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The Pope and the Chair of Peter?

So, if when the Pope sits in the Chair of Peter, God is speaking through him, and the Pope gets to decide when to sit in the chair...isn't the Pope deciding when to be God?

I don't mean to be offensive. A friend of mine told me about the Chair of Peter, and I am confused because this seems...awkward.

Please enlighten me. Thanks.

10 Answers

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  • 1 decade ago
    Favourite answer

    I suggest that you ask your clergyman if this is indeed a subject that should concern you.

    If you are Jewish, then you really ought to be studying Judaism.

    And the answer to your question is no.

    .

  • ?
    Lv 4
    5 years ago

    The Pope is not infallible. Only God is infallible. That is a common misconception of many non-Catholics and some Catholics who don't really know what they are talking about. This misconception may come from the fact that we believe that the Pope is the most divinely inspired man on earth. We believe he is our pontiff, or our bridge to God. The Pope is still a man and subject to fault. The Pope regularly attend Confession. Both John Paul II and Benedict XVI have apologized for the past faults of the Church, faults made by men. The Church is made up of humans so it is prone to fault as no human is prefect (not even close).

  • 1 decade ago

    To speak infallibly is called speaking ex cathedra, or in english, from the chair.

    I can see why you're confused about what this term means. The pope does not have to be SITTING in the chair of St Peter in order to speak ex cathedra. A chair, or office of authority, is a symbolic thing. Is a king any less of a king because he doesn't happen to sit in his throne? No. So the pope is no less the pope because his hind end isn't in the chair of peter.

    Ex cathedra statements are also incredibly rare, and no, the pope doesn't get to choose when to make them.

    Source(s): Catholic of the Latin Rite Tiber Swim Team, Class of 1990
  • 1 decade ago

    Thanks for the link Meg! (By the way, I am a Christian)

    I read about Papal infallibility, and the combined infallibility of the Bishops when affirming a doctrine as true....

    There is a problem here. For the Catholic, remember the doctrine of purgatory? Remember how one Pope decreed you could pay a price and get out of purgatory, which was ratified by the bishops of the time and taught as doctrine? (If not, learn your own history.)

    Remember also that this doctrine was later deemed as false by another Pope?.....................

    What infallibility?

    What is worse, in my searching of Catholic Doctrinal history, which was necessary to find where many protestant doctrines originated, I discovered MANY doctrines have come and gone in such manner.

    Maybe everyone should learn what the pre-1900 definition of Vicar meant. (It has been changed since, and the Pope has always claimed to be Vicar of Christ on Earth..)

    Paul

  • ?
    Lv 7
    1 decade ago

    YOU ARE NOT CONFUSED.. THE PEOPLE WHO PROFESSED THE POPE AND THE CHAIR OF PETER ARE

    ACCORDING TO THE RC's THIS IS WHAT THE TRUTH IS

    CHAIR OF PETER

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chair_of_Saint_Peter

    GOD IS SPEAKING THROUGH? THE POPE?MMMMMM

    NOT IN THE FIRST GREEK SEPTUAGINT GREEK( NEW

    TESTAMENT ) BUT .. PERHAPS WHEN JEROME OF THE RC

    CHURCH (TRANSLATED THE BIBLE ( FROM GREEK INTO LATIN

    WHICH IS FROM GREEK , HE MAY HAVE ADDED IT

    I CANT FIND ANYTHING LIKE THAT IN THE BIBLE

    I DID FIND WHERE PETER BETRAYED JESUS THREE TIMES AND

    THE PETROS ( MEANS PEBBLE IN GREEK ) ( PROVED INDEED HE WAS "NO ROCK" BUT A PEBBLE AS THE BIBLE STATES

    http://www.oneplace.com/devotionals/discovertheboo...

    Christ the Rock - Peter the Little Stone

    http://www.ianpaisley.org/article.asp?rome_peter.h...

    NOT PETRA THE ROCK IN GREEK ..SYMBOLIZING CHRIST

    FURTHERMORE PETER WAS AN APOSTLE TO THE JEWS.. NOT TO THE CHRISTIANS

    Summary of the Ministry of Apostle Peter to the Jews

    http://ezinearticles.com/?Summary-of-the-Ministry-...

    AND THE FIRST CALLED APOSTLE WAS ANDREW NOT PETER

    Andrew discovered that Jesus was the Messiah. He went and found his brother, Peter, and brought him to Jesus. When Jesus saw Peter, He said, "You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas."

    http://ezinearticles.com/?Summary-of-the-Ministry-...

  • 1 decade ago

    Jesus' words to Peter in Matthew 16:18–19, "You are Peter, and upon this Rock, I will build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. To you have I entrusted the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven", are inscribed in Latin in the apse, within which is placed Bernini's monument enclosing the wooden chair, both of which are seen as symbolic of the authority of the Bishop of Rome as Vicar of Christ and successor of Saint Peter (see Petrine supremacy).

    INteresting!!!!!!!!!!

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    thus is the inherent flaw in organized religion, its entirely man made.

    spirituality is the only way to go. there is a god, but do you think he cares if you eat meat on fridays or go to church on sundays? no. he has more important things to do. like govern the nature of reality. christianity is a scam. God is real, and unfortuneatly he has been used many times in history as a means of controlling others.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    The High priest in the old temple sat in the chair of Moses, and even though the entire system was almost totally corrupt by the time of Christ, Jesus said this:

    Mat 23:1 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples,

    Mat 23:2 Saying: The scribes and the Pharisees have sitten on the chair of Moses.

    Mat 23:3 All things therefore whatsoever they shall say to you, observe and do: but according to their works do ye not. For they say, and do not.

    In fact, speaking from the chair, the corrupt high priest Caiaphas prophesied correctly, as he brought about the crucifixion of Jesus.

    Later,Jesus gave Simon a new name and a new destiny when he gave him the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

    Mat 16:16 Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God.

    Mat 16:17 And Jesus answering said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven.

    Mat 16:18 And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

    Mat 16:19 And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.

    Evidently Jesus was totally OK with the arrangement, since he put absolutely no restrictions on the holy office that he personally established.

    Every chief executive is called to make tough decisions. Only one ... the Pope ... has the power of God behind him.

    If you're confused by that, I suggest it's your problem. Not God's ... or the Pope's ... and that it stems from a basic lack of faith.

    FYI ... the Pope has exercised the authority of speaking from the chair only twice in about 2000 years.

  • John
    Lv 4
    1 decade ago

    Dont worry its all bs. to be honest

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