Jesus DID NOT build his church on Peter

Jesus DID NOT build his church on Peter

 

Catholic tradition states that Jesus told Peter that on him he would build his church.

“[Christ] wished [Peter] who had been received into partnership in his undivided unity to be named what he himself was, when he said: ‘You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church’, that the building of the eternal temple might rest on Peter’s solid rock”

Pope Leo I (Letters 10:1) 445AD 

The thrice blessed and all-glorious Peter the apostle, who is the rock and foundation of the Catholic Church, and the foundation of the orthodox faith.”

Council of Chalcedon (Acts of the Council, session 3)

 

This comes from one passage in the new testament found in the Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

 

Peter…….the rock of the Catholic Church……the Chuch of Jesus is not built on Peter. 

Now if taken on its own, a single verse, out of context and understanding this verse could very well support the teaching that Peter is in fact the Rock.

However,  when we look into this statement and the context we will see that Jesus didn’t call Peter the rock on which he would build his church. 
Although the name Peter can mean rock or stone Jesus was simply calling him by the name Peter the Greek word used is Petros which is strongs 4074, which is a name,  when he then refers to the rock on which he will build his church the word used is actually the word for rock not the name, which is petra strongs word 4073 , it is a mistake to say that he was saying you are Peter on you I will build my church. The name Petros is derived from the word for Rock but they are not the same. 

Jesus was actually referring to Peter’s statement about him being the Christ and the son of God.

This is how many pre Nicene church fathers AND rather interestingly, Augustine, understood the verse.
 
3. What then says Christ? You are Simon, the son of Jonas; you shall be called Cephas. Thus since you have proclaimed my Father, I too name him that begot you; all but saying, As you are son of Jonas, even so am I of my Father. Else it were superfluous to say, You are Son of Jonas; but since he had said, Son of God, to point out that He is so Son of God, as the other son of Jonas, of the same substance with Him that begot Him, therefore He added this, And I say unto you, You are Peter, and upon this rock will I build my Church; Matthew 16:18 that is, on the faith of his confession. Hereby He signifies that many were now on the point of believing, and raises his spirit, and makes him a shepherd. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And if not against it, much more not against me. So be not troubled because you are shortly to hear that I shall be betrayed and crucified.
Chrystostom Homily on Matthew 54:3 

 

Let no one then foolishly suppose that the Christ is any other than the only begotten Son. Let us not imagine ourselves wiser than the gift of the Spirit. Let us hear the words of the great Peter, ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Let us hear the Lord Christ confirming this confession, for ‘On this rock,’ He says, ‘I will build my church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.’ Wherefore too the wise Paul, most excellent master builder of the churches, fixed no other foundation than this. ‘I,’ he says, ‘as a wise master builder have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.’ How then can they think of any other foundation, when they are bidden not to fix a foundation, but to build on that which is laid? The divine writer recognises Christ as the foundation, and glories in this title.
Letters of Theodoret 146, To John the Economus

 

but I know that afterwards I very frequently explained^as follows what the Lord said: “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will construct my church;””^ as follows: “Upon this” means on him whom Peter confessed saying: “Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God.”® And

thus Peter, designated by this rock, plays the role of the church which is built on this rook and which had received the keys of the kingdom of heaven. For what was said was not “Thou art a rock,” but “Thou art Peter. Now the rock was Christ,^^ and 5imon acknowledged it, just as the whole church also acknowledges it, and was called Peter. However, the reader may choose which of these two notions is the more plausible
Augustine Retraction page 152-153

 

Tertullian did understand this to be a statement to Peter but stated that is was ONLY in reference to Peter, not something that was passed down. 

If, because the Lord has said to Peter, Upon this rock will I build My Church, to you have I given the keys of the heavenly kingdom; or, Whatsoever you shall have bound or loosed in earth, shall be bound or loosed in the heavens, you therefore presume that the power of binding and loosing has derived to you, that is, to every Church akin to Peter, what sort of man are you, subverting and wholly changing the manifest intention of the Lord, conferring (as that intention did) this (gift) personally upon Peter?  On you, He says, will I build My Church; and, I will give to you the keys, not to the Church; and, Whatsoever you shall have loosed or bound, not what they shall have loosed or bound. For so withal the result teaches. In (Peter) himself the Church was reared; that is, through (Peter) himself; (Peter) himself essayed the key; you see what (key)
Tertullian on Modesty chapter 21

 

Origen understood this to be a reference to every Christian 

You are Peter, etc. Matthew 16:18 For a rock is every disciple of Christ of whom those drank who drank of the spiritual rock which followed them, 1 Corinthians 10:4 and upon every such rock is built every word of the church, and the polity in accordance with it; for in each of the perfect, who have the combination of words and deeds and thoughts which fill up the blessedness, is the church built by God.
Origen Commentary on Mathew book 12 chapter 10 

 

Basil of Selucia (5th Century) ascribed this to the statement made by Peter 

‘You, however, who do you say I am?’ And silence held them all suspended, for not all knew. But when Jesus asked, acknowledged ignorance in some divine way suggested a response to Peter, and towards a response he was spontaneously moved, like a lyre endowed with reason and roused by action of invisible hands. In obedience the tongue of Peter sought employment and though ignorant of doctrine, supplied a response: ‘You are Christ, Son of the living God.’ Jesus confirmed this statement with his approbation, thereby instructing all: ‘Blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in Heaven.’ He called Peter blessed, so that Peter might join faith to his statement, just as he praised the response because of its meaning…Now Christ called this confession a rock, and he named the one who confessed it ‘Peter,’ perceiving the appellation which was suitable to the author of this confession. For this is the solemn rock of religion, this the basis of salvation, this the wall of faith and the foundation of truth: ‘For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus.’ To whom be glory and power forever.[note]Oratio XXV.4, M.P.G., Vol. 85, Col. 296-297.

 

 

Jesus asked his disciples who people said he was

Matthew 16:13When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

Simon Peter responds

Matthew 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God

Jesus respond back to him

Matthew 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven

Then Jesus says you are Peter on this rock I will build my church. The rock that Jesus will build his church on is the truth that he is the Christ and the son of God. Jesus uses a play on words because Peter is the one who made the confession of Jesus being the Christ. But he was not calling Peter the rock itself. 

Then Jesus states he will give Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven

Matthew 16:19And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Was Jesus really only giving Peter the Keys to heaven? This was just Peter? 

 

The Kindom of heaven is accessed via faith in Jesus, that he is the son of God.

Matthew 7:21 – Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

John 6:39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Therefore the keys that Peter has been given is his very own confession, his own BELIEF that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God. That belief is the key to the kingdom of heaven.

Notice that Jesus doesn’t just say he will give the keys to Heaven, he links this with the statement and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

These are linked together. 

In Matthew 18 Jesus tells all the disciples the same clause. 

Matthew 18:18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Jesus links this with gathering together and Jesus being there. (sounds like Church to me) 

Matthew 18:19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

In the Gospel of Luke Jesus is recorded as having addressed  the Pharisses and saying that they had taken away the KEY of knowledge and that they entered not in and had stopped others entering in. 

Luke 11;52Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered. 53 And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things: 54 Laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him.

So we should ask what key and what had they not entered into and stopped others from entering into? 

Matthew records the same story, but in Matthew’s narrative he explains that it was the kingdom of heaven that they had shut up….by taking away the KEY (as Luke told us) 

Matthew 23:13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

 

What key had they taken away…the fact that Jesus was the Christ. The scriptures taught that Jesus was the Christ but they took away the key and denied him, thus shutting up the kingdom to themselves and they taught that Jesus was not the Christ thus shutting up the kingdom for others. 

We are told about the key in Isaiah 22

Isaiah 22:20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah: 21And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. 22 And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.

The new testament applies this to Jesus.  Notice verse 8 refers to not denying the name of Jesus.

Revelation 3:7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; 8I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

The key to heaven is the acceptance, the proclomation that Jesus is the Christ. 

The catholic church will make the argument that Jesus spoke Aramaic and when we look at the the name of Peter in Aramaic (Kaypha) this means rock, but the texts are not written in Aramaic they are in Greek and therefore this has to be assumed and does not come from the scriptures themselves. There is no proof that Matthew was originally written in Aramaic although the catholic church will maintain the fact that it was. Most New testament scholars hold to the belief that Matthew was originally written in Greek. And the Greek does not support the claim. I believe Jesus spoke Hebrew not Aramaic, I have done a study on this elsewhere. 

It should also be noted that Simon’s name was changed to Peter long before this. We see this in John 1:42

John 1:42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.

Here John explains the word. 

Jesus calls him Cephus (Aramaic word) and then John explains that this means Petros. BOTH Cephus (Kephas) and Petros refer to a small rock or stone, not a large mass of rock. 

They will also say that in the Greek there was no choice but to use the 2 different words as Petra is the feminine version and Matthew couldn’t have called Peter Petra. But the bible is the inspired word of God. Knowing that this may have caused confusion later on it would have been much easier to have stated you are Peter on you I will build my church.

It would seem that there are 2 different interpretations of the verse one saying that Peter is the rock and another saying Jesus, so we have to put this one statement into the context of the rest of the New Testament. Does the rest of the New testament establish Peter as the rock on which Jesus would indeed build his church upon or does it point to Jesus. It has to be asked what does it even mean that Peter is the foundation of the church?

Let’s have a look at what the New testament has to say

1 Corinthians 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
In this verse alone we see Jesus must have been referring to himself when he said this is the rock. As no other man can lay the foundation that is Jesus.

Jesus is the rock on which the church is built, he is the foundation.
Peter himself cannot be the rock because no man can be what Jesus is.

Peter was far from a rock stable enough to build the foundation of the church. 
He lacked faith when Jesus walked on the water

Matthew 14:25And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. 26And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. 27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
28And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me 31And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

He denied Jesus 3 times at the trial of Jesus 

Luke 22:54 Then took they him, and led him, and brought him into the high priest’s house. And Peter followed afar off. 55And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and were set down together, Peter sat down among them. 56 But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, This man was also with him. 57And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not. 58And after a little while another saw him, and said, Thou art also of them. And Peter said, Man, I am not. 59And about the space of one hour after another confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this fellow also was with him: for he is a Galilaean. 60And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. 61And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. 62And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.

He was even rebuked by Paul in Galatians

Galatians 2:11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. 12For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. 13And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. 14But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?

In the 1st Epistle of Peter there are 2 references to Jesus being the stone and being rejected

1 Peter 2:4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,

1 Peter 2:7 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,

Peter is quoting Psalm 118 here. 

Psalm 118:22 The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.

And in the very next verse Jesus is referred to as a stumbling stone and a ROCK of offence to those that are disobedient

1 Peter 2:8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

The word translated as ROCK is πέτρᾳ patra

So Peter himself called Jesus the Rock using the exact same word that Jesus used for what he would build his church on.

Paul also referred to  Jesus by the term Rock. 

1 Corinthians 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

 

Matthew was aware of this too

Matthew 21:42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

The scripture he was referring to was from the old testament that mentioned the stone that was rejected an obvious reference to Jesus.

Psalm 18:22 The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.

Again this is mentioned in the book of Acts

Acts 4K11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.

The specific form Petra is used just 4 times in the Bible once to refer to the rock on which Jesus would build his church, twice to refer to Jesus himself and once to refer to the rock that lined the tomb of Jesus

Matthew 27:60 And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed

Not once in anyway does it refer to Peter.

Jesus is said to be the foundation of the Apostles and the prophets

Ephesians 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

The Bible says that NO other foundation can be laid. 

1 Corinthians 3:10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Nowhere in the bible does it ever call Peter the foundation of the church that Jesus would build. If Peter was to be that rock then it would be reasonable to expect Jesus and the disciples to have made this clear during the rest of the bible. The writers of the New testament did not do this.

The context of Matthew 16 :18 is in relation to JESUS is….

Matthew 16:13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

And it end with who JESUS is… 

Matthew 16:20 Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.

 

The rock on which the church is built is the fact that Jesus is the Messiah. To believe that Peter is the rock on which the church is built is to completely take away and diminish the message that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God. To remove him as our foundation and install Peter which is exactly what the Roman Catholic Church has done for anyone that follows its message instead of the Bibles. The Catholic Church builds its doctrines on verses not the full Bible message in context and understanding.

 

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