thessalonian Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 (edited) Gregory the Great the first real Pope? I have run in to the theory among some Lutherans that the papacy did not really become what it is today until Gregory the Great. That he was the first really to assert papal authority and make it powerful. I am reading through a book about the Popes right now and definitely see a lot of evidence that, while he may have contributed greatly to the development of doctrine concerning the papacy, the see of Peter was definitely looked upon as the place where the buck stops regarding the worldwide Church. From Clements odering the Corinthians to reinstate their leaders to the declarations on the baptism of heretics and the quadramecian heresy, to the declaration by 500 Bishops that Leo speaks for Peter, to Hillary telling other bishops only to come to him with major issues. These all point to the bishop of rome having primacy and greater authority than the rest. Also oddly enough so does the fact that there were anti-popes. Even before Constantine (one of the many other theories regarding establishment of the papacy) the antipopes, Novation and Hippolatus show that there was a higher authority over the whole Church in the roman see. There were not generally anti-bishops from Constantinople and Jerusalem and the other two patriarchies. I solicit other input to debunk this newly encountered theory. PS. One thing about Gregory. He was not power hungry. He wanted to be a benedictine monk. Edited February 8, 2007 by thessalonian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starets Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 I haven't read anything about Pope st. Gregory the Great for many years, but he strikes me as having been an incredibly good organizer. He would be a good person to ask for intercession if you are in upper level management! Seriously though, you might also want to check out this link by apologist Dave Armstrong: [url="http://socrates58.blogspot.com/2006/03/50-new-testament-proofs-for-petrine.html"]50 NT Proofs for Petrine Primacy[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thessalonian Posted February 8, 2007 Author Share Posted February 8, 2007 (edited) I am familar with the Armstrong piece. Thanks. That type of material will be my biblical defense. I am looking at the historical aspects of the claim. Edited February 8, 2007 by thessalonian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmotherofpirl Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 Start with Pope St Clement and his letter to the Corinthians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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