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It was immediately obvious what the Church would have objected to. Peter, according to Jesus in the canonical Gospels, was the rock on which the Church was built. The two hundred and sixty-five men who’ve served as the head of the Catholic Church over the centuries all trace their lineage back to Peter, the first Pope whose authority was ordained by God. That line of papal succession, Alex knew, was based on Matthew 16:18. “The Lord says to Peter: ‘I say to you,’ he says, ‘that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it.’” But here was a very different version of events, a suppressed version that had Jesus anointing a different disciple: his brother, James, as his earthly successor.
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