Peter's Equality

There is nothing in the New Testament that gives any support to the thought that Peter was given any place of pre-eminence above the other apostles in the Church, or that he is the 'rock' upon which the Church is being built. Rather, he is always given an equal place among the other apostles. Consider these Scriptures:

1 ¶ The elders who are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight of it, not by constraint, but willingly; not for dishonest gain, but from a ready mind;
3 Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock.
4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
I Peter 5.1-4

Here, Peter clearly stated his equality, as being "also an elder". He also clearly stated the pre-eminence of Christ, as the "chief Shepherd".

10 He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Ephesians 4.10-12

Among these ministries that God has given to the Church, there is no mention of a pope. Surely, if God had established such an important ministry in the work of the Church, it would have been mentioned here.

19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and aliens, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
Ephesians 2.19-20

Here Christ alone is exalted as the chief corner of the foundation, which is built of the apostles and prophets—with none of them, including Peter, given any pre-eminence over the others.

14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Revelation 21.14

The twelve apostles are spoken of equally here, with no special favor being shown to Peter, or any other.

27 Then answered Peter and said to him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?
28 And Jesus said to them, Verily I say to you, That ye who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Matthew 19.27-28

Again, Peter is given equal status with the others.

And, further, if Peter had been given a place of pre-eminence, why did James and John yet seek for pre-eminence themselves?

20 ¶ Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him.
21 And he said to her, What wilt thou? She saith to him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.
22 But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say to him, We are able.
23 And he saith to them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared by my Father.
Matthew 20.20-23

Or, if it be thought that Peter merited some place of favor because he had confessed Christ to be the son of God, after he had spent years being taught by him, why not rather Nathanael, who made the same confession upon his first meeting Christ?

45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith to him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
46 And Nathanael said to him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith to him, Come and see.
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
48 Nathanael saith to him, How knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said to him, Before Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.
49 Nathanael answered and said to him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.
John 1.45-49

Or, why did not Peter merit the blessing when he made the same confession much sooner?

68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
69 And we believe, and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
John 6.68-69

Or, why not Martha, when she made the confession before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead?

27 She saith to him, Yes, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.
John 11.27

Or, if Peter was the one with supremacy, pre-eminence, etc, why was he 'sent' by the apostles to Samaria?

¶ Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John:
Acts 8.14: 14

Or why was James the one who had the final word at the council at Jerusalem? (And after the Ascension, it was James who was made bishop of Jerusalem.)

13 And after they held their peace, James answered, saying, Men, brethren, hearken to me:
14 Simeon hath declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles, to take from among them a people for his name....
19 Therefore my judgment is, that we trouble not them, who from among the Gentiles are turned to God:
20 But that we write to them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from immorality, and from things strangled, and from blood.
Acts 15.13-20:

Or why did Paul have to rebuke Peter at Antioch for Peter's error?

11 ¶ But when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.
Galatians 2.11:

All of these examples illustrate that Peter neither claimed, nor was accorded, any such honor as Rome claims for her bishop today. While he was, along with James and John, one of those disciples who was closest to Christ, he was an equal among the twelve apostles regarding power and authority. He received the same Holy Spirit, at the same time, and in the same measure, as the others (John 20.19-23). He had the same power of binding and loosing (keys) as did the others (Matthew 16.19; 18.18). While he was by his personality, in some sense, a leader among the twelve, things like primacy, pre-eminence, infallibility, jurisdiction, he neither possessed nor laid claim to. Rome has, through trickery and cunning deceit, falsely laid claim to these prerogatives, and exalted herself rather than Christ, and made her adherents slaves of the darkness, rather than children of the light.

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