Papacy is Unbiblical

Thanks Pro.1. Rebuttali. ON THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVENI agree with what was said by Pro on this point. Pro shows that the Church was given the authority by Jesus to "bound" and to "loose".ii. ON SIMON AS PETERAgain, I have no disagreement over what was stated by Pro here. Pro shows that Peter was selected by Jesus as the rock on which to build His Church. However, it does seem as if Pro misunderstands Catholic doctrine here:"Simon Peter is not the one who will build Jesus’ church... this church is not Peter’s but Christ’s."Pro implies that in order to support the concept of papacy, one must affirm that Peter built the Church himself (without the help of God) and that the Church belonged to Peter. This is false. I (nor any Catholic I have ever heard) do not believe that Peter built or owned the Church himself. It is Christ who built the Church, using Peter as the chosen method. It is Christ who "owns" the Church, not Peter. It seems pretty clear that Pro and I agree on the idea that Jesus built the Church through Peter.iii. ON THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH AGAINST PAPACYI didn't really see any type of argument against papacy here. I would ask my opponent to please provide source links for the points he lists. Even if there was an argument against papacy present in this section, I would be unable to address the points because I know neither their source nor their content.iv. ON THE FIRST CENTURY CHURCH POLITY AGAINST PAPACYHere again I don't really see any sort of argument against papacy. Pro appears to (please correct me if I'm wrong) suggest that the Church's evolving structure throughout the centuries is evidence against papacy. I do not see any reason to think that this is the case. It seems obvious to me that there should be an expectation of structural change in a Church that grew from hundreds in number and a relatively small geographic area (in the time of Christ) to over a billion in number and a worldwide geography (at present.) Papacy has remained throughout this time period (I will show this later on) but the number of bishops and the geographic area that they serve has changed dramatically in order to best serve the growing population and geographic size.2. In Support of Papacyi. Biblical SupportIn an article on the authority of Peter, Fr. Dwight Longenecker proposes that there are three images which support the idea of papacy: "The three images are rock, steward, and shepherd. These three images are found not just in one verse, but are rooted in the Old Testament and affirmed in the New. Like a strong, three-strand, braided rope, these three images of rock, steward, and shepherd provide a powerful interlocking and interdependent support for the authority Christ intended to leave with his Church on earth."Let us start with the image of the rock. The Old Testament is full of referrals to the "rock", looking to it for foundational authority. Perhaps the best example is found in Isaiah 51:1-2:"Listen to me, you who pursue justice, who seek the LORD; Look to the rock from which you were hewn, to the pit from which you were quarried; Look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth..."Here, the Jews are told to look to Abraham (the rock) for foundational authority. To vindicate this status, Abraham is given a new name- Abram. Similarly, in Matthew 16:17-18, Peter is given this foundational authority and has his name changed as well:"Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church,and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it."Next, let's take a look at the image of the steward. Though the King (God) is the ultimate authority, Kings delegate authority to stewards (in this case, God delegates authority to an earthly steward.) In Isaiah 22:20-22, we see an example of this:"On that day I will summon my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah; I will clothe him with your robe, and gird him with your sash, and give over to him your authority. He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; when he opens, no one shall shut, when he shuts, no one shall open."God clearly delegates authority to Eliakim here in the Old Testament. Again, this Old Testament verse is similar to the authority given by Christ to Peter in Matthew 16:18-19:"And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church,and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."Finally, let us look at the image of the shepherd. In Ezekiel 34:22-24, God calls upon David to be the shepherd of His people:"I will save my sheep so that they may no longer be despoiled, and I will judge between one sheep and another. I will appoint one shepherd over them to pasture them, my servant David; he shall pasture them and be their shepherd. I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I, the LORD, have spoken."Similarly, Jesus calls upon Peter to be the shepherd of His people in John 21:15-17:"When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs."He then said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep."He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." (Jesus) said to him, "Feed my sheep."Now let us consider the ramifications of these three images that Christ appoints upon Peter. Jesus' apostles were Jews; this means that they were educated in Old Testament scripture and understood what Jesus meant when He gave Peter the very same authority that was given in the Old Testament by God to the Jewish leaders. Peter was the fulfillment of earthly authority over God's people. The other apostles recognized Peter's authority. To give one example, let's take a look at John 20:3-6:"So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there..."This passage clearly shows Peter's recognized authority. Even though John arrived first to the tomb from which Christ had risen, he waited for Peter to arrive before entering the tomb.ii. Historical SupportPapacy has been in place since the time of Peter and is still in place today. The unbroken chain of popes over the last 20 centuries can be easily accessed (I have provided a link at the bottom in the sources section.)Furthermore, papacy was accepted by early Church fathers (including the original apostles) and is accepted by the Church today. Here are a few writings from early Church fathers (I can provide more later if necessary, but I am running out of space):"The blessed apostles [Peter and Paul], having founded and built up the church [of Rome] . . . handed over the office of the episcopate to Linus" (Against Heresies 3:3:3 [A.D. 189])."Victor . . . was the thirteenth bishop of Rome from Peter" (The Little Labyrinth [A.D. 211], in Eusebius, Church History 5:28:3)."Linus, whom he mentions in the Second Epistle to Timothy [2 Tim. 4:21] as his companion at Rome, was Peter’s successor in the episcopate of the church there..." (Church History 3:4:9–10 [A.D. 312])."You cannot deny that you are aware that in the city of Rome the episcopal chair was given first to Peter; the chair in which Peter sat, the same who was head—that is why he is also called Cephas [‘Rock’]—of all the apostles; the one chair in which unity is maintained by all" (The Schism of the Donatists 2:2 [A.D. 367]).3. SummaryIn conclusion, my opponent and I largely agree over what he stated in his argument. However, I did not find anything in his argument that even remotely suggested that papacy was unbiblical. In contrast, I have presented good reasons, both Biblical and historical, to think that papal authority is Biblical and was instated by Jesus during His time on Earth. Sources:http://www.vatican.va...http://www.catholic.com...http://www.newadvent.org...http://www.americancatholictruthsociety.com...