教皇是谁?
为什么他是地上基督教会的领袖, 他的权威从何而来?
我们现任教皇, 教皇本笃十六世, 就像他之前的每一位教皇一样, 是第一任教皇的直接继承人, 圣彼得, 谁是罗马第一任主教.
圣彼得直接从耶稣那里获得领导教会的权力.
在他与耶稣的许多互动中, 彼得因在前往该撒利亚腓立比的路上与基督的交流而被人们铭记, 记录在 马太福音 (章节 16).
当耶稣问门徒时, “你说我是谁?”, 彼得为他们解答, 回复, “你是基督, 永生神的儿子” (16:15-16). 反过来, 耶稣对他说, “你有福了, 西蒙·巴尔-乔纳! 因为血肉之躯还没有向你透露这一点, 但我在天上的父” (17).
耶稣的问题’ 彼得在神的帮助下明确地回答了他的追随者的身份. 耶稣接着说,
“我告诉你, 你是彼得, 我将在这块岩石上建造我的教堂, 死亡的力量无法战胜它. I will give you the keys of the kindgom of heaven, 凡你在地上所捆绑的，在天上也将被捆绑, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (18-19).
This passage provides the main Biblical proof for Peter’s primacy among the Apostles. Today’s Catholic bishops are the spiritual descendants of the Apostles. The Bishop of Rome (or the Pope) is the successor of Peter. He retains Peter’s primacy among the bishops.
The name “彼得” comes from the Aramaic word 但 (或者 头孢), meaning “Rock.” Jesus chose to give the Apostle Simon this new name at Caesarea Philippi for symbolic reasons. The distinctive feature of the area is a large outcropping of rock, upon which at that time the ruins of a pagan temple stood. It was here that Jesus chose to proclaim His plans to build a new Church on Peter that would not succumb to the passage of time.
当然, this passage in no way undermines our belief in Christ as the true Foundation of the Church (看 给哥林多人的第一封信 3:11). Jesus did not mean to imply Peter would somehow replace Him as the Rock of the Church, but that he would merely represent Him as such. As Saint Francis de Sales put it,
Although [彼得] was a rock, yet he was not 这 rock; for Christ is truly the immovable rock, but Peter on account of the rock. Christ indeed gives his own prerogatives to others, yet he gives them not losing them himself, he holds them nonetheless. He is a rock, and he made a rock; what is his, he communicates to his servants (Controversies).
It is the same with Jesus’ promise to give Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Christ is the King of Heaven, and the keys belong to Him alone (Book of Revelations, 3:7).
In entrusting the keys to Peter, 耶稣指的是大卫的习俗，国王根据这个习俗, 离开城市后, 在他缺席时将任命他的皇家管家监督王国, 借给他大门钥匙 (看 以赛亚书 22:22). 在 马修 16:19, 基督君王任命他的管家, 彼得, 监督教会, 他在地上的国度, 在他缺席的情况下.
条款 “绑定” 和 “松动的” 上面的段落表明彼得有权宣布地上信徒可以或禁止的某些事情. 彼得对这些问题的决定, 而且, 必在天上得到证实. 如果神要确认彼得的决定, 一个罪人, 那么显然彼得必须得到特殊的恩典，以防止他发出违背上帝旨意的命令. 这种预防性恩典是 无误性.
教会教导说，教宗, 作为彼得的继任者, 保留了这种绝对正确性.
This is not a claim that the Pope is without sin—infallibility has nothing to do with conduct, 实际上—rather it is the belief that when teaching definitively on a matter of faith and morals he will be guarded by the Holy Spirit against teaching error.
Infallibility does not mean everything the Pope says or writes is without error, but only those things said 从王座上 (Latin, “from the chair”). Ex cathedra refers to the Chair of Peter, 那是, to the seat of apostolic authority. The concept of a primary seat of authority comes from the Old Testament, 摩西坐在其中审判人民, settling their religious disputes (看 Book of Exodus 18:13).
摩西’ authority, 也, was handed down through a line of successors. The Seat of Moses remained active until the time of Christ, as the Jesus, Himself, 说, “The scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; 所以练习并观察他们告诉你的一切, 但不是他们所做的; 因为他们宣讲, but do not practice” (马修 23:1-3). Peter and the Popes fulfill a similar role in the New Covenant, serving as Christ’s earthly representative through whom God speaks to the people to resolve religious disputes and maintain unity among the faithful.
This special role is seen in the Biblical account of Peter’s actions at the Council of Jerusalem, at which the Apostles are called to decide whether or not adherence to the Mosaic Law is required for salvation. It is Peter who ends the dispute, teaching the assembly on doctrine (看 使徒行传, 15:7). His successors have maintained this role in the Church throughout the ages.
Interestingly, those who have rejected the Pope’s role have suffered doctrinal confusion and ongoing (and accelerating) division, which is evidenced by the explosion of non-Catholic, Christian sects.
早期基督教对教皇权的历史参考:
教皇圣克莱门特一世, 罗马第四任主教, 给哥林多人的信, 关于AD 96:
接受我们的建议，您将不会后悔. … 若有人违背他所说的话 (IE。, 上帝) 通过我们 (IE。, 罗马教会), 让他们知道他们将陷入违法行为并陷入不小的危险. … 如果你会给我们带来欢乐和快乐, 服从我们通过圣灵所写的事情, 你会根除嫉妒的邪恶激情, 根据我们在这封信中提出的和平与和谐的呼吁 (58, 59, 63).
圣依纳爵, 安提阿主教, 给罗马人的信, C. 广告. 107:
伊格内修斯, 也称为狄奥弗鲁斯, 致因至高父的伟大和耶稣基督而蒙怜悯的教会, 他唯一的儿子; to the Church beloved and enlightened after the love of Jesus Christ, 我们的神, by the will of Him that has willed everything which is; to the Church also which olds the presidency, in the location of the country of the Romans, worthy of God, worthy of honor, worthy of blessing, worthy of praise, worthy of success, worthy of sanctification, 和, because you hold the presidency in love, named after Christ and after the Father. … You have envied no one, 但你教过的其他人. I desire only that what you have enjoined in your instructions may remain in force (地址, 3).
Saint Irenaeus, the Bishop of Lyons, 反对异端, C. 广告. 185:
But since it would be too long to enumerate in such a volume as this the successions of all the Churches, we shall confound all those who, in whatever manner, whether through self-satisfaction or vainglory, or through blindness and wicked opinion, assemble other than where it is proper, by pointing out here the successions of the bishops of the greatest and most ancient Church known to all, founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious Apostles, Peter and Paul, that Church which has the tradition and the faith which comes down to us after having been announced to men by the Apostles. For with this Church, because of its superior origin, all Churches must agree, 那是, all the faithful in the whole world; and it is in her that the faithful everywhere have maintained the Apostolic tradition. ……
The blessed Apostles, having founded and built up the Church, they handed over the office of the episcopate to Linus. Paul makes mention of this Linus in the Epistle to Timothy (4:21). To him succeeded Anacletus; and after him, in the third place from the Apostles, Clement was chosen for the episcopate. He had seen the blessed Apostles and was acquainted with them. It might be said that he still heard the echoes of the preaching of the Apostles, and had their traditions before his eyes. And not only he, for there were many still remaining who had been instructed by the Apostles.
In the time of Clement, no small dissension having arisen among the brethren in Corinth, the Church in Rome sent a very strong letter to the Corinthians, exhorting them to peace and renewing their faith. … To this Clement, Evaristus succeeded; and Alexander succeeded Evaristus. 然后, sixth after the Apostles, Sixtus was appointed; 在他之后, Telesphorus, who also was gloriously martyred. Then Hyginus; 在他之后, Pius; and after him, Anicetus. Soter succeeded Anicetus, and now, in the twelfth place after the Apostles, the lot of the episcopate has fallen to Eleutherus. In this order, 以及在教会中流传的使徒的教导, the preaching of the truth has come down to us. In the time of Clement, no small dissension having arisen among the brethren in Corinth, the Church in Rome sent a very strong letter to the Corinthians, exhorting them to peace and renewing their faith. … To this Clement, Evaristus succeeded; and Alexander succeeded Evaristus. 然后, sixth after the Apostles, Sixtus was appointed; 在他之后, Telesphorus, who also was gloriously martyred. Then Hyginus; 在他之后, Pius; and after him, Anicetus. Soter succeeded Anicetus, and now, in the twelfth place after the Apostles, the lot of the episcopate has fallen to Eleutherus. In this order, 以及在教会中流传的使徒的教导, the preaching of the truth has come down to us (3:3:2-3)