The Primacy of Peter

V for Victory ^ | August 3, 2012

[NYer]

Just a few days ago, I acquired my own copy of a book I remember from childhood (not, alas, from Catholic school): the silver jubilee edition of My Catholic Faith, by Bishop Louis Laravoire Morrow, S.T.D. (My Mission House, Kenosha, Wisconsin, 1961).  Bishop Morrow served as the Bishop of the Diocese of Krishnagar, India, from 1939 to 1969; his book originally came out in 1936.  My Catholic Faith is a concise summary of the Faith and is divided into three parts: What to Believe; What to Do; and Means of Grace.  This worthy book unfortunately appears no longer to be in print, and was one of the many treasures swept out into the sea of oblivion by the flood of modernism that followed Vatican II.  Sadly, many of the devotions, ceremonies and liturgical accoutrements that it describes were also swept away and are now foreign to most Latin Rite Catholics; but, thanks to our current Holy Father, they are beginning to come back.  If you can find a copy on Amazon or from a used book seller, My Catholic Faith is a good place to learn about and rekindle a love for these once-common features of Catholic life.

One striking lesson in My Catholic Faith is Lesson No. 50: The Primacy of Peter.  One of the defining characteristics of Protestantism is the rejection of this doctrine; and unfortunately, it is now all but rejected by many Catholics.  Many in the pews have been raised to view the Pope as a semi-comical figure in a white dress and fancy headgear who leads a sheltered life, ignorant of the concerns of everyday people, and just wants to ruin everybody's fun.  Even many priests and bishops do not seem to see the need of obeying the Pope in the exercise of his rightful authority, as the response in some quarters to Summorum Pontificum clearly demonstrates.  But here Bishop Morrow brings us up short.  "The true test of loyalty to Christ," he says, "is not only to believe in Him and worship Him, but to honor and obey the representatives He has chosen.  Our Lord chose St. Peter as His Vicar.  It is rebellion against Christ to say to Him: 'I will worship You, but I will not recognize Your representative.'  This is what Christians do, who deny the authority of the successor of Peter."

How do we know that Christ has a Vicar on earth, and that the Vicar is Peter?  The good bishop gives us his point-by-point analysis:

-- Jesus changed the name of Simon to Peter after his confession of faith at Caesarea Philippi.  "Peter" means "Rock," signifying Peter's role as the foundation of the Church.

-- Jesus gave to Peter, and to no other Apostle, the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.  Keys are a sign of authority.

-- After the Resurrection, on the Lake of Gennesareth, Jesus asked Peter three times  if Peter loved Him, and three times told Peter to feed His lambs and His sheep.  The "lambs" are the laity; the "sheep" are the clergy who nourish the lambs.  By this Jesus signified the entire flock.  He gave to no other Apostle the responsibility of feeding His entire flock.

-- Jesus gave Peter a new name; chose him as a companion on the most solemn occasions; appeared to him first among all the Apostles after the Resurrection.  These marks of distinction were conferred on no other Apostle.

-- Jesus is the Invisible Head of His Church, but, like any other society, the Church needs a visible head; St. Peter was chosen to be the visible head of the Church to take Christ's place among men.

-- Peter actually exercised his primacy.

1. Peter's name always comes first in the list of Apostles, just as the name of the Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus, always comes last.  St. Matthew calls him the first of the Apostles (Matthew 10:2).  He was not the first in age (his brother Andrew was older) nor in election (here again, Andrew preceded him), so he must have been first in authority.

2. It was on Peter's advice that the Apostles chose a replacement for Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:21-26).

3. Peter preached the first sermon on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-36).

4. Peter admitted the first converts from both Judaism and Paganism, shattering the taboo against Jews and pagans consorting with one another (Acts 2:38-41; 10:5 et seq.).

5. Peter worked the first miracle by curing a man lame from birth (Acts 3:6-8).

6. Peter meted out the first punishment, against the cheaters Ananias and Sapphira, who fell down dead at his rebuke (Acts 5:1-6).

7. Peter cast out the heretic, Simon Magus, who wanted to buy the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:19-20).

8. Peter made the first visitation of the churches (Acts 9:31-32).

9. At the first ecclesiastical council in Jerusalem, after much debate, all submitted to the judgment of Peter (Acts 15:7-12).

10. St. Paul presented himself to Peter after his conversion (Gal.1:18).

11. As the See of Peter, the Church of Rome ranked highest among the early churches established by the Apostles.

And, of course, the successors of Peter down to this day succeed to his primacy and his authority.  

And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.  And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.  

Matthew 16:18-19 

UPDATE: A commenter has just drawn my attention to the fact that My Catholic Faith is indeed back in print, under the auspices of Angelus Press.

[dartuser]

Both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition are from the same well-spring and coequally form the deposit of Faith. When it appears that to you that they contradict one another your interpretations of one or both are in error.

When you say that tradition is at the same level as scripture, you either elevate tradition ... or lower scripture.

Jesus clearly taught that tradition is secondary to the scriptures, the scriptures are above tradition, not coequal with it. He condemned the Pharisees for holding to the tradition of the elders above the Word of God (Matthew 15:1-14)

His condemnation is a quote from Isaiah ...

‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
‘But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’”

When you elevate tradition to the same status as the scriptures it leads to vain worship ... you are worshipping God in vain. What does the word vain mean? It means "lacking substance or worth." When you worship God in vain there is no substance or worth to the worship, it is meaningless and He receives no honor from it ... it is not true worship.

John 4:24 ... "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Truth is not found in elevating tradition to be coequal with scripture, "Thy Word is truth." True worship is dependent on having a Biblical understanding of the living God. What is the outcome of worshipping God in vain?

Matt 7:21-25
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’
23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

Does He know you as one of His? Are you sure of that? Do you have absolute assurance that when you pass into eternity ... that He knows you? Or do you cling without full assurance to a hope that when you die you have done enough to get you there?

In Matt 7 above Jesus never denied that those who vainly call Him Lord weren't sincere in their service ... look at everything they did do in His name ... but the heresy is they were counting on that service making them acceptable to Him ...

It is my sincere prayer that you will repent so that you will not hear the words ... "I never knew you ... depart from Me ..."

John 5:24
24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

What is biblical belief? This text, and many others, assures us that we can know that we have (present tense) eternal life.

[Natural Law]

"When you say that tradition is at the same level as scripture, you either elevate tradition ... or lower scripture."

You aren't going to get anywhere or prove anything arguing the primacy of Sola Scriptura with anyone knowledgeable in Church history and Catholic doctrine. Nor will I accept any premise that tradition is the same as Sacred Tradition.

For the first 350 years of Christianity there was no Bible, there was only Sacred Tradition. It was from the Sacred Tradition, the Holy Spirit guided consensus of the Faithful that first the Creeds and then the Canon of Scripture were produced. The application of a human technology,l the writing down of the Revealed Word did not elevate it.

Protestantism teaches that Scripture and Tradition are antithetical or at least that one must be subordinate to the other, that one must follow either Scripture or Tradition. That was a necessity of those who sought to differentiate themselves from the Church and assume unto themselves the authority for interpretation of Scripture, not in the context of Tradition, but in the context of the Reformation.

Catholicism teaches that both Scripture AND Tradition are divine and synergistic. After studying both extensively I completely agree.

Peace be with you