Protestant Christians argue that the tradition of the See of Rome's primacy in the early Church was not equivalent to the current doctrine of supremacy.
[4] In 1537 Philip Melanchton made a book against papal primacy named "Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope", Melanchton argued that the papacy had no basis on either history or scripture.
[5] Matthew 16:18 has caused much controversy, the Catholic church sees this as the basis for the papacy.
[6] Martin Luther claimed that the papacy is the Antichrist, which was influenced by the events of his life, but also by Lorenzo Valla.
[7] The view that the papacy was the Antichrist was held by radical followers of Jan Hus and by most Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries.