More hocus pocus from you.
WAS THE CHURCH BUILT UPON PETER?
In their attempt to prove that the church was built upon
the apostle Peter, Catholics go to Matthew 16:18, where the
apostle records that Jesus stated, “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.”
Let us examine this passage. In the Greek language, “Peter”
is in the masculine gender (petros). Petros means a small
stone or pebble. Jesus used the feminine gender in the Greek
language for “rock” (petra) when He said, “upon this rock
I will build my church.” Petra means a ledge or cliff of
rock. In the light of the meaning of these two Greek words,
translated “rock” in Matthew 16:18, are we to conclude that
Jesus built His church on a pebble, or a cliff of rock? Indeed,
Jesus built His church on the foundation rock of truth that
Peter confessed, namely, that Jesus is, “the Christ, the Son
of the living God,” the New English Bible notwithstanding
(Mat. 16:16).
Catholics try to attack the previous “gender argument”
by pointing out that Jesus spoke Aramaic and not Greek; that
the book of Matthew originally appeared in Aramaic and,
unlike Greek, the genders are the same in Aramaic. I point
out that it is Catholic tradition—nothing more, nothing less,
and nothing else—that says the book of Matthew originally
appeared in Aramaic. It is merely a Catholic assertion that
such is the case. Where is the proof? Furthermore, if Jesus
originally spoke the words of Matthew 16:16 in Aramaic, it
was the Holy Spirit Who infallibly guided Matthew to write
Matthew 16:18 in Greek. Does anyone doubt that the Holy
Spirit knew how to say infallibly in Greek what Jesus said
infallibly in Aramaic—and, thus the different tenses?
Please consider the following points regarding the tenses
in Matthew 16:18:
1. The oldest Greek manuscripts have the words petros
and petra in this verse.
2. It is against sound rules of Biblical interpretation
(hermeneutics) to have Peter being the doorkeeper and at
the same time the foundation. At times, Jesus is called the
builder, the purchaser, the foundation, etc., of the church.
However, inspiration never has Jesus in a single figure occupying
more than one position or place at any one time.
3. Where in the New Testament does one find the apostles
and evangelists preaching, “Peter” as they planted churches?
It would seem that such would be the case if Peter—and not
Christ—was the foundation of the church. On the contrary,
as they established churches, they preached Christ as the
only foundation of the church (1 Cor. 3:11).
4. If, as the Catholics allege, it was true that the church
was built upon Peter the man, they would not be proving that
the church rested on any so-called successor or office. However,
if they mean that the church was built upon an “office,”
then it was not built on “the man” Peter. Of course, neither is
true, but this is a good example of Catholic “hocus pocus.”
