"Prove the Pope" : did the early Church have a Pope?

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• published: 07 Mar 2017
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A friend of mine asked me to "prove the Pope". I decide a video would be a way better answer than just typing a bunch of things. Throughout the video, I reference various Scriptural and early Church documents. The list of them is below so you can look it up. Authority in general: Matthew 18:18 for Jesus giving the power of binding and loosing to the Apostles John 20:21-23 for Jesus giving the power to forgive sins to the Apostles 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, especially 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1:6-9 to see how the structure of bishop/priest/deacon existed from the beginning of Christianity Acts 8:12-14 (in the video I mistakenly said it was Antioch in Acts 11, it's actually Samaria in Acts 8), to see that the Apostles went to early church to officially establish them Acts 15:1-21 to see the first council of the Church, setting the stage for other councils throughout Church history Acts 1:15-20 to show that the office of apostle gets passed on, so there is apostolic succession 2 Timothy 2:2 to show the passing on of that office between Paul and Timothy Ignatius of Antioch (he has seven letters) to show how important bishops were in the early Church. http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/ignatius.html Pope Clement, Letter to the Corinthians 42:4-5, 44:1-3. A.D. 80. "Through countryside and city [the apostles] preached, and they appointed their earliest converts, testing them by the Spirit, to be the bishops and deacons of future believers. Nor was this a novelty, for bishops and deacons had been written about a long time earlier. . . . Our apostles knew through our Lord Jesus Christ that there would be strife for the office of bishop. For this reason, therefore, having received perfect foreknowledge, they appointed those who have already been mentioned and afterwards added the further provision that, if they should die, other approved men should succeed to their ministry" http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/1clement-lightfoot.html Hegesippus, Memoirs (A.D. 180), cited in Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History 4:22, showing the succession of bishops. "When I had come to Rome, I [visited] Anicetus, whose deacon was Eleutherus. And after Anicetus [died], Soter succeeded, and after him Eleutherus. In each succession and in each city there is a continuance of that which is proclaimed by the law, the prophets, and the Lord". http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250104.htm Irenaeus, Against Heresies (A.D. 180), 3:3:1, showing succession of bishops. "It is possible, then, for everyone in every church, who may wish to know the truth, to contemplate the tradition of the apostles which has been made known to us throughout the whole world. And we are in a position to enumerate those who were instituted bishops by the apostles and their successors down to our own times, men who neither knew nor taught anything like what these heretics rave about". http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/irenaeus-book3.html The papacy in particular: Matthew 16:17-19 for keys to the kingdom Isaiah 22:22 for the Old Testament reference to the keys to the kingdom John 21:15-17 for Jesus asking Peter to feed his lambs Tertullian (A.D. 220) "[T]his is the way in which the apostolic churches transmit their lists: like the church of the Smyrneans, which records that Polycarp was placed there by John, like the church of the Romans, where Clement was ordained by Peter" (Demurrer Against the Heretics 32:2). http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0311.htm Eusebius ""Victor . . . was the thirteenth bishop of Rome from Peter". Quoting a source from A.D. 211 in Ecclesiastical History 5:28:3. http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250105.htm Cyprian, A.D. 251, Unity of the Catholic Church, 4, showing that the chair (office) of Peter is how the Church is united. "although he assigns a like power to all the apostles, yet he founded a single chair [cathedra], and he established by his own authority a source and an intrinsic reason for that unity. . . . If someone [today] does not hold fast to this unity of Peter, can he imagine that he still holds the faith? If he [should] desert the chair of Peter upon whom the Church was built, can he still be confident that he is in the Church?" http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/050701.htm First Council of Constantinople, A.D. 381 to show how the Bishop of Rome has primacy of honor. "The Bishop of Constantinople, however, shall have the prerogative of honour after the Bishop of Rome; because Constantinople is New Rome." (canon III). http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.ix.viii.iv.html P.S. Be a hero today Nerd out with me on social media! Website, including free ebook: http://www.mikeantonacci.com Facebook http://www.facebook.org/mike.antonacci.blog LinkedIn is https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-antonacci-12310531/ Google+ is https://plus.google.com/b/107434049004678971688/?pageId=107434049004678971688