Catholics say Peter was the first Pope?

Well to start off with NO man other than Jesus had primacy over the Christian Congregation as Acts 15:1-29 brings out when a disagreement over the issue of circumcission arose they didnt say lets see what peter has to say but the matter was brought to the Apostles and older men and they discussed and prayed over the matter and then announced THEIR DECISSION for the Congregations also the Bible clearly says that there is ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MAN CHRIST JESUS .....!!!!!!! 1st Tim 2:5 and why would any one pray to dead people to start with as the Bible plainly says that is futile Ecc9:5,10 and Ezekiel 18:4 the whole idea of some pope did not exhist in the Christian Congregation and it was some 4-500 years after the death of peter and the other Apostles and then there is the matter of all the statues and immages , puictures that people pray to why when the Bible cleary condems such un Christian practices Ex 20:1-17, Lev 26:1 2nd Cor 6:16, 1st John 5:21 Isa 44:13-19 Jer 10:14,15, Ps 115: 4-8 Deut 4:25,26 1st Cor 10:14,19-22 Rev 21 :8 really sums it up and as a bit of icing on the proverbial cake we have Matt 23 :5-9 hope this helps best wishes Gorbalizer

Let's take your questions in order:

Yes, we believe Peter was the first Pope.

We do baptize in Jesus name. We baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, just as Christ commanded us to do.

Speaking in tongues is NOT proof of the Holy Spirit. Satan also uses languages to fool believers. Besides, Paul said not all believers would receive all of the gifts of the Spirit.

Catholics do not worship Mary. We believe in the communion of Saints. This teaching comes from the book of Maccabees, which the protestant reformers removed from the bible. We believe the Saints can pray for us. It just like me asking you to pray for my sick father, only you are still alive and a Saint is already with Jesus in heaven. In both cases it is an appeal to God.

You don't have to believe these things, but you should at least be able to respect other Christian faiths. Remember that we are all one body in Christ.

in actuality the 1st chief of the Church after Jesus' dying became into James, Jesus' brother. Paul became into changing Gentiles, which took the church in a distinctive direction than the Jewish Christian Church headed by making use of James, with Peter having a huge impact. Peter did finally end up in Rome, and since the Bishop of Rome is now seen the Pope, there's a link there. despite the fact that, the RC church did not exist till the large Schism of 1054, whilst the Christian Church cut up into 2 factors: the better section (in the East) transforming into to be the Orthodox Church, and the smaller (in the West) transforming into to be Catholic. on the time, there have been quite a few "large patriarchs" of the church, a lot of whom used the identify "Pope," which merely potential father. The patriarchs have been in Rome, Alexandria, Jerusalem, Constantinople, and Antioch. It became into the only in Rome's insistence that he became into better to the others that brought about the wear up of the Church, in actuality. till now that, there became into no single head of the finished Church. Papal infallibility is horribly misunderstood. it is been used precisely two times in all or the history of the Church: the two pronouncements related to Mary, such as her immaculate concept, and actual assumption to Heaven. that's it; the only infallible issues any pope has ever uttered. Peter did not say those issues! And, the present Pope has on no account reported something infallible. Peter did consult from Paul as his "enemy" although, in a letter that keeps to be in existence. BTW, Catholics ARE Christian; between the three (4 in case you contain Anglicans as separate) branches, the others being Orthodox, and Protestant.

Don't Baptize in Jesus" name? Do you know anything? For a Baptism to be valid it must be "in the name of the Father (that would be God), the Son( Jesus!!), and the Holy Spirit. Tongues is not the only proof to having the Holy Spirit. Have you ever prayed for a troubled friend before? Ever? Well, guess what, Mary is my friend. I like her a lot. (admire, not worship). Sometimes I talk to her. Sometimes I talk to my deceased father, it makes me feel better. Am I going to hell for that.? I don't think so.

I am just going to answer your first question. Because catholics were set up on Jesus not Peter. Peter was the pope, but he wasnt God. They follow Jesus' teachings, not Peters. He is merely a saint and a wise man to look up to, but he has no where near the standing of Jesus.

The answer to this cluster bomb tactic would take so long, no one would read it.

The Catholic church is the only church that follows the whole Bible, because the Bible is a Catholic book. And the bible mandates Tradition, the very practices that were around before the bible was in the form of a book, the problem is that anti-Catholics are too proud to examine the evidence.

Again, the Sacred Tradition that some Christians reject predate the canon of the Bible. What they are doing is rejecting the Bible. Those Traditions are not wrong if one takes the time to set aside their prejudices and see the evidence for themselves.

There is lots of evidence to see what the early Church believed and practiced, and there is NO EVIDENCE that any of them were Protestants.

It is wrong to make a false dichotomy between Tradition and Scripture. They are not opposed to each other.

WHAT ARE THE ROMAN CATACOMBS?

The catacombs are underground tunnels that were forged out of soft rock. They are long, marrow winding corridors. The dead were buried in the walls on either side. From time to time, going through these corridors, one comes to a wider space like a room. In these rooms the Christians would gather for the sacrifice of the Mass so as to worship free from the pagan’s persecutions.

Burial in the catacombs stopped when the barbarians plundered Rome. The popes removed the relics of the saints and martyrs from the catacombs. The catacombs, once abandoned, were gradually forgotten and not discovered again until the end of the sixteenth century. Most famous of the catacombs is that of St. Callistus, where many of the popes were buried after they were martyred for the faith.

HOW THE CATACOMBS BEAR WITNESS TO THE TRUE CATHOLIC FAITH TODAY

An authentic Catholic catechism, containing to true Catholic teachings, could be composed from the pictures and inscriptions on the tombs and walls of ancient catacombs of the first three centuries. Pictures, medals, and inscriptions in the catacombs identify the faith of the early Christians with the Catholic faith.

The catacombs prove that the first Christians believed that Jesus Christ is true God and true Man. They also believed in the Real Presence of Jesus in the holy Eucharist, the divine institution of the papacy, the dignity of the mother of God, the intercession of the saints, purgatory, prayers for the deceased.

The emblem of the fish, ichthys, was frequently used in the catacombs. It is a symbol of the Lord Jesus, for the Greek word ichthys means “fish” and its letters are the initials for “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior.” When Christians spoke of “receiving the fish”, they meant to receive Jesus in Holy communion.

Frequently, pictures of our Savior in the catacombs reveal him as the Good Shepherd., carrying the lost sheep on his shoulders. This is the ancient biblical form which reveals the same message as our modern devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. A number of people are sitting around a table on which is bread and fish.

Death and resurrection were often in the minds of the early Christians, as indicated by the pictures of Noah and the ark, Jonah and the whale, Daniel in the lions’ den, and the raising of Lazarus. Their faith in resurrection and eternal life gave them courage in facing death under persecution. There is also the famous account of Tarsicius being martyred a he took the holy Eucharist, the bread of life, to Christian prisoners.

The eucharistic sacrifice of the Mass was offered in the catacombs on the altars under which rested the bodies of martyrs. Catholic altars even today have “altar stones” in which the relics of saints and martyrs were placed by bishops when they consecrated the altar stones.

A Catechism of the Catholic Church, by Robert J. Fox. Copyright© Franciscan Herald Press, pgs. 20, 21

Nihil Obstat:

Rev. James M. Joyce

Censor Liborum

Imprimatur:

Most Rev. Paul V. Dudley

August 29, 1979

http://www.catacombe.roma.it/index.html

+ Repentence +

Catholics are called to continual repetance, from the sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) to the entire Church together going through 40 days of fasting and penance every year during Lent and for a shorter time during Advent.

http://www.nccbuscc.org/catechism/text/pt2sect2chp...

+ Baptism +

Catholics baptize as Jesus commanded in Matthew 28:19:

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit,

So the minister of Baptism says:

[name], I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt2sect2.htm#1...

+ Speaking in Tongues +

1 Corinthians 12:4-6 says:

There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit;

there are different forms of service but the same Lord;

there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone.

Few people in modern times are given the spiritual gifts like speaking in tongues and prophesy.

Some of the gifts of the Holy Spirit given to modern people are:

+ Wisdom

+ Understanding

+ Counsel

+ Fortitude

+ Knowledge

+ Piety

+ Fear of the Lord.

(Isaiah 11:1-2)

Only God knows why.

+ Mary and the Saints +

Catholics share the belief in the Communion of Saints with many other Christians, including the Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Episcopal, and Methodist Churches.

The Communion of Saints is the belief where all saints are intimately related in the Body of Christ, a family. When you die and go to heaven, you do not leave this family.

Everyone in heaven or on their way to heaven are saints, you, me, my deceased grandmother, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Mother Teresa.

As part of this family, you may ask your family and friends here on earth to pray for you. Or, you may also ask the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Andrew, or your deceased grandmother in heaven to pray for you.

Prayer to saints in heaven is simple communication, not worship.

http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt3a...

+ With love in Christ.

"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name (NOT THE NAMES) of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" (St. Matt. 28:20).

Many Christians begin to learn about the Trinity through knowledge of Baptism. This is also a starting point for others in comprehending why the doctrine matters to so many Christians, even though the doctrine itself teaches that the being of God is beyond complete comprehension. The Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed are structured around profession of the Trinity, and are solemnly professed by converts to Christianity when they receive baptism, and in the Church's liturgy, particularly when celebrating the Eucharist. One or both of these creeds are often used as brief summations of Christian faith by mainstream denominations.

One God

God is one, and the Godhead a single being: The Hebrew Scriptures lift this one article of faith above others, and surround it with stern warnings against departure from this central issue of faith, and of faithfulness to the covenant God had made with them. "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD" (Deuteronomy 6:4) (the Shema), "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Deuteronomy 5:7) and, "Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel and his redeemer the LORD of hosts: I am the first and I am the last; and beside me there is no God." (Isaiah 44:6). Any formulation of an article of faith which does not insist that God is solitary, that divides worship between God and any other, or that imagines God coming into existence rather than being God eternally, is not capable of directing people toward the knowledge of God, according to the trinitarian understanding of the Old Testament. The same insistence is found in the New Testament: "...there is none other God but one" (1 Corinthians 8:4). The "other gods" warned against are therefore not gods at all, but substitutes for God, and so are, according to St. Paul, simply mythological or are demons.

So, in the trinitarian view, the common conception which thinks of the Father and Christ as two separate beings, is incorrect. The central, and crucial affirmation of Christian faith is that there is one savior, God, and one salvation, manifest in Jesus Christ, to which there is access only because of the Holy Spirit. The God of the Old is still the same as the God of the New. In Christianity, it is understood that statements about a solitary god are intended to distinguish the Hebraic understanding from the polytheistic view, which see divine power as shared by several separate beings, beings which can, and do, disagree and have conflicts with each other. The concept of Many comprising One is quite visible in the Gospel of John, chapter 17, verses 20 through 23.

God exists in three persons

The "Shield of the Trinity" or "Scutum Fidei" diagram of traditional Western Christian symbolism.This one God however exists in three persons, or in the Greek hypostases. God has but a single divine nature. Chalcedonians — Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants — hold that, in addition, the Second Person of the Trinity — God the Son, Jesus — assumed human nature, so that he has two natures (and hence two wills), and is really and fully both true God and true human.

The singleness of God's being and the multiplicity of the Divine Persons together account for the nature of Christian salvation, and disclose the gift of eternal life. "Through the Son we have access to the Father in one Spirit" (Ephesians 2:18). Communion with the Father is the goal of the Christian faith and is eternal life. It is given to humans through the Divine union with humanity in Jesus Christ who, although fully God, died for sinners "in the flesh" to accomplish their redemption, and this forgiveness, restoration, and friendship with God is made accessible through the gift to the Church of the Holy Spirit, who, being God, knows the Divine Essence intimately and leads and empowers the Christian to fulfill the will of God. Thus, this doctrine touches on every aspect of the trinitarian Christian's faith and life; and this explains why it has been so earnestly contended for, throughout Christian history.

Source(s):

Douay Rheims Bible

78 References and Illusions To The Trinity Found In The Sacred Scriptures

I. Even the Old Testament makes definite reference both to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

Isaiah 11:2 "...the Spirit ... the Lord ... Him"

Isaiah 42:1 "My Servant ... I ... My Spirit ... upon Him"

Isaiah 48:16 "The Lord God ... His Spirit ... sent Me"

Isaiah 61:1 "Spirit of the Lord God ... upon Me ... the Lord"

Isaiah 63:9 "He ...the Angel of His Presence ... His Holy Spirit"

II. Close examination of the following New Testament scriptures will make obvious to any student of the Bible that the doctrine of the Godhead is truth.

Matthew 1:20, 21 "the Lord (the Father) ... the Holy Spirit ... Jesus"

Matthew 3:16, 17 "Jesus ... the Spirit of God ... a Voice from heaven (the Father)"

Matthew 12:18 "I ... My Spirit ... on Him"

Matthew 22:42, 43 "Christ ... the Spirit ... Lord (the Father)"

Mark 1:9-11 "Jesus ... the Spirit ... a Voice from heaven ... My beloved Son"

Mark 12:35, 36 "Christ ... the Holy Spirit ... the Lord (the Father)"

Luke 1:35 "the Holy Spirit ... the Highest ... the Son of God"

Luke 2:26, 27 "the Holy Spirit ... Christ ... Jesus"

Luke 3:21, 22 "Jesus ... the Holy Spirit ... a Voice from heaven ... My beloved Son"

Luke 10:21 "Jesus ... the Spirit ... Father"

Luke 12:9, 10 "God ... the Son ... the Holy Spirit"

John 3:5 "Jesus ... the Spirit ... God"

John 3:34, 35 "God ... the Spirit ... the Father ... the Son"

John 4:24, 25 "God ... a Spirit ... Messiah... Christ"

John 14:16, 17, 26 "the Comforter ... the Father ... in My name"

John 15:26 "the Comforter ... the Father ... of Me"

John 20:21, 22 "Jesus ... Father ... the Holy Spirit"

Acts 2:32,33 "Jesus ... God ... the Father ... the Holy Spirit"

Acts 2:38,39 "Jesus Christ ... the Holy Spirit ... God"

Acts 4:30,31 "Jesus ... the Holy Spirit ... God"

Acts 5:31,32 "God ... a Prince and Savior ... the Holy Spirit"

Acts 7:55 "the Holy Spirit ... Jesus ... God"

Acts 8:14_16 "God ... the Holy Spirit ... Jesus"

Acts 10:38 "God ... Jesus ... the Holy Spirit"

Acts 10:46_48 "God ... the Holy Spirit ... the Lord"

Acts 11:16, 17 "the Lord... the Holy Spirit ... God ... the Lord Jesus Christ"

Acts 20:21_23 "God ... Jesus ... the Holy Spirit"

Romans 1:1,3,4 "God ... His Son, Jesus Christ ... the Spirit"

Romans 5:5,6 "God ... the Holy Spirit ... Christ"

Romans 8:2,3 "the Spirit ... Jesus ... God ... His own Son"

Romans 8:8,9 "God ... the Spirit ... the Spirit of Christ"

Romans 8:16, 17 "the Spirit ... God ... Christ"

Romans 14:17, 18 "the Holy Spirit ... Christ... God"

Romans 15:12, 13 "Root of Jesse (Jesus) ... God ... Holy Spirit"

Romans 15:16 "Jesus ... God ... the Holy Spirit"

Romans 15:30 "The Lord Jesus Christ ... the Spirit ... God"

1 Corinthians 6:10, 11 "God ... the Lord Jesus... the Spirit"

I Corinthians 12:4_6 "Spirit ... Lord... God"

1 Corinthians 7:39, 40 "the Lord Jesus ... the Spirit ... God"

1 Corinthians 8:2 "the Lord Jesus ... the Spirit ... God"

2 Corinthians 3:3, 4 "the Spirit ... Christ ... God"

2 Corinthians 13:14 "Jesus... God ... the Holy Spirit"

2 Corinthians 5:5, 6 "God ... the Spirit ... the Lord (Jesus)"

Galatians 4:6, 7 "God ... the Spirit ... Son ... Father ... God ... Christ"

Ephesians 2:18 "through Him (Jesus) ... Spirit ... the Father"

Ephesians 2:21, 22 "the Lord ... God ... the Spirit"

Ephesians 3:14, 16 "the Father ... Jesus Christ ... His Spirit"

Ephesians 4:4-6 "Spirit ... Lord (Jesus) ... God and Father"

Ephesians 5:18-20 "Spirit ... Lord (Jesus) ... God ... Father"

Colossians 1:6-8 "God ... Christ ... Spirit"

1Thessalonians 4:6-8 "Lord (Jesus) ... God ... Holy Spirit"

1 Thessalonians 5:18, 19 "God ... Father ... Christ ... Jesus ... Spirit"

2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14 "God ... Lord... God ... Spirit ... Lord Jesus Christ"

Titus 3:4-6 "God ... Holy Spirit ... Jesus Christ"

Hebrews 2:3, 4 "Lord (Jesus) ... God ... Holy Spirit"

Hebrews 3:4, 6, 7 "God ... Christ... Holy Spirit"

Hebrews 6:4-6 "Holy Spirit ... God ... Son"

Hebrews 9:14 "Christ ... Spirit ... God"

Hebrews 10:29-31 "Son of God ... Spirit ... Lord ... God"

1 Peter 1:2 "God the Father ... Spirit ... Jesus Christ"

1 Peter 3:18 "Christ ... God ... Spirit"

1 Peter 4:14 "Christ ... Spirit ... God"

2 Peter 1:21 "God ... Holy Spirit... Lord (Jesus)"

2 Peter 2:1 "God ... Holy Spirit ... Lord (Jesus)"

1 John 4:2 "Spirit ... Jesus ... God"

1 John 4:13, 14 "Spirit ... Father ... Son ... Savior"

1 John 5:7 "Father... Word ... Holy Spirit"

Jude 20, 21 "the Holy Spirit... God... Lord ... Jesus Christ"

Revelation 1:9, 10 "Jesus Christ ... God ... Jesus Christ ... Spirit"

Revelation 3:5-7 "Father ... Spirit ... He that hath the key of David (Jesus)"

Revelation 14:12, 13 "God ... Jesus ... Lord ... Spirit"

Revelation 21:9, 10 "Lamb ... Spirit ... God"

Revelation 22:16-18 "the offspring of David (Jesus) ... Spirit ... God"

Peter was long dead before anyone ever was called the pope.

love and blessings Don

With all due respect, you've no clue what you are talking about. Come to my blog if you beg to differ.