Carry on.
My "church" was built upon the Rock of Christ Jesus.
All other foundations are sinking sand.
Matthew 16:18-19 And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Of course, we have the greek words "petros" vs "petra". Those are derived from the same root: "petros". And they both are synonymous.
However, as I am sure you know, this event happened in Roman Palestine/the geography of modern Israel. The spoken language among the locals there was aramaic, not greek. If you were to take a look at the Peshitta Aramaic text, you'd find that both "peter" and "rock" are translations of the word "keepa." (I know, you don't believe me. Look at a PDF of Matt. 16 here. [remember, you have to read from right to left with the semetic scripts]) -- oh, btw, now you know where the name "cephas" comes from -- a hellinization of the word "keepa" (or "kipa", depending upon who does the transliteration).
If you'd like accounts from the Church Fathers, I'll be happy to oblige...it's just a little late to do so tonight.
Now, I realize that I'm just a dumb old Catholic and I don't knows ya Bible nealy as well as ya protestants does, but it seems pretty clear to me. Jesus called Peter "the Rock" -- Jesus handed Peter "the keys." Maybe I'm just a little dumb old Catt-o-licker, but I am not usually in the habit of arguing with the Bible. And the Bible says that Jesus handed the responsibility and authority for the Christian church to Peter. Now if you'd like to argue with the Bible, feel free. I won't stop you for a minute.
Since "rock" is a metaphor ... unless I missed the part of the New Testament where Medusa showed up ... I don't see why it should be a surprise that it was used in more than one context. Jesus referred to Peter as "the rock"; Peter and Paul, in their letters both referred to Christ as "the rock."
What's the problem? Different context, different intention.
Of course, we have the greek words "petros" vs "petra". Those are derived from the same root: "petros". And they both are synonymous.
so then the masculine and feminine properties of the words in Greek had zero meaning in this case? Is that what you are saying? Just wondering...
What are the keys to heaven in your view?...please explain...thank you.