Vicar of Christ

The Roman Catholic Church is a false religion and a false church. One of the central teachings of the Roman Catholic Church is that the pope is the vicar of Christ on earth — the overseer of all Christianity here on earth. That is not a biblical teaching.

The Bible speaks about the need to ordain leaders and elders of local churches. In the book of Titus it speaks about ordaining elders to oversee the things that are wanting — meaning you need somebody in your area who is the leader of your local church. The Bible says in 1 Peter 5:2, referring to elders and pastors: "Feed the flock of God which is among you." The idea is that you have a congregation, a flock, that you are personally overseeing. It is local. It is among you.

The Bible does not teach the idea of one person being the head of all Christianity on earth. There has never been one person that is the head of Christianity — outside of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who is the ruler over everybody. Because just a couple of verses later in that same passage it says: "And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." Of course, Jesus Christ is the chief Shepherd. He is the overseer and leader of everybody in the world, and specifically over all believers and all churches.

But in terms of individual churches here on earth, you have individual leaders. That is why the Bible says you need to ordain leaders — people that have the desire of the office of a bishop. They get ordained and they feed the flock which is among them. Their authority is local. Their responsibility is to the congregation in front of them.

The Bible does not teach the concept of one man sitting in Rome ruling over all Christians throughout the entire world. That authority belongs to Jesus Christ alone. And therefore, the Roman Catholic Church is a false religion and a false church.

Pastor Matthew Stucky