The tradition, today held exclusively by the Roman Catholic Church, and so-called "Catholic Anglicans," that the authority of the Pope (or bishops) to interprete Scriptures and to decide on matters of faith and practice derives from the fact that he stood in an unbroken line of succession from, and spiritual association with, the apostle Peter to whom Jesus handed the key of authority for the Kingdom of God when he said to Peter, "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it" (Matt. 16:18 NIV). This is further matched by the assertion that Peter had founded the church in Rome and that he was her first episcopos or bishop; Peter's consecration of a successor, it is claimed, began thus the line of such an apostolic succession.
The idea carries no interest or use for all evangelical churches for whom ultimate authority in all matters of faith and practice is vested in the Word of God. Unless one interprest Matt 16:18 with the idea already in mind, the NT otherwise offers no basis for the idea and the practice.
It should be noted that the idea arose earlier than the Reformation when this and other traditions of the Church in Rome came under that the scrutiny and, in response, became distinctive. The apostles were representatives of Christ who became the authorized witnesses and interpreters of the great salvific events centered on Jesus. The deaths of the apostles left a vacuum that soon was claimed by others, such as the gnostics, who claimed that they too could trace their authority to the apostles. In response catholic theologians, such as Tertullian and Cyprian, began to assert that the apostles had consecrationally appointed bishops as their successors who in turn consecrated others to be their successors. This gave these consecrated bishops a special authority to witness to and to interprete matters of faith and practice not available to others. The Reformation simply brought out more clearly what had already been a long established tradition. The reformers' challenge is that the Word of God must be the final arbiter in matters of such weight, and Scriptures is silent about it.
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