Traditionally, in the Roman Catholic Church, St. Peter (formally Simon) is regarded as the first pope in spite of the fact that the word “pope” would not have been attributed to Peter himself. There are several separate, interwoven theological concepts that explain the specific relation between Peter and the papacy: the primacy of Peter, petrine function, and apostolic succession. First, we will turn to an examination of St. Peter in the Gospel of Matthew, which is of specific importance for understanding the primacy of Peter, and then examine the concepts of petrine function and apostolic succession.
Generally, Peter is in the Gospel narratives as having a leading role among the apostles, especially in Matthew’s account. He is among the first two apostles called to follow Christ (4:18-20), is present during the transfiguration of Christ (17:1-13), walks on water (14:22-33), and is the single apostle who has the most recorded dialogue with Christ throughout his ministry. However, the passage which is most important to Peter’s primacy among the apostles, especially in Roman Catholic tradition, is Matthew 16. This passage is believed by the Catholic tradition to be scriptural support for deeming Peter the leader among the apostles of the early church.
In the passage Jesus is conversing with the disciples and begins asking them, “Who do people say that the Son of man is?” (16:13). The disciples respond by listing some of the claims: Elijah, John the Baptist, Jeremiah or another one of the prophets. After hearing this Jesus follows up with another question: “Who do you say that I am?” (16:15). The only one of the disciples who is said to respond is Peter, who claims, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (16:16). It is important to note that at this point in the narrative none of the disciples have identified Jesus as such; they, in fact, seemed to be having difficulty grasping who Jesus is when he attempts to explain. So, this clear and bold identification comes as quite a shock amidst the former confusion and tentativeness.
This primacy of St. Peter as depicted in the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles is extended in Roman Catholicism to the office of the Bishop of Rome, or the papacy. According to tradition (and several patristic sources which will be discussed later) Peter was the first to hold this office--the first bishop of Rome. The office, by virtue of it being held by Peter, maintained an especial role among the episcopate or hierarchical structure of the church. What kind of authority is and was to be exercised by those sitting in the chair of Peter remains a central controversy among eastern and western Christian factions.
The primacy of Peter, and thus, the Bishop of Rome, is closely related to the notion of apostolic succession. It is believed that those who succeeded Peter as Bishop of Rome inherited the leadership role that Peter had been given by Christ. This transference of leadership, and primacy, was extended through ordination or the laying on of hands. The first successor of Peter is widely believed to be St. Linus. Eusebius records Linus as Peter’s successor in his Ecclesiastical History.Many believe this is the same Linus mentioned by Paul in his first epistle to Timothy.
Ultimately, answering this question will largely depend on the tradition and perspective you are approaching it from. There are substantial resources in the Roman Catholic Tradition to assert that the primacy of Peter and thus the primacy of the Bishop of Rome was instituted by Christ at the time of Peter’s confession of faith and then preserved thereafter, making Peter the first pope. Catholics do claim that an unbroken line of succession can be traced from Peter to the present day pope. There is at least some indication that several of the early church fathers assented to and perpetuated belief in the primacy of the Roman Bishop, though many Protestant scholars have found counter-evidence among Patristic texts which challenges such a belief. This, of course, undermines that support of the pontificate was unanimous among the early church and that a hierarchical structure with a central figurehead, the pope, was probable. Thus, acknowledgement of Peter as the first pope largely depends on what Patristic authors are given preference and how one interprets Matthew 16.
↑ See: Eusebius, of Caesarea, trans. Christian Frederic Crusé. Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History: Complete and Unabridged. (Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998).
↑ Murray, Russel. "Assesing the Primacy: A Contemporary Contribution from the Writings of St. Cyprian of Carthage.” Journal Of Ecumenical Studies 47, no. 1 (2012): 41-63.
↑ See: Tertullian, On Modesty, trans. S. Thelwall. From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 3. Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885). Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight.
↑ Clement of Alexandria, Who is the Rich Man That Shall Be Saved?” trans. by William Wilson. From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 2. Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight.
This page was last edited on 3 September 2017, at 15:19.