(1 Timothy 3:1-7) "This is a faithful saying: if a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. A bishop then must be BLAMELESS, the husband of one wife, temperate, soberminded, of good behavoir, hospitable, able to teach; one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house,HOW WILL HE TAKE CARE OF THE CHURCH OF GOD?" Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

-- shane (shaners2003@yahoo.com), April 29, 2000

Answers

Response to How is it that a Pope is a vicker of God, if he is only human and is obviously not sinless?

Shane,

With regards to your question,

How is it that a Pope is a vicker of God,

I've copied this from an online KJV: Matthew, 16

"17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed [it] unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. "

My take on this would be that as the successor to Peter and head of Christ's church, the Pope would have the same *authority* based on his office regardless of how good or bad of a man we think he is.

Regards,

Frank

-- Someone (ChimingIn@twocents.cam), April 29, 2000.

Response to How is it that a Pope is a vicker of God, if he is only human and is obviously not sinless?

Shane,

Matthew, 16

"17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed [it] unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. "18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

"19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. "

First of all the ROCK that Jesus is referring to in this passage is Peter's confession and not Peter himself. If you look at the greek word of ROCK in this text the word is "petras". The Greek word for Peter would have been "Petros".

Christ did give peter the keys to heaven and Peter opened the doors to heaven when he preached on the first gospel sermon on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) in which those who believed, repented and were baptized (Acts 2:38). Catholics have been misinterpreting this scripture for centuries to validate the occupancy of the Pope. The Pope is unscriptural to the word of God. The Catechism is a man made creed and is not in harmony with the Bible (God's Word). To find out about the truth of the Bible and the New Testament church go to

http://www.churchofchrist.org/coc.html#top

If the above site doesn't work go to the site below and then click on

"Who are the churches of Christ, and what do they believe in ?"

http://www.churchofchrist.org/

John chapter 17 speaks about Christ's disciples and the body of believers. The verses basically say that the believers should be one like the Apostles, Christ, and God are one. Denominationalism/Catholicism is unscriptural and is not supported by God's word. The bible speaks about "one body" (the church) in Ephesians 4. To wrap this up, I just want to say that the Catholic church was the first denomination from the New Testament Church. But the religous world needs to go back to the blueprint (the Word of God). This is the only source from God that the religous world can unite on. Whether its worship, the plan to salvation, communion, church organization, etc., we need to get back to the 1st century church. The church thats in the bible.

Biblically we should be Christians and Christians only. Not Catholics, Luthereans, Episcopalians, Methodists, Baptists, Pentecostal, Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, AME, Presbyterians, COGICs, etc.

Believe "and be baptized": Matthew 16:15-16 Repent "and be baptized": Acts 2:38 Confess "and be baptized" Acts 8:26-39 Be Baptized: 1 Peter 3:19-21; Romans 6:3-5; St. John 3:5; Acts 22:16

Baptism is essential to salvation. Not infant baptism. A baby can't believe and can't repent nor confess Christ. Does the Catholic church believe in this? Of course not. Lets be honest with ourselves and true to God's word the Bible. Thanks.

One Lord, ONE FAITH, and One baptism (Ephesian 4:4-5)

-- Derrick Macon (derrickmacon@hotmail.com), August 04, 2000.

Response to How is it that a Pope is a vicker of God, if he is only human and is obviously not sinless?

Jmj

Hello, Derrick.
I used to work with a fellow who belonged to your Protestant denomination, the Church of Christ. He said very many of the things that you wrote here. I tried to help him see how our beliefs were alike in so many ways and why he was mistaken when our beliefs were not the same.

I am sure that I and other Catholics here would also like to respond to you, but first I would like to know if you will be coming back here to read our words -- or if you just stopped in on a one-time basis for some quick proselytizing? If you do come back and assure us that you will take part in conversations, could you please mention whether or not you believe that you could be wrong (fallible)?

Waiting to hear from you and praying for you too,
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jgecik@desc.dla.mil), August 05, 2000.