Indeed!
Posted on 04/24/2016 6:25:24 PM PDT by Morgana
The Gospel of Matthew was not written for a daily newspaper but rather as eternal "good news." It, of course, the divinely inspired word of God written through Matthew as His scribe. As such, it was first compiled no earlier than 70 AD and no later than 110 AD according to at least some of those who know much better than I. Only the Gospel of Mark may have been written as early as 66 AD. By the time of Matthew, Peter had been dead by 64 AD and Jesus Christ had been crucified in about 29-33 AD. By that time Simon bar Jonah was being referenced as Peter. After the event at Caaesarea Phillipi, the man called himself Peter and governed the Church as Peter.
The event described in Matthew 16: 13-18 could not have occurred later than in 33 AD since Jesus had not yet been crucified. That was at least 21 years before Peter's death, 23 years before the earliest date attributed to the Gospel of Mark and 27 years before the Gospel of Matthew.
The Gospel of Matthew was written for contemporary and all future generations who (particularly future generations) would not have been privileged to know the apostle in question personally as either Simon bar Jonah or as Peter. That had to be explained to Jews and Gentiles alike since he might be referenced by either name.
Suppose that, as indicated by the other passages you cite, that he had previously been known (for whatever reason) as Peter although his birth name had been Simon bar Jonah. After the event at Caesarea Phillipi as described in Matthew 16: 13-18, he was, for the reasons stated by Jesus Christ therein, henceforth known as Peter.
We also have two books of the New Testament: 1 Peter and 2 Peter which internally identify as having been written by that same Peter.
At the risk of seeming to trivialize this argument, at least two relatively recent presidents governed under different names than their actual birth names: Gerald Ford whose birth name was Leslie King and William Jefferson Clinton whose birth name was William Jefferson Blythe. If an historian wrote of either by their birth name only, it would cause some unnecessary confusion in the reader, especially as the years lengthened after either man's death. The famous baseball star was born George Herman Ruth but most more easily recognize him as Babe Ruth. And so forth.
Indeed!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.