"And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." How do you interpret that passage?
The catholic church has distorted and taken this passage out of context for centuries.
The Gospel of Matthew Ch. 16. vs. 16-19 [KJV]
And Simon Peter answered and said, 'Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God'
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.
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.
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.
God revealed to Peter who Jesus is when Jesus asked him "But whom say ye that I am?" [vs. 15]
***The "rock" that Jesus is talking about is none other THAN JESUS HIMSELF***
As for it being scriptural, who assembled the scriptures? Who preserved the scriptures?
God gave the Jews the priviledge of writing and preserving the Old and [New Testament, except for the Book of Acts and the Gospel of Luke] We owe our salvation to the Jews. The first Christian church was started by Jews. It was the Jews who spread the Gospel. It was Paul who took the Gospel to the Gentile nations at that time, and Peter to the Jews at that time, starting from Jerusalem, along with the remaining apostles. John the Baptist was a Jew, who first introduced Jesus.
Peter himself needed a Saviour, and was merely a man, but was blessed because He recognized who Jesus was when Jesus asked him... the others were not as sure as Peter, but still followed Jesus.
"....and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
Peter, [as can all followers of Jesus] can bind any spiritual demonic forces through the power of the Holy Spirit that lives in them, and can loose the power of the Holy Spirit through the Holy Spirit living in a believer through prayer. This Gospel of Christ is given to all generations of believers in Christ.
The Gospel of Mark tells us, after the Resurrection of Jesus, Jesus said to his followers: [Jews] "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be dammed. AND THESE SIGNS SHALL FOLLOW THEM THAT BELIEVE; In MY NAME shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues, They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." Mark Ch. 16 vs. 15-18 KJV
"Do you see the problem with this statement?"
Absolutely not.
The original twelve apostles plus Paul, were chosen [not elected] by Jesus Christ, and gave us the TEACHING to live by through the ACTS OF THE APOSTLES, and the epistles, but Jesus is the ROCK of His church, and His teachings supercede any others; and all believers in Christ are given the same Holy Spirit that was given the first apostles and early Christians.
Daisy,
The literal translation of "Peter" is "Rock". Pete means rock.
You have a lot of hostility towards Catholics. This discussion appears to have begun because someone accused Catholics of saving that all non-Catholics are going to hell. That is not what Catholics think. But it would appear that the argument has come full circle and now you are saying that Catholics are barred from heaven.
I am going to end this discussion because it would be uncharitable to go any further in this. Instead let's contemplate the words of St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians, which I will quote using the King James Version:
Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:
The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:
But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.
What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.