Oh come on Jesus did not call Peter the Rock. Jesus called Peter a little stone. Jesus said He would build His church on Himself not poor old Peter. If Peter were here today he would slap anyone who made such a statement up alongside their head.
The keys are figurative? Scripture is the keys to opening the kingdom of God.
For the cause of Christ
Roger
Whatever kind of rock you want it to be....
It's known about the big rock and the little rock --- nothing new.
I usually don't post links, but this would become too lengthy, so I will in this case.
You could Google much information on this. The problem is that many are bothered to have Peter be the one on whom the Church is built. Jesus is the CORNERSTONE, 1 Corinthians 3:15 talks to this, but it becomes complicated. It talks about how God will judge Teachers and preachers.
This does not intimidate or limit Jesus in any way. SOMEONE had to begin His Church.
If you care not to believe what most theologians believe, that's Ok with me.
This is not something I'm willing to argue...
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In Evangelical circles, the "little rock, big rock" theory is fairly recent. Nearly every Protestant commentary written in the last 50 years interprets Peter as the rock upon which the Church was built. (However, they didn't believe that Peter had a successor, more about that here ). The scholarly Evangelical work, Carson's "Expositors Bible Commentary" explains this well. It is in the section on Matthew 16. These Evangelical scholars looked closely at the Greek word for rock "Petra" and determined that it refers to Peter. The early Christians also referred to Peter as the Rock. Some Quotes are here.
We don't think the "little rock, big rock" theory hold up under scrutiny. Jesus built his Church on people, not a declaration. Following through on the passage we see that Jesus gave the keys to the kingdom to St. Peter, not to his declaration. The Reformer, Martin Luther, said this:
Why are you searching heavenward in search of my keys? Do you not understand, Jesus said, 'I gave them to Peter. They are indeed the keys of heaven, but they are not found in heaven for I left them on earth. Peter's mouth is my mouth, his tongue is my key case, his keys are my keys. They are an office. They are a power, a command given by God through Christ to all of Christendom for the retaining and remitting of the sins of men. (Martin Luther 1530 - after he left the Church)(1)
W. F. Albright, one of the best known Protestant theologians of this century, in his Anchor Bible Commentary, says:
Peter as the Rock will be the foundation of the future community, the church....To deny the pre-eminent position of Peter among the disciples or in the early Christian community is a denial of the evidence.
I recently spoke with a grammar specialist who is not Catholic. She explainedthat the adjective "this" grammatically must refer to the nearest preceding noun, which was Peter, not his declaration which occurs two verses earlier.
upon this rock
When Jesus says "whatever you bind" to Peter in Mat 16:18, the Greek text used for "you" is singular. In Mat 18:18 the Greek text, the word for "you" in "whatever you bind" is plural. Catholics think these two juxtaposed but similar phrases lay out the early structure of the Church with Peter as the Pope and the other apostles as priests.
Examples of Peter's Authority among the Apostles
Next to Jesus, Peter is mentioned more than any other apostle in Scripture (152 times).
He stood up and spoke on behalf of the apostles (Mt 19:27, Acts 1:15, 2:14)
He stood up at the birth of the Church at the Pentecost to lead them. (Acts 2:14)
The disciples were referred to as Peter and the Apostles. (Acts 2:37, 5:29)
Peter was given the authority to forgive sins before the rest of the apostles. (Mat 16:18)
He was always named first when the apostles were listed (Matthew 10:1-4, Mark 3:16-19, Luke 6:14-16, Acts 1:13) -- sometimes it was only "Peter and those who were with him" (Luke 9:32);
John ran ahead of Peter to the tomb but upon arriving he stopped and did not go in. He waited and let Peter go in. (Jn 20:4)
Jesus told Peter to "feed my lambs...tend my sheep... feed my sheep." (Jn 21:15-17) The difference between a sheep and a lamb might be significant. A lamb is a baby, a sheep is an adult. Perhaps Jesus was asking Peter to take care of both the general people (the lambs), and the apostles (sheep). Regardless of that interpretation of sheep and lambs, it is clear Jesus is asking Peter to feed and tend his flock. That is what a shepherd does. It appearsthat he is asking Peter to shepherd his Church on earth, on his behalf.
What about Bill Webster's accusations in "The Church of Rome at the Bar of History"
Recently a Reformed Baptist named Bill Webster tried to deny the irrefutable concensus among the Fathers of the Church the Peter is the Rock and that his office was established by Christ and passed on to successors until this day. A great response to that charge by Steve Ray is here.
Early Church quotes about Peter as the Rock
Tatian the Syrian (170 A.D.)
"Simon Kephas answered and said, 'You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.' Jesus answered and said unto him, 'Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah: flesh and blood has not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say unto thee also, that you are Kephas, and on this Rock will I build my Church; and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it" (The Diatesseron 23 [A.D. 170]).
Tertullian (220 A.D.):
"Was anything hid from Peter, who was called the Rock, whereon the Church was built; who obtained the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and the power of loosing and of binding in heaven and on earth?" (Tertullian, De Praescript Haeret).
Tertullian thereafter writes to criticize Pope Callistus I by saying ....
"I now inquire into your opinions, to see whence you usurp the right for the Church. Do you presume, because the Lord said to Peter, 'On this rock I will build my Church ...[Matt 16-19]' that the power of binding and loosing has thereby been handed over to you, that is, to every church akin to Peter? What kind of man are you, subverting and changing what was the manifest intent of the Lord when He conferred this ***personally on Peter****? 'On you,' He says, 'I will build my Church; and I give to you the keys'...." (Tertullian, On Modesty 21:9-10)
The Apocryphal Letter of St. Clement of Rome to St. James (C. 221 A.D.)
"Be it known to you, my lord, that Simon [Peter], who, for the sake of the true faith, and the most sure foundation of his doctrine, was set apart to be the foundation of the Church, and for this end was by Jesus Himself, with His truthful mouth, named Peter" (Letter of Clement to James 2 [A.D. 221])
The Clementine Homilies (C. 221)
"[Simon Peter said to Simon Magus in Rome:] For you now stand in direct opposition to me, who am a firm rock, the foundation of the Church [Matt. 16:18]" (Clementine Homilies 17:19 [A.D. 221]).
St. Hippolytus (225 A.D.):
"Peter, the Rock of the Church ..." (Hippolytus in S. Theophan, n. 9, Galland, ii. p. 494). "Peter, the Rock of the Faith, whom Christ our Lord called blessed, the teacher of the Church, the first disciple, he who has the Keys of the Kingdom." (Hippolytus, Ex Fabricio, Op. Hippol. tom. ii. De Fine Mundi et de Antichristo, n. 9).
Origen (230-250 A.D.):
"See what the Lord said to Peter, that great foundation of the Church, and most solid Rock, upon which Christ founded the Church ..." (Origen, In Exodus. Hom. v. . 4 tom. ii).
"Look at [Peter], the great foundation of the Church, that most solid of rocks, upon whom Christ built the Church [Matt. 16:18]. And what does our Lord say to him? 'Oh you of little faith,' he says, 'why do you doubt?'" [Matt. 14:31] (Homilies on Exodus 5:4 [A.D. 248]).
"Upon him (Peter), as on the earth, the Church was founded." (Origen, Ep. ad. Rom. lib. v.c. 10, tom iv.)
"Peter, upon whom is built Christ's Church, against which the gates of hell will not prevail." (Origen, T. iv. In Joan. Tom. v.)
St. Cyprian (246 A.D.):
"For first to Peter, upon whom He built the Church, and from whom He appointed and showed that unity should spring ..." (Cyprian, Ep. lxxiiii ad Fubaian).
"God is one, and Christ is one, and the Church is one, and the Chair (of Peter) is one, by the Lord's word, upon a Rock ..." (Cyprian, Ep. xl. ad Pleb).
"There is one God and one Christ and but one episcopal chair, originally founded on Peter, by the Lord's authority. There cannot, therefore, be set up another altar or another priesthood. Whatever any man in his rage or rashness shall appoint, in defiance of the divine institution, must be a spurious, profane and sacrilegious ordinance" (St. Cyprian, The Unity of the Catholic Church)
"Peter, also to whom the Lord commends His sheep to be fed and guarded, on whom He laid the foundation of the Church ...." (Cyprian, De Habitu Virg).
