

In our search for the foundation of the Authority of the Church we’ll look at three sources. First of all is the Bible…is there a basis in Scripture for that authority. Secondly we’ll look at the Didache (I’ll tell you what that is momentarily) and the writings of the early Church Fathers…many of whom were the disciples of the Apostles. And the finally we’ll look at the Councils of the Church and some of their findings. In writing this I want to keep it as free of jargon and theo-babble as possible, but a certain amount theological terminology will pop up from time to time.

Scriptural Support

The very first Scripture has to be Matthew 16:15-19. It’s in these verses that the very root of the Authority of the Church lies. The words are familiar to all Bible students and especially all Catholics. Immediately after Peter’s profession of faith that Jesus is the Son of God and Messiah He tells him: “You are Peter and upon this rock I will build My Church…” Some struggle with these verses due to denominational bias and try to make Peter’s faith and not Peter himself the object of the Lord’s words. But the Lord would not be talking some nebulous idea like that to this unlearned and simple fisherman. Peter was the rock upon which the Church was built.

In Ephesians 2:19-20, which is the next verse, Paul backs up the idea of the Apostles being the foundation on which the Church is built. In it he refers to the Lord as “the chief Cornerstone’. So now we have the witness of Saint Matthew and Saint Paul that it’s not the faith of the Apostles but the men themselves on which the Church is founded.

Now we come to key Scriptures that are a sticking point with Evangelical Christians, John 20:21-23 After sealing them with the Holy Spirit in preparation for the indwelling that would occur on Pentecost, this is one of the commissions that the Lord gave the Apostles: “Peace be unto you: as my Father has sent me, even so I send you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Ghost: Whoever sins you forgive, they are forgiven unto them; and whoever sins you retain, they are retained’” This is a major event, for all through the Bible we’re told that only God can forgive sins…yet here that Authority is given to the Apostles. His words to the Apostles also echo His words to the Father in John 17 on His way to Gethsemane.

The Apostles exercise the ability to choose one to replenish their ranks in the very first chapter of the Book of Acts when they chose Matthias to replace Judas. Later in Acts we see them ordain deacons, commission missionaries and settle disputes that arose over the Gospel going to the Gentiles. In Acts 15 we see the very first Council held in Jerusalem to determine what was to be required of the new Gentile Christians. In several places in his writings the Apostle Paul lays out the requirements for men to be selected as deacons and elders and what is to be expected of one who wishes to be a Bishop.

Finally, in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 we have letters written by John at the instruction of the Lord to seven Churches that are in Asia Minor. If you read those letters each of them is directed to “the angel of the church in…”. The word translated “angel” means “messenger”. The messenger of God in any church is the pastor/priest. God is holding the messenger of each Church responsible for the souls of that Church. The one to whom the Lord gave the instruction “feed My sheep”.

But the establishing of the authority of the Church didn’t end with the death of John…the last Apostle. In Part 2 we’ll look at Church sources including The Didache and the writings of the Ante Nicene Father as well as the Councils themselves…including the creation of the very canon of the Scriptures themselves.