Galatians 2:7 - [7] But contrariwise, when they had seen that to me was committed the gospel of the uncircumcision, as to Peter was that of the circumcision.
Protestant Christian Understanding: Peter was the Apostle of the Jews, Paul was the Apostle of the Gentiles. Therefore, how is Peter Pope of the Gentiles? This passage proves that Peter had no authority over the Gentiles.
Catholic Christian Understanding: First, this understanding or objection completely contradicts the previous contentions we see in our previous topics above, that Peter held no authority at all. Now with this objection, we are recognizing that Peter did hold some sort of authority and was indeed head of the Jews as the Chief Steward.
Second, the specialization of tasks does not mean that there cannot be any ultimate head, which is completely reading into the verse and applying meaning that is simply not there. In many companies, it is very common to have a CEO and a President. The CEO is lord over all, yet the President is responsible for a certain division of the company and in many cases half of the company. However, that President still reports to, and is ruled by the CEO who is the ultimate head with ultimate authority. We have the same exact situation with Peter and Paul for this time period; Peter was the CEO and Paul was President. Although Paul was given authority to help keep order, it in no way gave him authority or autonomy over Peter.
No comments:
Post a Comment