Sir, - Enda McCormack (June 16th) defends the Roman Catholic Church's ban on women priests by reiterating the common misconception that Peter is the rock on which Christ is building his church. The following considerations clearly prove that this interpretation is impossible.
The Christians at Corinth began to embrace the notion of the primacy of certain Church leaders. Some saw themselves as followers of Paul, some of Peter and some of Apollos. The Apostle Paul saw this as a deeply divisive tendency and sharply rebuked the Corinthians for it. He thoroughly repudiated the human tendency to exalt and follow men. Significantly, in this very passage Paul tells us who the true rock is:
"For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." It is an amazing fact which bears eloquent testimony to the inspiration of scripture that Paul's words anticipate the precise error into which the self-exhaling church at Rome would later fall, specifically condemning the notion of a sect following Peter.The rock upon which Christ is building His church is the revelation of His Messiahship which was given to Peter by the Father. As individuals come to know Jesus as the Christ by means of the same revelation, they become part of the Church. A personal revelation of Christ is foundational. This interpretation is strongly supported by the original Greek in Matthew 16.V.18, it is fully consistent with other scripture bearing on the subject and it was favoured by the majority of the early church leaders.
The idea of papal succession has no support in scripture, being pure invention. The content of the Christian faith is presented to us in scripture as a fait accompli. Rather than inventing new doctrines, Christians are called "to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints." The self-belief of the Roman Catholic Church has led her a long way from the teaching of the true Apostles, particularly on the more important doctrines. Issues such as woman in Christian leadership and celibacy are relatively peripheral, but there is ample teaching in scripture from which we can understand God's will on these matters. - Yours, etc.,
Ian Kennedy, Rockenham, Ferrybank, Waterford.