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The keys of heaven or keys of Saint Peter are seen as a symbol of papal authority and are seen on papal coats of arms (those of individual popes) and those of the Holy See and Vatican City State: "Behold he [Peter] received the keys of the kingdom of heaven, the power of binding and loosing is committed to him, the care of the whole Church and ...
Some Christian leaders disputed the church's assertion that the manifestations were divine in origin. [46] A leading critic was Hank Hanegraaff who wrote a book, Counterfeit Revival, which charged the church with promoting heresy. [47] However, other Christian leaders endorsed the "blessing" as a genuine work of God. [46]
Similarly, Martin Luther and other reformers spoke of the "office of the Keys" as the power of church leaders to admit or exclude from church membership. [6] In the Lutheran Churches , the "Office of the Keys is the special authority which Christ has given to His Church on earth: to forgive the sins of the penitent sinners, but to retain the ...
According to Christian tradition, the Christian Church was founded by Jesus. In the Gospel according to Matthew , the resurrected Jesus gathered his Twelve Apostles together, issued the Great Commission , and selected Simon Peter as their leader, proclaiming "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven ".
[120] [121] State and church are separate, though they have to cooperate to the benefit of the people. Christian magistrates have to make sure that the church can fulfill its duties in freedom. In extreme cases, the magistrates have to expel or execute dangerous heretics, but nobody can be forced to become a Protestant. [122] [123]
The scene, part of the series of the Stories of Jesus on the chapel's northern wall, is a reference to Matthew 16 [2] in which Jesus says he will give "the keys of the kingdom of heaven" to Saint Peter. [3] These keys represent the power to forgive and to share the word of God thereby giving them the power to allow others into heaven.
Apologetics/polemics – studying Christian theology as it compares to non-Christian worldviews in order to defend the faith and challenge beliefs that lie in contrast with Christianity. Biblical hermeneutics – interpretation of the Bible , often with particular emphasis on the nature and constraints of contemporary interpretation.
The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod declares that the Christian Church, properly speaking, consists only of those who have faith in the gospel (i.e., the forgiveness of sins which Christ gained for all people), even if they are in church bodies that teach error, but excluding those who do not have such faith, even if they belong to a church or ...