Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope – part 17
Scripture Text: Matthew 16:13–18
Before considering Melancthon’s brief reply, allow me to repeat my earlier assertion. It is upon the bedrock confession of Peter that Christ builds his Church.
Sola Devotions Posted in July 2025
Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope – part 16
Scripture Text: 1 Corinthians 11:2–3
The traditions about authority that have been handed down to us by the apostles are clear and simple. They teach us that as the Son obeyed the Father’s will, every man is to obey Christ’s will, and every wife be inclined to her husband.
Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope – part 15
Scripture Text: Galatians 3:26–28
If we are all one in Christ, how can there be one over all? This is a human invention; primacy is not God’s way, for he is the head over all.
Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope – part 14
Scripture Text: 1 Peter 2:9–10
Kingdoms divide and fall under the squabbling of a king’s children. Their infighting and scrabbling for power ruins a nation. Let us look to our King, and be content with his primacy and power.
Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope – part 13
Scripture Text: 1 Timothy 6:15b–16
Who ruled the Church in the time of the apostles? Peter? James? Paul? You would be hard-pressed to decide by reading the Scriptures. That is for good reason; none of them was superior to the other.
Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope – part 12
Scripture Text: Hebrews 10:19–25
Here is the Church of Christ: those who make the good confession, who stir up love and good works in one another, and who meet together in Christ’s name until he returns. They have Jesus as their great priest.
Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope – part 11
Scripture Text: 1 Peter 5:1–3
Whether or not we can trust Cyprian’s knowledge of traditions and observances of such distant memory is one thing. After all, he lived in the first half of the third Century.
Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope – part 10
Scripture Text: Jeremiah 3:15
It has long been the practice that churches should be the ones who decide who their bishops will be. Appointments of bishops by a bishop begins the slippery slope to the primacy of one.
Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope – part 9
Scripture Text: Matthew 16:15–18
It cannot be historically demonstrated that the Roman bishop should rule over all the churches. A wider-spread authority was conferred in the fourth century. Yet, even then, the Western bishop’s administration was shared with the Eastern bishop.
Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope – part 8
Scripture Text: 1 Corinthians 3:4–9
Peter himself, with a pastoral application, removed any justification for primacy of one pastor or bishop over another, when he teaches ministers of the church to be a godly example instead of a domineering master.
Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope – part 7
Scripture Text: Galatians 1:15–18
The office of the ministry depends upon the Word of God, not those who would rule over those called to preach. Those who seek to watch over the church should first be concerned with looking after themselves.
Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope – part 6
Scripture Text: Romans 1:16
No Christian is to have power over others, let alone more or less power. As the Word was sent into the world, we are sent into the world with the Word.
Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope – part 5
Scripture Text: Matthew 18:1–4
There are orders in the Church of Christ, but not levels of superiority. A pastor who will not listen is a pastor to whom no one will listen. A bishop who lords the office over others will displease the Lord.
Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope – part 4
Scripture Text: Matthew 28:18–20
This is not to say that Christianity is supposed to me some form of democracy. It is not, for we do have a supreme leader, a head over us all.
Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope – part 3
Scripture Text: Psalm 119:105
If we wish to demonstrate that the pope—or anyone else, for that matter—cannot claim rule and power whatsoever over bishops, pastors, or laity either, then we had better have some authority behind our statement.
Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope – part 2
Scripture Text: Luke 22:24–27
It is bad enough that one Christian would claim to rule over others, since there are teachings of Jesus that say otherwise, let alone the example of his own servant leadership.
Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope – part 1
Scripture Text: Acts 4:12
Theologians gathered at Smalcald in 1537, to construct their response to the pope’s convening of a council. This paper, “The Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope,” is the result of their gathering.
The Smalcald Articles – part 135
Scripture Text: 2 Thessalonians 2:13–15
The Word of God united with faith makes things holy. Human rituals, especially when devised to make money, have nothing to do with consecration. Baptism, for example, was instituted by God to join us to Christ’s death and resurrection, and is to be received by faith in God’s promises.
The Smalcald Articles – part 134
Scripture Text: 1 Timothy 1:18–19
Rely on the Word of God. Human traditions will compromise Scripture and cause you to stumble in your conscience. Worse, they will leave you with a sense of angst...
The Smalcald Articles – part 133
Scripture Text: Titus 1:13–16
If a ceremony or regulation denies the work of Christ, God’s grace, or his plan of redemption, then it is untrue, or to use a stronger term, heresy. If it is claimed that any religious tradition attains to the remission of sins—in whole or in part—it is heresy.
The Smalcald Articles – part 132
Scripture Text: Matthew 24:4–5
Imagining that one’s deeds earn heaven is bad enough. The notion that one’s good deeds are more than enough for self, and that the overflow may be shared with others so that they gain heaven is blasphemous.
The Smalcald Articles – part 131
Scripture Text: James 2:14–17
It is critical that we understand what real faith is, and is not. Faith is not mere belief, for as James says, even demons believe in that sense.
The Smalcald Articles – part 130
Scripture Text: Acts 15:7–11
Faith is the passive receiver. It does not grab or make wild efforts that get in the way, as though flailing its limbs trying to grasp the unreachable. Faith does not seize; it simply receives what is given.
The Smalcald Articles – part 129
Scripture Text: Philippians 3:8–11
The Church is the communion of saints, that blessed fellowship of those who believe in and are faithful to Jesus Christ. Her holiness is not a sanctity or purity of her own...
The Smalcald Articles – part 128
Scripture Text: 1 Timothy 4:1–5
I vaguely recall a Christmas when I was 16 or 17 years old and refused to open presents. Realizing how foolish and hurtful I was acting, I conceded by joining in the festivities
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