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Petra ALWAYS refers to Jesus in Scripture.

Even by the biased standard that you're using, that isn't true; you should have told your "Strong's" search to look for variants of petra, as well--in Greek, word prefixes and suffixes change with parts of speech, etc.

"Other seeds fell on rocky [Gk: petrOdE, from "petra"] ground [...]" (Matthew 13:5)

"And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook, and the rocks [Gk: petrai] were split;" (Matthew 27:51)

"And Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock [Gk: petra (the exact form! Your search missed this one, I think...}];" (Matthew 27:59-60)

But more to the point: Jesus was obviously changing Simon's name to Peter (Kepha = Petros = rock) in Matthew 16, which indicates a change in status and mission (cf. Abram to Abraham, Jacob to Israel, etc.)... and He wasn't slighting or insulting Simon as He did it (or would you suggest that Jesus would say "Blessed are you, Simon barJonah, [etc.]", right before belittling him by calling him a pebble, simply to contrast it with a Name for Himself?). Even reputable Protestant Bible scholars admit that the only possible reason for trying to derange the syntax of Matthew 16:18 and deny Peter's "rock-hood" is a biased personal aversion to the claims of the Roman Catholic Church... and not for any true basis found in the text.

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What a catholic would call a “reputable” protestant scholar has to be the true joke of the millennium.

You probably forgot that we have 28 strains of the gospel of Matthew in the original Hebrew, and they all show Peter as his life-long nickname ‘pebble,’ not rock.

Anyway, it would have been difficult for Yeshua to base his already existing assembly on the same weak mortal that denied him thrice at the home of the high priest.

The growth of the assembly began with Abraham anyway.

Why don’t catholics “know stuff?”
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"Other seeds fell on rocky [Gk: petrOdE, from "petra"] ground [...]" (Matthew 13:5)πετρώδης

No it doesn't...It comes from Petros...And here's the definition...

petrōdēs
pet-ro'-dace
From G4073 and G1491; rock like, that is, rocky: - stony.

Rocky, stoney...Peter was a stone...Thanks for providing additional proof for that...Your other references come from Petra, a huge rock...So we know Jesus did not build his church on stoney ground...He built it on a huge rock...

and He wasn't slighting or insulting Simon as He did it (or would you suggest that Jesus would say "Blessed are you, Simon barJonah, [etc.]", right before belittling him by calling him a pebble, simply to contrast it with a Name for Himself?).

Of course Jesus wasn't slighting Peter...He complimented Peter by calling him a little rock...No other apostles got that distinction...Jesus did however contrast that little rock with the mountain of a rock...

But more to the point: Jesus was obviously changing Simon's name to Peter (Kepha = Petros = rock) in Matthew 16, which indicates a change in status and mission (cf. Abram to Abraham, Jacob to Israel, etc.)... and He wasn't slighting or insulting Simon as He did it (or would you suggest that Jesus would say "Blessed are you, Simon barJonah, [etc.]", right before belittling him by calling him a pebble, simply to contrast it with a Name for Himself?). Even reputable Protestant Bible scholars admit that the only possible reason for trying to derange the syntax of Matthew 16:18 and deny Peter's "rock-hood" is a biased personal aversion to the claims of the Roman Catholic Church... and not for any true basis found in the text.

Oh He did NOT!!!

Read it....

NIV Matthew 4:18-19
18. As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.
19. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."

NIV Matthew 8:14
When Jesus came into Peter's house, he saw Peter's mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.

NIV Matthew 10:1-2
1. He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
2. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John;

NIV Matthew 14:28-31
28. "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."
29. "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
30. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"
31. Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"

NIV Matthew 15:13-16
13. He replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots.
14. Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit."
15. Peter said, "Explain the parable to us."
16. "Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them.

As you can see, Simon was already known as 'Peter'

BEFORE the following verses came along.....

NIV Matthew 16:13-18
13. When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"
14. They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
15. "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
16. Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
17. Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.
18. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

19. 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."