|
|
|
WAS THE CHURCH BUILT ON PETER? BY RYAN HICKS © 1996-1999 Ryan Hicks |
Matthew 16:13-20
13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
20 Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.
The Roman Catholic Church uses verses 17-19 alone to prove their doctrine of Apostolic Succession or in other words their belief that Peter was the first Pope and Popes should succeed from him as heads of the church. Most Protestants argue that because Jesus uses two different words in the Greek for "Rock" that Peter cannot be the rock Jesus is speaking of in v.18.
Well, somebody could say, "The Holy Spirit inspired Matthew to use two different words. Well, that's true, because "petra" is the word in Greek that is normally used for "large rock," but - I should say petra is the Greek word that means "large rock" but it's in the feminine form. In other words, the gender of this Greek word, petra, large rock, is feminine. You do not apply a feminine form of the word in order to name a male. You adopt it by giving the masculine form. In other words what Matthew was doing, guided by the Holy Spirit, is something that was rather obvious and practically necessary. That was to take the Greek from Jesus' saying and start by saying, "I will build my Church on this massive stone, this 'petra' in the feminine but then to show that Peter gets the name, "Rock" in its proper masculine form. (The Pope: Holy Father, By Scott Hahn).
This is the best argument given, but it states the obvious about names (actually titles). The failure here is that petra and petros mean different things. "Petra" means "immovable rock" and "Petros" means "a piece of the immovable stone." Thus, it is significant that Jesus used different words, far more significant than just a naming distinction. Also in verses such as 1 Corinthians 10:4 and 1 Peter 2:7-8 Jesus is called "rock" and the feminine Greek word petra is used. Feminine words are sometimes applied to men, this is common knowledge of the Greek language. Thus, even their best reasoning fails miserably when simple studying is done.
Ephesians 2:20
20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
The apostles (including but not limited to Peter) AND the prophets built and make up the foundation of the Church. How can Peter alone have the Church built upon him when the Scriptures teach otherwise? Even at that, Jesus Christ is the chief corner stone! The whole church is built upon Him and not Peter!
1 Corinthians 3:10-11
10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Paul says that HE LAID THE FOUNDATION! Peter could not have been "this rock" as Jesus was talking about then. Here is the deciding point for the Catholic. They must either accept the true foundation, the Lord Jesus Christ, or reject Him for the Pope and his false foundation. You cannot have them both, "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ."
