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Who "Heads" The Church? Peter? Constantine?
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A Religion based on Creator and/or Creation is not something that you need to "prove"! For, "proof" belongs to the worlds of mind, of logic and science which are all inventions (possibly illusions) of the flesh, mind and ego.
More properly, one's religion or belief structure is rooted in your own (Innate) personal spirituality (inner confidence), or what inspires and moives you to love, be in joy and find fulfillment; all of which come from the bottom of your own heart - not from books (even the Holy Books), CDs, DVDs, movies or long lectures.
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| An Artists Rendering of a Saintly Peter |
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Was The Apostle Peter intended to be "Head" of the church?
And what was the "lineage" from Peter to Constantine?
QUOTING MATTHEW 16: 13-19 (taking nothing out of context)
This text is generally described as Peter's Recognition of "Who is The Son of Man"; commonly called:
Peter's Confession of Christ:
Matthew 16: 13 "Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, 'Who do people say that the Son of Man is?' 14 And they said, 'Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.' 15 He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?' 16 Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' 17 And Jesus said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.' 18 'I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.' 19 'You have the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth shall have been released in heaven.'
OPINION:
The solid foundation (Pietra or "rock" in English) that Jesus would leave as his Legacy (Key) for the Earth and its people is the concept of "divining" wisdom "revealed from the Father" through Inspiration or intuition and not from the flesh, the mind alone or mouths of others, from sermons or from books.
P.S. "The Son of Man" is a term that the Essenes, a Jewish mystical and philosophical sect that Jesus, John the Baptist, the Holy Family and many others in the Bible were members of, used for Jesus; their Best Philosopher Ever! And besides being a phiolsopher, this man Jesus was a great mystic, psychic and healer like none before him. For he KNEW he walked with God within him, aas one with Creator and creative energy. But, so do YOU, but you doubt it. Thus you could have his power and presence, but because of doubt, (and only doubt) you don't. Did not he say this to his disciples and friends in the boat, upon the sea? You, too, are his friend, my friend.
So, Who was Peter, in his day? Scholars tell us that Simon was his Jewish name ... Peter was his Greek name.
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EDITOR'S NOTE:
My wife, Martine, is now "In Heaven". We have had several conversations, but she has not mentioned Peter or Pearly Gates or any of the EARTHLY images that the early church fathers tried to use ... to describe a whole different side of Life, Light, Love, Living, Peace, Joy and Laughter!
However, I do give them credit for trying to describe unearthly existence in earthly terms.
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Jesus who became the Christ
The word "Christ" is the Greek translation of the Jewish word "Messiah", which means "Anointed One". This is a term which referred to anyone they honored especially Priests in the Temple, Rabbis, local rulers, teachers or other leaders such as Kings. In our day, the Queen of England, was also "Anointed" with oil the day she received her crown. Now you know how Jesus became "The Christ". And, Christ was not his last name, either.
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We are each "moved" by different things ... yet, all of it is God ... all of it is Love Revealed
For, there is no separation within The One, or God.
Thus, a good acronym for GOD is "Getting Over Divisiveness".
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NOTE: The “closest disciple” was not Peter, it was Mary Magdalene! Even John was “closer” than Peter.
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FURTHER: In Jesus day there were no "churches", though like minded followers of Jesus' teachings and ministry did gather together, usually in their own homes ... before sunrise, so they could greet the day in thanks as the sun rose ... as Jesus did.
However one of those early gatherings was in Jersulem, where James the brother of Jesus was the leader (as he was the closest one they had to Jesus) of that Jewish-Christian "church".
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