Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Galatians 2:11-13 Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.
AUTHORITY TO INTERPRET SCRIPTURE
When Martin Luther realized that breaking away from the Roman Catholic Church was unavoidable, he published three articles which one church historian has called "the greatest work since the days of the apostles." The first of these works was titled, "To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation." In it Luther writes:
"The Romanists have ... drawn three walls round themselves, with which they have hitherto protected themselves, so that no one could reform them, whereby all Christendom has fallen terribly.
" ... Secondly, if it were proposed to admonish them with the Scriptures, they objected that no one may interpret the Scriptures but the Pope."
In response to this claim by the Roman Catholic Church, Luther wrote:
" ... Therefore it is a wickedly devised fable -- and they cannot quote a single letter to confirm it -- that it is for the Pope alone to interpret the Scriptures or to confirm the interpretation of them. They have assumed the authority of their own selves. And though they say that this authority was given to St. Peter when the keys were given to him, it is plain enough that the keys were not given to St. Peter alone, but to the whole community."
Again, the greatness of Luther’s writing is this: it simply repeated what the Bible had always said. The Roman Catholic Church claims that Peter was the first pope. They further claim that the pope has the final say in all things spiritual. But Peter never claimed this. He was admittedly a sinful man, who needed the correction that his fellow Christians gave him on the basis of God's Word.
