Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

To: Elsie

The author of the material at the link below, is quite clear on how he recovered from the errant arguments you continue to make.
http://jimmyakin.com/why-be-catholic

In first century Greek, petros and petra did not mean “small stone” and “large rock.” The terms did have those meanings in some early Greek poetry, but by the first century, this distinction was gone and the two were synonyms (EBC 8:368).
Furthermore, “the Aramaic kepa, which underlies the Greek, means ‘(massive) rock’” (EBC 8:367), not “small stone.”
The usage of the two different terms if fully accounted for by stylistic variation. Too much repetition grates on the ears, which is the whole reason we have pronouns—to avoid excess repetition. In this case, varying the term petros as petra is a normal stylistic variation to avoid repetition in the same sentence.
We would acknowledge even greater examples of stylistic variation in everyday speech in English. If I were a hospital administrator attending a fund-raiser where I planned to announce that one of my chief doctors, a man named Dr. Robert Stone, would be the chief physician of a new wing of the hospital, I might publicly say, “I tell you truly, Bob, that you are a Stone, and on the rock I will build a whole new wing of the hospital.” Nobody at the function would think I was referring to anyone except Dr. Stone as the rock on which the new wing is built. It is perfectly normal stylistic variation, and the etymological difference between the English terms “stone” and “rock” is ever greater than the difference between the Greek terms “petros” and “petra.”
Even supposing, contrary to the linguistic evidence, that the two terms should be read as “small stone” and “large rock,” this does not mean Jesus is diminishing Peter in the statement. The anti-Petrine argument assumes that, if there is a difference in the two terms, there must be antithetic parallelism between the statement about Peter and the statement about the rock. I.e., that Jesus is diminishing Peter by contrasting him with the rock: “I tell you Peter, you are a very small stone, but on the great rock of my identity, I will build my Church.” However, the assumption that the parallelism is antithetic is merely an assumption with no proof. It can just as easily be synthetic, so that the statement about the rock expands on the statement about Peter: “I tell you Peter, you may look like a small stone now, but on the great rock you truly are, I will build my Church.”


166 posted on 03/16/2014 2:19:53 PM PDT by G Larry (There's the Beef!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 160 | View Replies ]


To: G Larry
The author of the material at the link below, is quite clear on how he recovered from the errant arguments you continue to make.

I make no arguments.

I posted Scripture that all can READ: right in front of their eyes.

You may choose to post a bunch of stuff for folks to look up themselves if you wish.

To each his own.


Golly; that's kinda 'every man his own POPE'; ain't it!

168 posted on 03/16/2014 5:43:22 PM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 166 | View Replies ]

To: G Larry
You can jib er jabber about what various words for stone-rock-pebble-sand-boulder mean; I'll let the SYNTAX of the Word speak for itself.


2 Corinthians 1:13-14

For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand.
And I hope that, as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.

169 posted on 03/16/2014 5:45:48 PM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 166 | View Replies ]

To: G Larry
1 John 5:13
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
170 posted on 03/16/2014 5:49:29 PM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 166 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson