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The Spirit of Prophecy Volume 2
Also in
Mark 12:10, 11
: “And have ye not read this scripture, The
stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner.
This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?”
These texts prove conclusively that Christ is the rock upon which
the church is built, and, in his address to Peter, he referred to himself
as the rock which is the foundation of the church. He continues:—
“And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven; and
whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven; and
whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.” The
Roman church makes a wrong application of these words of Christ.
They claim that he addressed them specially to Peter. Hence he is
represented in works of art as carrying a bunch of keys, which is a
symbol of trust and authority given to ambassadors and others in high
positions. The words of Christ: “I will give unto thee the keys of the
kingdom of Heaven,” were not addressed to Peter alone, but to the
disciples, including those who compose the Christian church in all
ages. Peter was given no preference nor power above that of the other
disciples. Had Jesus delegated any special authority to one of them,
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we would not find them so frequently contending among themselves as
to who should be greatest. They would have at once submitted to the
wish of their Master, and paid honor to the one whom he had selected
as their head.
But the Roman Catholic church claims that Christ invested Peter
with supreme power over the Christian church, and that his successors
are divinely authorized to rule the Christian world. In still another
place Jesus acknowledges the same power to exist in all the church
that is claimed to have been given to Peter alone, upon the authority
of the text previously quoted: “Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye
shall bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven; and whatsoever ye shall
loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.”
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