RomeSweetHome wrote:Aineo wrote
The Roman Catholic Church is not the first and only true apostolic church of Jesus Christ. Part of that designation "the first" would apply to Jerusalem, not Rome. And "only" is not true because we know the Orthodox's church existed before the Bishop of Rome was given the designation as superior Bishop as one among equals.
The Church can trace its roots right back to the Apostle peter since then there has been 265 popes coming right from St Peter. It can also be seen to be correct from Catholic/Orthodox tradition.
The church may be able to trace the Bishop of Rome back to Peter, but that is the extent of the RCC's worldwide authority.
Also Orthodox Christians believe in the same Tradition but they interpretate a slight difference concerning the papal primacy of St Peter as the Papal Primacy of Honour (as opposed to jurisdiction which is another thing and infallibility) is not something foreign to Orthodoxy. What Orthodoxy understands as heresy held by Rome is what keeps the Pope from being recognized as such by Orthodoxy.
The Orthodox churches do not accept the infallibility of the Pope. The Orthodox churches agree with the first 7 church councils. You are reading a lot into history based on RCC propaganda not historical truth.
Therefore we both recognize St Peter as the First Leader of the Apostolic church.just that Catholics say Perter had jurisdiction they say greater honor etc...
The current Holy Father likes to use the title "Successor to St Peter."
The Orthodox have no problem with this title, it is just that they believe all Bishops are Successors to St Peter and the Apostles. We believe he was the Only Bishop rather then they all were Bishops.
The Orthodox Church split from the Roman Catholic church in 1054AD
Therefore the Catholic Church was First Not the Orthodox Church as you claim Aineo.
Peace
The first church was not the Orthodox church or the RCC. The first church was started in Jerusalem, where even the RCC acknowledges James was the Bishop. You are grabbing at straws. The western church became the Roman Catholic Church after the 1st Council of Nicea, which was called by Constantine, not Sylvester the Bishop of Rome. In fact Sylvester did not even attend the council. The Bishop of Rome was recognized as the President of church councils only because Rome was the largest city in the empire and the historical seat of the Roman Empire. Not because of Peter being the supposed first Bishop of Rome.
Our knowledge of the papacy before the year 300 is rather fragmentary, and that holds true for papal titles as well as for other matters. Before the middle of the second century, one cannot speak with confidence of there being a single pope in Rome. Two of the earliest known titles are episcopus and papa. Episcopus, from the Greek for "overseer," came to designate the leader of a Christian community. Papa, or "pope," is a title of respect meaning "father," and, like episcopus, was common to other leaders in the early church. Cyprian, for example, was addressed as papa, and the bishop of Alexandria claimed the title as well. The Greek word papas, equivalent to the Latin papa, could be (and still is) used to address any priest. (On the title papa, see also P. De Labriolle, "Papa," Bulletin du Cange 4 (1928): 65-73.)
The apostalic succession is a work of smoke and mirrors, not a historical fact.