The emergence of 69-year old Robert Francis Prevost as Pope Leo xiv has reignited the age–long argument about the primacy of the Catholic faith and succession to Peter as the first Pope. Some conventional and social media platforms have been awash with contentions that the office of Pope is not Biblical and that Peter was not really the leader of the Apostolic Church. He could not therefore have been the first Pope. With equal passion, the protagonists of the papacy insist that Peter had been sanctioned by Jesus as the defacto leader before the church was formerly born on the Day of Pentecost and became the first pope. They maintain that while the word “Pope” is not found anywhere in the New Testament, it was clearly implied and applied to the apex leadership of the church that emerged on the day of Pentecost. Some cynics also insist that the word pope is of a pagan origin. They often extend the same argument to Easter and Christmas celebrations.

A dispassionate and critical observer of Christendon may see the arguments as needless and futile intellectual adventurism that do not advance the kingdom of God. They do not draw souls to Christ nor explicitly portray His message of redemption. On the contrary, they may indeed instigate questions about the authenticity of the gospel and pull people away from the Saviour. Jesus Himself prayed in John 17:21; “That they all (believers) may be one … that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” He had also commanded His followers in John 15:12 “To love one another as I have loved you.” The contentions over the office of pope and its origin drip with contempt and rivalry rather than the love and unity that Jesus demanded. The office of pope and the celebration of such major Christian festivals as Easter and Christmas are peripheral, rather than core, doctrines that define Biblical Christianity. They are not worthy of the energy dissipated on them. They deepen the denominational dichotomies which undermine rather than foster the accomplishment of the Great Commission, the most critical assignment that Jesus handed down to His followers as documented in Matthew 28:18-20 and other gospels.

Opposition to Peter’s leadership of the early church – with or without the title of Pope – is not rooted in scriptures. Jesus Himself appears to have sanctioned Peter’s role from the moment he confessed Him as “the Son of the Living God” in Matthew 16:16–19. Peter was a member of Jesus’ inner circle whom He took along to what is today known as the Mount of Transfiguration as captured in the first two verses of the Seventeenth chapter of the gospel of Matthew. The same chapter (Matt 17:24-27) gives an account of how the Master and His apparent chief of staff paid their taxes.

Jesus specially prayed for Peter (Luke 22:31-32) the kind of privilege reserved for heir-apparents. He extended a similar unique privilege to Peter in His post- resurrection restoration of the erstwhile fisherman. He left Peter with two commands in John 21: “Feed my lambs” (Vs 15) and “Feed my sheep.” (Vs 16-17). Taking a cue from the Lord Himself, the other apostles never resisted Peter’s leadership. He was their undisputed spokesman on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-38) when no fewer than 3,000 souls were converted to the Way as the church was then known. Even Paul who was not one of the original 12 apostles acknowledged Peter lavishly and deferred to him as the leader of the faith. Paul recounts in his post-conversion experience in Galatian 1:18 that “after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him 15 days.”

Though there is little doubt about Peter’s authority in the early church, the elevation of the office of pope to a defining Christian doctrine misses the point. While there are dozens of doctrines with diverse flavors across dominations, churches should be judged by their adherence to or deviation from the core Biblical beliefs and practices. There is a high level of convergence on the centrality of seven doctrines that define Christianity.

These include the Doctrine of Authority which posits that the Bible must be the final authority on all matters of faith and practice (Deut 4:2; 2 Tim 3:16; 2 Pet 1:20-21); the Doctrine of God – three persons in one God (Deut 6:4; John 1:3; Acts 5:3-4); the Doctrine of Jesus Christ as Eternal God who became man and died for the sins of mankind (Matt 16:15; Luke 2:52; John 1:1, 14:9) and the Doctrine of the Church – the gathering of the elect comprising past, present and future saints under Christ, the Head (Eph 1:22,3:10,5:24-29; Col 1:1-18).

The other key doctrines by which denominations should be rightly judged are Salvation as a work of grace but must be acknowledged and confessed (John 1:12; (Eph 2:8-9;Titus 3:5; 2 Cor 5:17); the Doctrine of Man – created by God (male and female) in His image (Gen 1:26); and the Deity of the Holy Spirit as the Third Person of the Trinity equal in power and glory to the Father and Son (Gen 1:2; Luke 1:35, 37, Acts 5:3-4; Romans 8:11).

Ironically, the interdenominational contentions which deepen divisions and undermine the unity of the church revolve round secondary or tertiary doctrines. They encompass such issues as adornment, the place of women in the church (should women preach?), participation in politics and other minor issues.

Each of the contending schools has a choice: to win the argument and lose the soul or to win the soul, even if it means losing the argument. There are, however, grave consequences for winning the argument and losing the soul that could have been won to Christ. Prophet Ezekiel (Ezek 33:8) warns that for every wicked man that dies in his iniquity, “his blood will I (God) require at thine hand” – the hand of the contender who places intellectual prowess above the value of a soul.