A Book Review in Several Parts: “From Apostles to Bishops: The Development of the Episcopacy in the Early Church” by Francis A. Sullivan, S.J.

A few years ago I began to study the Catholic faith in which I was raised. And the findings of that study were disturbing. Whereas we had always been taught that the Pope of Rome was the “Vicar of Christ” and one who is directly descended from St. Peter – in unbroken succession no less …

The entire church is polluted by the papacy

Over the last several days, I’ve become enmeshed in several discussions, following my decision to re-post something that Stephen Wolfe first commented upon. The three blog posts that have spun off from this are, in chronological order: Historical Roman Catholicism is the cradle, enabler, and teacher of radical Islam today Roman crusading “fossilized Islam into …

The Babylonian Captivity Of The Papacy – R. Scott Clark

Dr. Clark weighed in a topic about which I posted yesterday.  In this 600th anniversary year of the convening of the Council of Constance, his effort is very timely and can be read here. The crux of the matter is put succinctly here:  The Avignon crisis is just one of many examples from the history …

The Crisis of Authority in Catholic Modernity

The post-Vatican II era has created a serious problem for Roman Catholics.  And that problem is precisely how to reconcile the claims of the church with the facts of history – and sometimes with the facts of its own history!   It is not that this is a new problem but rather that the world and …

The Historical Evils of Roman Catholicism

These things verify what Jesus said: “a tree is known by its fruit (Matthew 12:33)”. This is the fruit of Roman Catholicism in its full, rotten, smelly aroma of death.

Papal messianism, bolstered by lack of competence in economics, is the road to a familiar hell, however finely paved with lovely intention.

Maureen Mullarkey has a wonderful piece in this week’s First Things. Entitled “Tammany on the Tiber” it is an exceptional piece. She  wonders rightly, I think, about the trend now developing of popes canonizing their predecessors. She asks, Is election a promissory note drafted in white smoke, and redeemable at death for public elevation to the rank of …

What if Matthew 16 had not a thing to do with Rome?

These past two weeks have witnessed the resignation of one pope and the election of another.  The former event is notable because of its rarity and the second because it is a first – the first pope to be elected from the Americas. And one cannot surf the web or watch the news without hearing …

The Papacy: Changing in History, Theology, and Dogma

In previous blog posts, I’ve given some short history about the development and growth of the historical papacy. The papacy is 1600 years old, not 2000 years old The Crafting of the 4th Century Roman Church, Doctrine, and Papacy The Papacy: “Self-Consciously” Modeled After the 4th Century Roman State “Pope Leo the Great” When you …

“Pope Leo the Great”

“Pope Leo the Great” (pope from 440–461 AD) probably gave a fuller impetus to the medieval papacy than any other pope from the first millennium. J.N.D. Kelly, “The Oxford Dictionary of Popes”, (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, ©1986) says of Leo: An energetic and purposeful pontiff, Leo infused all his policies and pronouncements, especially his …

The papacy is 1600 years old, not 2000 years old

In news accounts concerning the upcoming retirement of Pope Benedict XVI and a new papal conclave, one way to check to see if the particular news outlet you are watching had actually checked its facts is if it maintains that the papacy is a 2000 year old institution. In fact, the overwhelming preponderance of scholarship …