The Papal Seal

According to Christian tradition, Jesus named Simon Peter as the rock on which he built his church.

Really?

¹³ When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸ And I tell you that you are Peter,^[b] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades^[c] will not overcome it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be^[d] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be^[e] loosed in heaven.” ²⁰ Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Matthew 16: 13-20 (NIV)

That’s smacks of an interpolation.

In the 12th saying of the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus is supposed to have said something different.

BLATZ(12) The disciples said to Jesus: We know that you will depart from us; who is it who will be great over us? Jesus said to them: Wherever you have come, you will go to James the Just, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being.

LAYTON(12) The disciples said to Jesus, “We are aware that you will depart from us. Who will be our leader?” Jesus said to him, “No matter where you come it is to James the Just that you shall go, for whose sake heaven and earth have come to exist.”

DORESSE13 [12]. The disciples say to Jesus, “We know that Thou wilt leave us: who will <then> be the great<est> over us?” Jesus says to them: “Wherever you go, you will turn to James the Just, for whose sake heaven as well as earth was produced.

In effect, James the Just was named Jesus’ Bishop of Jerusalem. That makes more sense, in the way we use the term “bishop” these days. Jesus wouldn’t be appointing anyone Bishop of Rome, would he?

When Titus conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the Second Temple in 70 AD, Rome effectively usurped Jesus’ original intention from 40 years earlier. So, let’s be very clear about this: the Roman Catholic Church is a bogus institution. The Keys to the Kingdom have not been given to it. Like the Pharisees and Sadducees before them, the priests and bishops of the Roman Church are acting like dogs in a manger. They not only do not enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but also do not let anyone else go in.