Read the proof in your own Bible
The Apostle Peter
was not
the first Pope!
The Apostle Peter
did not start the Roman Catholic Church, nor was Peter its
first Pope!
This shocking revelation has been in the pages
of the New Testament
for about 1900 years--but has been
unnoticed by most people claiming to be Christian.
The Roman Catholic Church—the largest organization professing to be Christian-- bases its claim to be the authentic original Church of God, on the premise that the Apostle Peter was its first Pope. Catholicism alleges that Peter received, and was empowered by Jesus to pass on, the keys of the Kingdom of God to subsequent Popes, who when speaking in their official capacity are claimed to be infallible.
Since Pope Benedict has called on everyone calling themself ”Christian”, to submit to his authority, all believers ought to seriously re-examine the genuine New Testament origins of the true Church of God. In order to do this, everyone needs to actually read the passages quoted, in a Bible. (The King James Version authorized by Britain’s King James I, its modern offshoot the New King James Version, and the American Revised Standard Version are reliable translations).
Mesmerized by Rome’s pageantry, the world’s supposedly objective news media is generally unaware of the facts below, and thus they were not highlighted in the mammoth coverage of the death of Pope John Paul II, nor in the selection of his successor.
The True Church Of God Originated In Jerusalem--not Rome:
God’s true Church officially started on the day of Pentecost—an ancient pre-Christian Holy Day, which God first gave to Israel through Moses (Leviticus 23 15-22)--when 3000 Jews from all nations were converted there. Read Acts 2 in the New Testament. It was not a Roman event. "Salvation is of the Jews", Jesus confirmed (John 4:22).
The True Church Has An Israelite Not a Gentile Foundation:
The Church was a fulfillment of Joel the Jewish prophet's prediction in Joel 2:28-29, (and so confirmed by Jesus and Peter in Acts 1:6-8 & 2:14-21). The Church is "built upon the foundation of the [12 Israelite] apostles and [Hebrew] prophets, Jesus Christ [born a Jew] himself being the chief cornerstone" (Ephesians 2:21).
Peter's Mission Was Primarily To Israelites:
The Apostle Peter's mission was primarily to "the Circumcised", that is, to Israelites. First to the Jews, and then to the ‘lost’ other 10 dispersed Tribes of Israel beyond Jewish borders. (Matthew 15:21-24; 10:1-7). After King Solomon, the nation split in two and was separately deported from the Promised Land. From about 721 BC, 10 of the 12 Tribes were taken captive to Assyria, and the world lost sight of them, but not God and his ministers. Later the House of Judah—consisting of Jews, Benjamites and some Levites--was taken captive to Babylon. A minority of about 50,000 of them returned 70 years later and resettled in the Promised Land (See Nehemiah 7). But there were many other Israelites worldwide (James 1:1). That’s where the other Apostles went who are hardly heard of after Jesus returned to Heaven. They were fulfilling the global mission he gave them (Matthew 28:18-20). As the senior Apostle, God did have Peter open the early ministry to the Gentiles, (Acts 15:7-11), but it was not his primary nor long-term mission.
The True Church Is A Little Flock--Not The Largest Organization In History:
Jesus predicted his small Church would not reach all the [many] cities of Israel before his Second Coming. (See Matthew 10:23; Luke 12: 32). This shows the Church to reach them is small, and that the Israelites to be reached are far more numerous than itself, or the relatively few Jews in what many recognize are the last days before Christ returns. The Roman Catholic Church is the oldest and largest organization in the world. Therefore, it can’t be the small true Church of God. Nor is its mission to preach to the lost Tribes of Israel, which it doesn’t recognize as existing today. Catholicism further fails to recognize that the Jews are the legitimate inhabitants of Jerusalem, the City of King David, whom God prophesied will be resurrected as the eternal King in Jerusalem over all the Tribes of Israel (Ezekiel 37:15-28).
Paul--Not Peter--Was The Apostle To The Gentiles (including the Romans):
Paul clearly stated "James, Peter, and John ...agreed that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the Jews" (Galatians 2:9 New International Version). In his capacity as chief Apostle to the Gentiles, about 28 years after the first New Testament Pentecost, Paul hurried so that he could keep Pentecost in Jerusalem—not in Rome (Acts 20:16). In the previous chapter (verse 19), Paul’s statement shows that he’d never even been to Rome at that stage.
Peter was the Apostle to the Israelites:
In older translations Galatians 2:7-9 reads that Peter was the Apostle (or one sent by God) to the circumcision, meaning to Israelites—and Paul was Apostle to the uncircumcision, meaning to the Gentiles, that is, non-Israelites. Rome was the most famous Gentile city of their day.
The Bible Nowhere Describes Peter As Pope In Rome—period!:
The Bible places Peter in Judea, Syria, Samaria, and Babylon (where many Jews remained after King Nebuchadnezzar took them captive there)--but never in Rome! Read the New Testament Bible’s entire “Book of Acts” and 1 Peter 5:13 written from Babylon (called Iraq today).
Jerusalem Was The First Headquarters Of The Church & Will Be Its Last HQ:
Nowhere in the Bible is Rome predicted to be the headquarters of the true Church of God. Jerusalem was the HQ of the original Church; will be HQ in the Messiah’s 1000-year reign; and the New Jerusalem will be God’s headquarters for all eternity (Revelation 21:9-27). Other interim headquarters of the Church are described in Revelation 2 and 3. None of them is Rome.
The First Gentile Converts Didn't Live In Rome:
The first Gentile converts in the New Testament Church of God are described in Acts 8-10, and were Samaritans, a black Ethiopian eunuch, and a Jewish orientated Roman Centurion, who was more Jewish in his outlook than the generally anti-Jewish Roman occupying force. The conversion of Cornelius into a Christian, involved turning a Roman into a spiritual Jew. It was not about turning a Jew into a Roman. This important conversion, which opened the door to Gentile conversions in general, decidedly did not take place in Rome, and was not Roman in nature. Peter oversaw it in the Promised Land.
"Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen, traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only...and a great number believed and turned to the Lord" (Acts 11:19-22).
Antioch Was The Next Most Important Church Center After Jerusalem--Not Rome:
"...the disciples [of Jesus] were first called Christians in Antioch"--not in Rome (Acts 11:26). Prophets from Jerusalem visited Antioch (verse 27), and resided there (Acts 13:1-3), with Barnabas and Saul being sent out from there. Even Paul was not sent out from Rome, although he held Roman citizenship (Acts 22:25-29). Nor was Peter. God was certainly making a point. Rome is not the center of his Work!
Peter Wasn't In Rome In The Early Days Of The Church:
The Apostle Paul had his "road to Damascus conversion". Note it was not a road to Rome conversion. It was sometime after Christ's resurrection and ascension to Heaven. "Then after three years I {Paul] went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days" (Galatians 1:15-18). Peter was obviously living in Jerusalem at that stage--not in Rome. "Then after fourteen [more] years, I [Paul] went up again to Jerusalem...and when James, Peter, and John...[agreed] we should go to the Gentiles and they to the Jews" (Gal 2:3,9).
So about two decades after the Church started with headquarters in Jerusalem--Peter was still there--mainly ministering to Jews and Israelites. Peter was not in Rome.
Peter Was Not Experienced In Dealing With Gentiles:
Paul said he met and publicly rebuked Peter in Antioch, for backtracking and hypocritically declining to eat with the Gentile converts in the presence of Jews. See the context of Galatians 2, and verses 11:21. There's no way Peter could have acted this way if he had been mainly ministering to Gentiles in Rome in the previous 20 years. The first major conference of the New Testament Church--held in Jerusalem, not Rome--about 49AD (17 years after it started), had the main item on its agenda the question: “Should Gentile converts be circumcised?” (Acts 15). This shows that relatively few Gentiles had been converted up to then, and Rome could not have been the center of the Church.
Writing To Rome, Paul Never Acknowledged Peter Was There:
The Apostle Paul wrote to a group of believers in Rome almost 30 years after the Church of God started in Jerusalem--and before he ever got to Rome. Paul ended this Epistle to the Romans by greeting 28 people--without mentioning Peter's name! That would have been unthinkable if Peter was the first installed Pope in Rome. (See Romans 16).
Rome Was The Last Place Paul, The Apostle To The Gentiles, Visited--Not The First:
The New Testament records Paul’s 3 major missions to spread the Gospel. Rome is the last place the Bible mentions that Paul visited, showing it was hardly the most important.
Arriving In Rome, Paul Found Little Was Known About True Christianity:
When Paul got to Rome almost 30 years after the Jerusalem Church started, he found the leading Jews knew virtually nothing about the true Church. The Apostle to Israel, Peter, obviously had not been in Rome (Acts 28:14-29).
Writing From Rome Paul Never Mentions Peter Is There, Or Ever Was There:
None of Paul's letters state that Peter is with him in Rome, or ever was at Rome, even after Paul got to Rome about 59AD, The only conclusion is that Peter wasn't in and never had been in Rome. If he had been, Peter utterly failed to establish the Church there (from about 42 AD, the Catholic Church has claimed).
If Peter Was Pope, He Failed To Stop Rome From Executing Paul (Or Himself):
If Peter ever reached Rome, he failed to stop Rome from executing himself and Paul. Paul stated that all forsook him when he was first tried by Rome. Near his death Paul said "only Luke is with me". Neither Peter--because he wasn’t there--nor the congregation in Rome, supported Paul as he faced his final trial. (See 2 Timothy 4:11,16-17).
If he was in Rome (which he wasn’t), Peter forsook Paul in his greatest hour of need. It never happened because Peter wasn’t there.
Roman Catholic tradition holds that both Peter and Paul were executed by Rome in Rome. Even if true, it says nothing for Peter's alleged powers as Pontifex Maximus of the Universal Church. Nor does it explain why Rome claimed Peter after killing him.
The Headquarters Of The True Church Never Was Rome, And Never Will Be!:
The early Church of God had its headquarters in Jerusalem. A second center used by the Apostles was Antioch. Paul used various other places--including Athens--before reaching Rome. It is instructive to look at a map of his journeys, found in many Bibles or in a good Bible reference book. The important prophetic Book of Revelation, which was given by Jesus to the last living member of the 12 Apostles--John--was received on the Isle of Patmos. It wasn't given to the Apostle Peter, nor was it given in Rome. The prophecy outlines 7 Churches in Gentile Asia Minor, which symbolize the 7 successive Eras of the true Church, until Christ returns. This is clear from the fact that the last two will still be around then. Not one of them is located at Rome. (See Revelation 2 and 3; 1:20; 11:3-4). [The Two Witnesses of God are two prophets who will represent--and will be supported by--the last two Eras of the true Church shortly before the Second Coming of Jesus. (See Revelation chapter 11)].
Rome Crucified Jesus And His Apostles:
Rome crucified Jesus, executed 11 of his 12 disciples, destroyed Jerusalem, the original headquarters of the true Church, and burnt down God's physical Temple there in 70 AD, killing about a million Jews--the people of Jesus' heritage. By its very nature, Rome is antagonistic to Jews, and Christians who follow the real Jesus, since they teach obedience to the Law of God. (Romans 8:7 and its context explain why).
Rome Demonstrably Worships ‘Another Jesus’:
The very ‘face of Jesus’ which the Vatican has promoted, with its unmanly long hair and feminized non-Jewish features--has been proved to be a copy of the face of Jupiter, the chief god of the ancient Romans, Babylonians, and Greeks--who symbolized Satan--whom Paul called “the god of this world” (see 2 Corinthians 4:4, Revelation 12:9). It was copied from the most important of the Seven Wonders of the (pagan) World, the enormous statue of Jupiter in the Temple of Jupiter, at Olympia in Greece. (See "The Seven Wonders of the World" by noted British archaeologist John Romer; published by Seven Dials, London). Not only is the Roman Church built on a fictional foundation, it has plagiarized, distorted, and opposed Divine revelation in Scripture--and preaches "another Gospel" (Galatians 1:6-11). Many of its doctrines are the exact opposite of what the Bible teaches.
A Pagan Roman Emperor Kick-Started What Became The Vatican-based Church:
The Roman Emperor Constantine’s decree at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD that no-one should "Judaize" led to the Roman Catholic Church. This was in direct conflict with Jesus who said “Salvation is of the Jews”. Rome openly brags that it abandoned God’s 7th Day Sabbath, instead venerating the Day of the Sun--at the opposite end of the week! Rome also opposes God’s Commandment against worshipping him via idols. Indeed the Catholic Bible illegally re-arranges the 10 Commandments to “allow” idol worship.
Virtually the last words of the most eloquent prophet of the Hebrew Scriptures
--Isaiah--are a prophecy that in God's New Jerusalem, "from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall worship" God (Isaiah 66:23). Isaiah was not predicting observance of a Roman Sunday in the Kingdom of God. Isaiah was saying the Law of God will never be done away, and the 7th day of the week Sabbath, made at Creation, will be observed worldwide!
God is coming to Earth. People don't go to Heaven. That's another Catholic idea that is exactly opposite to what the Bible teaches. If people have immortal souls, Jesus never really died, and never really needed to be resurrected. And you are yet in your sins, as Paul said. “The immortality of the soul” is a doctrine borrowed from the pagans. It is a heresy not supported by the Bible, which teaches that the wages of sin is death! (Romans 6:23). Sin is the transgression of God’s Law (1 John 3:4)--including the Sabbath Law. Jesus died for our sins. True Christians repent and stop sinning with the help of God’s Holy Spirit. Satan’s oldest lie to humans, is that if humans eat of the forbidden fruit—thereby sinning—they will never die, but be immortal (Genesis 3:1-4).
The First Pope, In The Real Sense Of The Word, Was Leo I (440-461 AD)":
So says the "Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature" Vol 7, page 629. The first Pope certainly wasn’t the Apostle Peter.
"During the reign of Leo I, the church set up, within the Roman Empire, an ecclesiastical state which, in its constitution and its administrative system, was shaping itself upon the imperial [pagan Roman] model" according to Myers "Ancient History". The prophet Daniel predicted the Abomination of Desolation, will be placed in Jerusalem’s holy place to stop ISRAELITISH SACRIFICES, about 3½ years before the Messiah appears in Jerusalem. It will lead to the coming Great Tribulation against all 12 Tribes of Israel. Jerusalem will be surrounded and attacked by GENTILE ARMIES (Luke 21:20-24). This also indicates the Harlot Church supporting the attack (Rev 17) is Gentile. The original Abomination that Desolated the Jerusalem Temple was a statue of Jupiter--which symbolized Satan, invading God's Temple. It may have been the very statue of Jupiter in the Vatican, that Rome now calls ‘Saint Peter’.
This religious-political-military-commercial system started by the rebel Nimrod, (who built the Tower of Babel) spread worldwide after Noah’s Flood, and has been continued by Rome for several thousands of years.
The Messiah Will Not Arrive In Rome. He’s Arriving In Jerusalem:
Jesus is returning to Jerusalem, as many Old and New Testament prophecies predict. Such as Zechariah 14:1-4, "Behold the day of the LORD is coming...I will gather all [Gentile] nations against Jerusalem [including the modern day descendants of the Romans and Babylonians]...the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations...And in that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the East..."
The New Testament confirms this battle will take place. It predicts demons (fallen angels) will perform supernatural signs which will persuade "the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather to the battle of the great day of God Almighty ...[gathering] together [at] Armageddon" (Revelation 16:14-15). Rome never has been, and never will be the headquarters of the true Church of God.
The reader is advised to look out for God’s Two Witnesses in Jerusalem (who will represent the true Church), and who will oppose Rome’s claims. They will call for obedience to God’s Law, including genuine Friday-sunset to Saturday-sunset Sabbath observance, in compliance with God’s 4th Commandment.
Those who continue to disobey and receive the mark of the Beast will suffer the last 7 plagues of God.
This is serious stuff.
Satan has deceived the whole world (Revelation 12:9). The day of reckoning is not far off.
At that time, Peter, Paul, the rest of the Apostles of Jesus, and all genuine saints of the true Church--and the Old Testament prophets, will be resurrected from their graves (1 Corinthians 15:51-57; Hebrews 11:1-40). None of them is now or ever been in Heaven. "...no man has ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, [even] the Son of man which is in heaven" (John 3:13). The Apostle Paul went there in vision but was not allowed to describe it.
Peter Was Married--A Tradition Popes Fail To Follow!:
Read Mark 1:30. Peter couldn’t have been a Pope since he was married. Pope’s, by the same logic, don’t walk in the steps of the Apostle Peter since they are unmarried!
Peter Was Not The Rock The Church Was Built On. Jesus Was And Is The Chief Cornerstone. Peter Was A Pebble In Comparison: The original Greek word describes Christ as a rock, meaning a huge boulder of stone. By comparison Peter is described as (petros), which could be likened to a chip-off-the-block of stone which Jesus is. Jesus said “you are Peter [Greek=petros=a stone or pebble], and upon this rock [Greek=petra, meaning a huge mass of rock, (like the famous rock city of Petra)--which symbolized Christ the Rock, see 1 Corinthians 10:4], I will build my Church…” (Matthew 16:18).
Christ is the chief foundation stone of the Church—not Peter. However, Peter--and all the other Apostles whom Jesus chose, were also part of the foundation and all were given the keys to the Kingdom of God, not just Peter.
“…the disciples [came] to Jesus…[who replied]…Whatsoever [all twelve of] you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever [all twelve] shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven…if TWO of you shall agree…it shall be done…[by]…my Father which is in Heaven”, (Matthew 18:1, 18-19).
Clearly Jesus did not give this power to Peter alone.
Jesus taught, “…the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion…but it shall not be so among you: but whomsoever will be great among you, let him be your…servant” (Matthew 20:25-27).
Peter, the leading Apostle overall (Matthew 10:1-8), and chief Apostle to Israel (Galatians 2:7-9), acknowledged this. Peter himself said it was wrong to “lord it over” God’s flock (1 Peter 5:1-6). His role in the important church conference in Acts 15 demonstrates he did not act like a Pope.
Since the Vatican’s account of its own origin is pure fiction--with no basis in Hebrew or New Testament Scripture--those churches or individuals who are drawn into her fold will pay the same price that Heaven will demand of Rome. Protestants themselves have long recognized that exceedingly high price is outlined in Revelation chapters 17,18, and 19.
This article is based on the teaching of the late Herbert W Armstrong,
the only authentic Editor-in-Chief of the original “Plain Truth“ magazine;
and founding speaker of “The World Tomorrow” radio & TV broadcasts.
~~~Geoffrey R. Neilson~~~