[teejay]

>
>> In my humble opinion, it is
>>unscriptural, and is designed to lead the unsuspecting flock
>>astray.
>
>Actually it is right there in the bible when jesus left the
>church to Peter. Since he was only mortal, he had to have
>successors who assumed the same authority as that left to him
>by Jesus. The problem was that the popes started engaging in
>corrupt behaviour since they were only human causing the
>church to split into different denominations. but if you are
>going to go strictly by the Bible, there IS a vicar of Christ
>on earth, a successor of Peter.

And Which bible is this you are going by my friend?

As far as am concerned I know that the purpose for which the Holy Spirit was promised was so that the church would always be under His guidance. Humans are full of Judgments and cannot be handed the sole task of representing Christ. Those who have always imposed upon us such authority have always ended up being ungodly. The bible says that Christ is the head of the Church and the church is referred to as bride. So then can Jesus leave His bride to be groomed by another person? No I think not. That is why the Holy Spirit must watch over the bride even as she awaits the Groom’s appointed day of return. The bride must be untainted, wholly immersed in the blood of the lamb and washed clean as snow.

Peter was only a shepherd and not representative of Christ on earth. No man (mortal) can represent Christ (immortal). They therefore are only shepherds and not Vicars. Besides if Peter was appointed Vicar as most people excuse the popes then it is only best the he become immune to death to see the church through the ages, but that is not the truth. Christ only entrusted the work to Peter to lead the young church that had just began. And the Church having gone through a lot of torment together with their master prior to his ascendance to heaven was so vulnerable. The bible clearly accounts for such vulnerability when it records account of Christ appearing to his disciples mysteriously and reinforcing his teachings to them since some of them had decided to revert back to their old ways.

If any person then says that the popes are vicars then the same man is openly proclaiming the same message that the popes have sought to push down our thoughts for ages, that they are the undisputable heads of the church and thus they being Vicars of Christ are not Holy but gods themselves and thus they can actually alter God’s law. Through this false doctrine they vested upon themselves despotism. Remember the number 666.It is synonymous to VICARIUS FILII DEI (in English VICAR OF CHRIST). These popes are the same that have given the catholic church a bad name. This church is referred to as PROSTITUTE in the bible because the popes through their despotism sought worldly authority to punish anyone who disregarded their rule. This church committed adultery by cohabiting with the governments of the world.