Who is the Head of the Church?



There has been a lot of noise recently with the death of the old Pope and the selection of a new Pope. There have been a lot of online articles about the papacy but let me answer one question in particular. Who is the head of the church? It is Jesus Christ. 

Roman Catholics believe the pope is the head of the church. They claim he stands in the place of Christ on the earth. 

They cite biblical passages like Matthew 16:18-19, where they claim that Jesus appoints Peter as the leader of the church and gives him the "keys of the kingdom." They believe this establishes Peter's special role and leadership, which is passed down through a succession of Peters. This hierarchical view says the papacy and the hierarchy are necessary to preserve doctrinal unity and guide the church.

There are more than a few problems with this view. Let me make ten observations:

1.   Writing recently in RealClearReligion Robb Brunansky says, “There’s only one supreme pastor of the church, and it isn’t some guy living at the Vatican. It’s the God-man enthroned at the right hand of God the Father who lives forever and ever to make intercession for us! …The Reformers said Rome made the Pope more than Christ’s representative on earth. The Reformers understood that when the Roman church said that the Pope was the head or supreme pastor of the church, they replaced Christ with the Pope.” 

2.   There is nothing about the Pope in the Bible. You could read the Bible a thousand times and never believe the church needed a pope or become a Catholic for that matter. Maybe that’s why the bulk of Bible translation work has been carried on by Protestants. There is no reference to the papacy in the entire New Testament. After Matthew 16 we see no evidence that Peter is the head of the church. And most Protestant interpreters argue that Matthew 16 does not mean Peter is the head of the church. The disciples were present when Jesus gave Simon his new name, Peter, the rock, and there is no indication anywhere in the text that they thought Jesus was making Peter the Pope, or that the church would be founded upon his person. Peter later wrote two epistles and makes no mention of Jesus’ declaration. In 1 Peter 5 he refers to Christ as the head of the church and to himself as a “fellow elder.” Paul sure didn’t recognize Peter as the Pope. In Galatians 2 Paul says Peter came to Antioch and sat with the Judaizers—the legalists who thought works played a role in your salvation. Paul says, “I withstood him to his face.” Not much papal infallibility here.

3.   When we look at the history of the church the papacy does not emerge until 400 years after Christ. Most historians who aren’t committed Catholics consider Leo 1 to be the first Pope beginning in the mid-400s.

4.   Popes are fallen, sinful men. Some are a lot worse than others. Read Carl Trueman’s article linked below about Pope Francis; “My Worst Protestant Nightmare.” Trueman gives a long list of the doctrinal errors of Francis. Catholics somehow want to separate the office from the man. I don’t think God works that way. All Christian groups have flawed leaders. But Protestants don’t expect their leaders to be Christ on earth.

5.   Many Roman Catholic’s have an air of superiority. They tell non-Catholics that our spiritual lives are inferior to theirs. When I asked online why I should be a Catholic I was told that my Christianity was second-rate. That I couldn’t be fully Christian without joining their organization. It’s like the Mormons telling me I can’t go to the top level of heaven unless I join their group. The Bible does not teach institutional salvation through a human organization. It teaches individual salvation through Christ. 

6.   Roman Catholics have a wrong view of the church. They view it as this large, human institution with a vast bureaucracy and a CEO at the top. Protestants argue that the church is a collection of people, people who are their own priests without the need to go through some human agency to get to God.  And every person who trust Christ as Savior is a member of that church.

7.   Roman Catholics now admit that non-Catholics can go to heaven. Through faith in Christ and Christian baptism I can be saved. So I have asked Catholics, “What’s the point?” If I can go to heaven through simple faith in Christ I really don’t see the need to be part of your giant organization or participate in your many rituals or pray your repetitive prayers.

8.   They argue that you cannot know the mind of God unless the church hierarchy tells you what it is. They are saying that a humble Protestant with an open Bible cannot know God the way a Catholic participating in church ritual can. They underrate the role of the Holy Spirit. He can give the simplest Christian insight into God’s truth through the Bible. Catholics will admit that many of their own number—including clergy—believe things that the Bible denies. The teaching hierarchy of the church does not appear to do them much good.

9.   If the Roman Catholic church is God’s one true church on earth and the Pope the vicar of Christ then why aren’t the results better? Why doesn’t the Roman church produce a larger number of serious Christians?  There are many profoundly Christian Catholics but no more than in Protestant or Orthodox communions. Protestants who live exemplary Christian lives don’t have the fullness that Joe Biden has? If the Catholic church possesses all these unique, godly features, why doesn’t it show up more in everyday practice? Is a Catholic on his way to hell better off than a Protestant on his way to heaven?

10. The world’s 800 million Protestants move ahead with God’s will for their lives without giving the tiniest thought about the RC church or the latest iteration of the Pope. It’s the same with eastern Orthodox Christians.

In my video on the Roman Catholic church, linked below, I cite a number of positives. The Roman church has done great and mighty things for God. They have been a vitally important part of the work of God in Christian history. But God has worked mightily in people who have no connection to the Roman church or the Pope. Thank God for all He has done through everybody.

Ultimately, everyone needs to focus on Jesus Christ and the mighty works He has done through His followers whatever church structure they’ve operated in. Christ wields His power across our planet in an infinite number of ways. Praise be to His holy name.

More: My Mixed Feelings About the Catholic Church; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9QHx4zr9io

Robb Brunansky: https://www.realclearreligion.org/articles/2025/05/16/christ_is_the_head_of_the_church_1110693.html

No pastor is the head of the church. The Pope is not the head of the church. Christ alone is head of the church. He purchased the church with His own blood, so the church is His church. The church submits solely to Christ, living in obedient reverence to this truth.

Why Protestants Care About the Pope: https://wng.org/opinions/why-protestants-care-about-the-pope-1746492739

So yes, Protestants care who the next pope is. Not because we’re returning to Rome but because the West—our shared civilization—desperately needs a moral compass with courage and clarity. We pray, then, not for a pope who flatters the world, but for one who will stand against it in the name of truth. For the good of the shared moral witness. And for the good of the world.

Is the Papacy biblical? https://www.christianpost.com/voices/is-the-papacy-biblical.html?utm_source=Daily&utm_campaign=Daily&utm_medium=newsletter

Carl Trueman: “Francis was my worst Protestant nightmare”: https://firstthings.com/pope-francis-my-worst-protestant-nightmare/

I regularly read a strongly Catholic, traditional publication, Crisis. Here is their take on Francis the recently deceased, “Vicar of Christ.” Does Francis Deserve the Benefit of the Doubt?