Free Identity Theft by Ron Cantor Page B

Shimon, and we need to move on now,” Ariel gently chided the fisherman. Still laughing, Shimon disappeared from the screen.
    “Romans Catholics maintain,” Ariel continued, “that Peter was the primary leader of the early believing community, and that he eventually moved to Rome and became the first bishop of Rome. Through apostolic succession, every bishop of Rome after Peter would be the head of Christianity.”
    “Apostolic
what
?” I asked.
    “Apostolic
succession
. It is the belief in the uninterrupted transmission of spiritual authority from the apostles through successive popes and bishops. Roman Catholics mistakenly maintain that Peter passed his authority down to the next pope and so on and so forth. Many denominations believe in the idea that there has been unbroken transfer of apostolic authority from the apostles to the present, but the Roman Catholic Church additionally believes the Pope’s authority on matters of faith and morals is divinely inspired and sanctioned.”
    “So you are saying that Peter’s authority was passed down to the second pope, and then he gave it to the next one, all the way down to today’s pope…and that they are therefore incapable of making mistakes?”
    “No,
I
am not saying that,
Roman Catholics
say that. This bishop of Rome, or the Pope, was regarded as authoritative when it came to issues of doctrine and morality for the Church. It was maintained that, without its leaders, the Church would move into deception. Later on, they would declare that the Pope’s dogmatic teachings on faith and morality were infallible. 1
    “It is true that the Father raises up leaders to guide His people…” The text message sound prompted me to look down:
    So
[Messiah]
himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of
[Messiah]
may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of
[Messiah].
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming
(Ephesians 4:11-14).
    “…But they are always subject to the authority of His Word. God never expects us to blindly follow a man, especially one who claims he is incapable of making mistakes. As the passage says, leaders are given to His followers to bring them to maturity, so they can think for themselves—not to keep them enslaved to one man’s dogma.”
    I remembered again how I allowed my rabbi to make me feel guilty over my interest in Yeshua. I know he meant well, but he was basically asking me to trust him and not seek truth on my own.
    “Either it is ridiculous,” Shimon was back, “or Yeshua changes His mind a lot, because Roman Catholic doctrine has changed quite a bit over the centuries, with a number of popes contradicting the edicts of other popes. There are even examples of violence and intrigue between popes and would-be popes.
    “Believe it or not, David, many of the popes were far more
political
than
pious
. The first bishop to adopt the title of pope was a guy named Saint Damasus. He was accused of adultery and led murderous raids against his enemies, killing over one hundred and sixty people! He was anything but a genuine believer.
    “Another pope, Symmachus, around the year 500 CE conducted what can only be described as a holy war against his enemies. As the two groups fought in the streets, killing scores of men, one of the pope’s ardent followers declared that the pope was ‘judge in the place of the Most High, pure from all sin, and exempt from all punishment.’ All who fell fighting in his cause, he declared, enrolled on the register of heavens.’” 2 The quote appeared on my tablet.
    I responded, “Throw in a few virgins, and this sounds eerily similar to the radical