Posted on 01/08/2024 1:18:20 PM PST by OneVike
Until now I have not shared my opinion of what I think of the many inherent ways the Catholic Church has misinterpreted Scripture throughout the years. I can no longer be silent on the subject, because it is one that the Catholic Church has used to teach heresy.
To begin with, the Catholic Church has been making a mockery of Scripture for many years. There are many beliefs the Catholic Church holds that I have problems with, but for now I will explain why they are wrong in their interpretation that Peter is the rock upon which Christ has built His church.
Jesus is the ONLY foundation which His church can and is built upon. The only rock of truth is Jesus Christ and we need to keep our eyes on him, not some man chosen by flawed men. We need not pay attention to what color of smoke is billowing from a building built by flawed men to learn who the voice of God will be, because we already know. We are to look to no one else as the foundation or the hope on which the church is built, but Jesus, The Son of God.
“For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ,”
(1 Corinthians 3:11)
When Peter answered Jesus by stating,
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,”
(Matthew 16:16)
Jesus answered and said to him,
“Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
(Matthew 16:17-18)
To begin with, when you look at the original wording of Matthew, it was written in Koinonia Greek, which was the language of the common man in the day of Christ. Koinonia Greek was what today’s modern American English is to everyone from America to Korea, the universal language spoken around the world. So when you look at the original language Matthew was written in you will see something that is not readily apparent. When Jesus said,
“…you are Peter [(πΠέτρος) (petros)] and upon this
Rock [(πέτρᾳ) (petra)] I will build My church…”
(Matthew 18a)
Greek nouns have genders, which is similar to the English words actor and actress. The first is masculine and the second is feminine. Likewise, the Greek word, “petros”, is masculine; “petra” is feminine. Peter, the man, is appropriately referred to as, “Petros.” But Jesus said that the rock he would build his church on was not the masculine, “petros”, rather the feminine, “petra.”
A good example of this would be Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, where he refers to Jesus as the rock that followed the Israelites through the desert;
“and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were
drinking from a spiritual rock [(πέτρᾳ) (petras)] which
followed them; and the Rock [(πέτρᾳ) (petra)] was Christ.”
(1Corinthians 10:4)
It must be pointed out that in Peter’s 1st letter, he refers to Jesus as the “Rock”,
Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture,
“Behold, I lay in Zion
A chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
And he who believes on Him will
by no means be put to shame.” (Isaiah 28:16)
Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient,
“The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone,” (Psalms 118:22)
“A stone of stumbling”
And
“a Rock of offense.” (Isaiah 8:14)
(1Peter 2:7-8)
So the word translated in this passage is not the same word as Peter, and nothing can be more wrong than to suppose Jesus meant Peter the person. It’s ludicrous to claim that Jesus would build HIS church upon a sinful flawed individual. HE emphatically stated HE would build it upon the “truth” of which Peter recognized. That truth being, “Jesus is The Christ, The Son of The Living God!” Something we know Peter himself understood by reading his first epistle, as I pointed out above.
Thus if Peter himself used the word, “petra” to refer to Jesus, then shouldn’t we? We can also see where Paul referred to Jesus as the rock, “petra”.
“Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a Rock of offense,
and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
(Romans 9:33)
We also see the word, "Rock," used throughout the Old Testament to refer to GOD.
“The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just;
a God of faithfulness and without injustice.”
(Deuteronomy 32:4)
“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my Rock, in whom I take refuge.”
(2 Samuel 22:2-3)
“And who is a Rock, except our God.”
(Psalms 18:31)
“Is there any God besides Me, or
is there any other Rock? I know of none.”
(Isaiah 44:8)
Finally, I challenge anyone to prove to me that, at any time in the Scriptures, GOD ever referred to any man as a rock. However, throughout Scriptures we are told about the perfection of the Rock which is Christ, not a sinful man named Peter. So why would Jesus build His church upon an unstable human who needs to be saved? He wouldn't, and He didn't. It should be obvious from the Word of God that the Rock Jesus was referring to was not Peter, but himself.
“For no man can lay a foundation other than the
one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ,”
(1 Corinthians 3:11)
We read in James 3:1 "My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. "
Hitler, Mao, Stalin may have murdered hundreds of millions, but they only killed the body, while the likes of Joseph Smith, Muhammad and other heretics have sent billions to hell with their false teachings.
Ping
I have read this explanation many years ago...............
Personally I find the denominational divisions of Christianity ridiculous. I don’t see any of them as being “the way” as much as Christ himself. Everyone in my extended family are Catholics and have been for a very long time. But if any of those Catholic teachings are not in the Bible itself, they are useless and discardable. If that makes me a bad Catholic, so be it. I’ll take my chances.
Just for clarity, what is your understanding of why Jesus renamed Simon as Peter other than as a reference to some kind of rock? Thanks
I’m not a Catholic and I disagree with a number of dogma but i find this “I can no longer hold my tongue” article silly given the Catholics have been pretty consistent on the whole Peter/rock/foundation thing for the last 2000 years. This guy just couldn’t stay silent any longer, yeah right.
Thanks for the info
The Church is the feminine, Christ masculine. Human endeavor, divinized.
One Vicar of Christ.
(And, FWIW, no more than one at any given time!)
heard you were under the weather, glad to see you back to your fit self.
like your explanation. i like my pastor’s interpretation of the passage, too. he takes Peter’s faith (and mine and yours etc.) as one of the ‘stones’ that he will build his church on.
i’ll just offer up one verse about believers ‘stones’ from Peter:
1Pe 2:5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (NKJV)
here it’s translated from lithos, not petra or petros, though.
Jesus Christ is the “Rock” (Petra - Massive Mountain) of our Salvation. We all are like “Peter” (Petros - Little Pebble) built on the Petra!
You must have a problem with reading comprehension
Perhaps because Peter was dense as a rock. He denied his Lord three times, remember? But I'll go with him being the pebble and Jesus as the Living Cornerstone.
Did Jesus Truly Say, “I Will Build My Church Upon Peter?”
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Absolutely not
And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church
Pretty simple and straight forward. It gets no more clear.
But pick nits if you must.
Renamed him as Satan too...
Fir those who cannot read the original language
That's not fair bringing that up. It could've been a typographical error.
Who do you think compiled the Bible? The Catholic Church. Even now the Bible is updated because of biblical scholars and translators. Your confidence in your understanding as the ‘right one’ is itself mistaken. When you pick and choose single verses and ignore the ones you don't like or those that disprove your sect, you can invent any view you want. 33,000 christian church versions think they can't be wrong. We Catholics don't need your sympathy for being 'blind' or 'wrong'. We just pray you return to Christ's One Holy and Apostolic Church.
Did Jesus Truly Say, “I Will Build My Church Upon Peter?”
—
Always thought is was “upon this rock.”
Which refers to the petrified Amanita muscaria mushrooms found along the dead sea shore line according to a banned book now out of print. Written by some Cardinal - a linguist and Bible scholar, I think, back in the 70s.
There actually is a rock in a grotto where it is believed Jesus preached. Its sort of an open cave with a large rock which used to be surrounded by water.
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