Objection of the Papists, by Means of Three Passages

But in order to maintain the succession mentioned above, the Papists usually say that they do not reckon it from the antiquity of certain erring spirits who lived before, during, or after the time of the apostles, but from the church of Christ itself, and from Peter, whom they called the prince of the apostles, upon whom Christ Himself, as they claimed, wished to build His church. Bellarmine, book 1, De Pontifice Romano, chapter 10. Quansuy ex. [n66-1]

To this they add, as a second argument, that to him and to no one else Christ gave the keys of heaven, to open or to close them as he pleased.

And thirdly, that the Lord three times commanded him, more than the other apostles, to feed His flock, that is, His church.

Moreover, that he occupied the Roman throne, and that the popes succeeded him in it.

To prove this supremacy of Peter, and consequently the succession of the popes in his place, they have for a long time now misused three passages of holy Scripture, namely Matthew 16, verses 18 and 19; and John 21, verses 15 to 17; to which we will reply in what follows.