Papal Power: Its Origins and Development

by Henry T. Hudson

In recent years, front page headlines have proclaimed, 'John Paul Superstar'. David Sanford, wrote in Harper's 'The pope is more popular than the Beatles who, according to John Lennon, were more popular than Jesus Christ; where this leaves Jesus Christ is not clear.' Morris West, in his television documentary, The Paradox of the Papacy, repeatedly made reference to the contrast between the lives and ministry of the New Testament apostles and the lives and ministry of the men who claim to sit on the 'throne' of St Peter. How can the contrast be explained? How does one begin to account for the popularity and the power of the Roman pontiff? A 'trajectory' which begins with Simon Peter and reaches to a man who today can lay claim to possessing primacy over the whole world, and to the personal prerogative of ex-cathedra infallibility, is a paradox indeed. This well-documented book will help the reader to answer these questions and to explain the paradox. Dr Henry Hudson has lived in Italy for several years. He is at present pastor of Calvary Chapel, Massillon, Ohio, U.S.A. His academic qualifications in the field of history and theology equip him to write on the subject of this book.

Genres: Theology

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Jimmy]

The chapter on the Patristics was heavily reliant on secondary sources; I wished he could have dealt with the early Patristics directly. However, the author was able to bring out a lot of quotation from primary sources concerning Luther and the Reformation. The book had a good chronology of Luther’s developing view of the Papacy. It also quoted a good amount of the documents directly in the chapters touching on Vatican one and two. The mention of fallible popes on pages 151-52 and 172 gives names of heretical popes and contradicting popes for readers to do further research if they like. The copy I have of this book was published by the Trinity Foundation and I enjoyed appendix A, which featured a tract that was an alleged speech delivered in Vatican 1 in opposition against Papal infallibility. It was surprising to learn from the book that there has been a stream of Catholics who historically opposed the idea of Papal infallibility even up to the time of Vatican 1, and this stream include reputable Catholic scholars. It was actually a greater delight to read appendix A of an actual Catholic objection to Papal infallibility in print during the sessions of Vatican 1. This book makes me want to read more about the Pope (it’s history, doctrine, etc) and perhaps even chasing some of the trails of footnotes and sources cited. I wished the discussion of the Biblical data could have been longer and rather than discussed in both the beginning and end of the book, it might have been more better to organize it and present it in the beginning. I do recommend this book.

[Steven H]

A CALVARY CHAPEL PASTOR CRITIQUES THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

At the time this book was published in 1981, Henry T. Hudson was "pastor of Calvary Chapel, Massillon, Ohio." He has also written 'Reviewing the Revelation,' 'Hold Fast the Form of Sound Words,' 'Henceforth A Crown: An Exposition of Second Timothy,' 'Ahead Lies Yesterday And Tomorrow: Studies in Biblical Prophecy,' etc.

He wrote in the Introduction, "the wide disparity between the straightforward teachings of the New Testament and the greatness and grandeur of the Roman papal church, became the cause of no small irritation to me. I felt sure that some kind of rational explanation to the phenomenon could be found... spurred primarily by the question of the incredible gap between Holy Scripture and Roman papal traditions, I began my research. Did I bridge the gap? The following pages... contain the answer." (Pg. 7-8)

He observes, "out of the circumstances surrounding the disintegration of the Western half of the empire, the Roman church emerged as the only structure strong enough to provide some degree of unity. It was not, therefore, unusual that the bishop of the largest city of the empire should be thrust into a position of prominence. He had no rival to speak of in the West. His see was comparatively free of strife and heresy. He was also at times called upon to mediate in theological disputes which were even outside to his own jurisdictional limits." (Pg. 20)

He notes, "Luther's departure from papal thinking about the church remained firmly fixed throughout his whole Reformation career... he could not identify the papal church with the true church of Christ, because it did not give heed to the Word of the Lord and did not teach true doctrine... Luther wanted it to be understood that just as an ecclesiastical organization in itself did not constitute a true church, so historical continuity in itself could not be the sole distinction between the true and false church. Any taunt such as 'Where was your church before Luther?' obviously fails to appreciate Luther's view of what constituted the true church." (Pg. 67)

This book will be of interest to those looking for Evangelical critiques of Catholicism in general, and papal influence in particular.