(image courtesy Pinterest)
By Spencer D Gear PhD
āAnd I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against itā (Matt 16:18 ESV).
This verse has caused controversy for 2,000 years. It shouldnāt if we knew the context and the Greek language used.
1. Roman Catholic teaching
The Roman Catholic interpretation is that the apostle Peter is the foundation of the Catholic Church. The Council of Chalcedon in 451 concluded:
Wherefore the most holy and blessed Leo, archbishop of the great and elder Rome, through us, and through this present most holy synod, together with 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, has stripped him [Dioscorus] of the episcopate (Extracts from the Acts of the Council, Session III, emphasis added).
Catholic Straight Answers leaves no doubt: āWithout question, St. Peter was the first pope of the Catholic Churchā.
2. Greek and Peter the Pope
Does the NT Greek text confirm Peter as the first Pope, according to this verse?
Ā āYou are Peterā. Here, Peter is the Greek, petros (masculine), which was a proper name for the Aramaic, Cephas.
Ā Then there is a pun, a play on words. This pun has caused theological heart-burn down through the centuries.
āon this rockā uses petra (feminine) for rock and not petros ā and a different gender. What could Jesus be referring to?
Ā Some interpreters have tried to see Peter as a rock on which Jesus builds his church but Jesus is the foundation.
Ā A play on words is common in Scripture (e.g. Ex 3:14) and should not be minimised because of this. It is still God-breathed Scripture.
It is true petros and petra mean āstoneā and ārockā respectively in earlier Greek than the NT. However, in this passage, Jesus probably means in the underlying Aramaic, āYou are kepha and on this kephaā since the word was used both for a name and a ārockā (Carson 1984:368).
If Jesus wanted to say (through Matthewās Gospel) that Peter was a stone in contrast to Jesus, the Rock, he could have used lithos for āstoneā but there would be no pun used and that would defeat Jesusā purpose.
The objection that Peter considers Jesus the rock is insubstantial because metaphors are commonly used variously, till they become stereotyped, and sometimes even then. Here Jesus builds his church; in 1 Corinthians 3:10, Paul is āan expert builder.ā In 1 Corinthians 3:11, Jesus is the churchās foundation; in Ephesians 2:19-20, the apostles and prophets are the foundation (cf. also Rev 21:14), and Jesus is the ācornerstone.ā Here Peter has the keys; in Revelation 1:18; 3:7, Jesus has the keys. In John 9:5, Jesus is āthe light of the worldā; in Matthew 5:14, his disciples are. None of these pairs threatens Jesusā uniqueness. They simply show how metaphors must be interpreted primarily with reference to their immediate contexts (Carson 1984:368).
āOn this rockā refers to a ledge or cliff of rock as in Matt 7:24 where the wise man built his house on the rock. Petros is usually a smaller piece of rock. However, we shouldnāt make too much of this distinction as Jesus probably spoke Aramaic and the pun was used regularly.
The point is that Jesus is speaking of the building of the ekklesia (church). In the NT ekklesia is used of both a local congregation and in the general sense of āthe churchā. Usually, the word referred to a local assembly (e.g. Acts 19:39) but became associated with an unassembled group that was persecuted (Acts 8:3).
A T Robertsonās conclusion is sound:
The wealth of imagery in Matthew 16:18 makes it difficult to decide each detail, but the main point is clear. The ekklesia which consists of those confessing Christ as Peter has just done will not cease. The gates of Hades or bars of Sheol will not close down on it. Christ will rise and will keep his church alive (Robertson 1930:131-132).
3. Peter not first Pope
Hierarchy of the Catholic Church
Saint Peter ā (image courtesy Wikipedia)
Ā Peter could not have been the first Pope for a number of reasons (based on Geisler & Howe 1992:347-348):
Ā Popes and RC priests are celibate but Peter was married (Matt 8:14).
Ā We know from Gal 2:14, Paul had to rebuke Peter for his hypocrisy because āthey were not acting in line with the truth of the gospelā. Peter was not infallible in his teachings and practice.
Ā The Roman Catholic Church clearly contradicts Scripture by making the Pope the foundation of the Church. The RCC website states:
Jesus spoke Aramaic, and, as John 1:42 tells us, in everyday life he [Jesus] actually referred to Peter as Kepha or Cephas (depending on how it is transliterated). It is that term which is then translated into Greek as petros. Thus, what Jesus actually said to Peter in Aramaic was: āYou are Kepha and on this very kepha I will build my Churchā (What the Early Church Believed: Peter as Pope).
This article then provides examples from the Early Church Fathers that āJesus promised to build the Church on Peterā ā the first Pope.
However, this clashes with 1 Corinthians 3:11 (NIV) which states, āFor no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christā.
Ā The church is ābuilt on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstoneā (Eph. 2:20 NIV). It is not built on Peter, the first Pope. What did the early church do? āThey devoted themselves to the apostlesā teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayerā (Acts 2:42). It was not a devotion to the apostle Peterās teaching.
Ā Peter was not head of the first church council in Jerusalem.
There is no indication that Peter was the head of the early church. When the first council was held at Jerusalem, Peter played only an introductory role (Acts 15:6ā11). James seems to have a more significant position, summing up the conference and making the final pronouncement (cf. Acts 15:13ā21). In any event, Peter is never referred to as the āpillarā in the church. Rather, Paul speaks of āpillarsā (plural), such as, āJames, Cephas, and Johnā (Gal. 2:9). Peter (Cephas) is not even listed first among the pillars (Geisler & Howe 1992:348)
Some Protestant interpreters want to make āthis rockā refer to Peter who gave the solid (rock-like) testimony that Jesus was āthe Christ, the son of the living Godā (Matt 16:16).
However, a significant difficulty with this view is that Peter was a rock and not the rock. And he was not āthe only apostolic rock. Peter affirmed this in his own writing:
So the honour is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,
āThe stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstoneā (1 Peter 2:7 ESV)
There is nothing in this passage about Peterās and his successorsā infallibility, exclusive authority when speaking ex cathedra. It creates overwhelming exegetical and historical problems for this position, especially after Peterās death and the appointment of another apostle to replace him.
What the NT does show is that Peter is the first to make this formal confession and that his prominence continues in the earliest years of the church (Acts 1-12). But he, along with John, can be sent by other apostles (Acts 8:14); and he is held accountable for his actions by the Jerusalem church (Acts 11:1-18) and rebuked by Paul (Gal 2:11-14). He is, in short, primus inter pares (āfirst among equalsā); and on the foundation of such men (Eph 2:20), Jesus built his church (Carson 1984:368).
4. āThe gates of hell shall not prevail against itā
āHellā is Hades in this text. Some interpreters consider this indicates Satanās strength with his legion of followers because āgatesā in other biblical and non-biblical literature points to defence (5:22; 11:23). They see the church, being built by God, as not being defeated by the hosts of darkness (Gen 22:17; Ps 127:5).
Other interpreters focus on Hades and Rev 1:18, claiming that ādeath will not prevent Messiahās people from rising at the last dayā¦. But
āGates of Hadesā ⦠seems to refer to death and dyingā¦. Because the church is the assembly of people Jesus Messiah is building, it cannot die. This claim is ridiculous if Jesus is nothing above an overconfident popular preacher in an unimportant vassal state of first-century Rome. It is the basis of all hope for those who see Jesus as the Messiah who builds his church (Carson1984:370).
That seems to be the most reasonable conclusion Iāve encountered.
So, that leads to these Bible translations: the powers of death will not overcome the church (RSV), will not have any power over it (CEV), will not prevail against it (ESV, NRSV), will not overpower it (CSB, NIV), āwill not be able to defeat my churchā (ERV), will not conquer it (NLT), and will not be strong enough to destroy itā (NIRV).
These verses contain other controversial issues. See my article on Matthew 16:19 ā binding and loosing.
5. Works consulted
Büchsel, F 1964. Dew, luw. In Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, G. Kittel (ed.), G W Bromiley (transl. & ed.), vol 2, 60-61. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
Carson, D. A. 1984. Matthew. In F. A. Gaebelein (Gen. Ed.), The Expositorās Bible Commentary (Vol. 8), (pp. 1-599). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Regency Reference Library (Zondervan Publishing House).
Edersheim, A 1953. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans. Christian Classics Ethereal Library, public domain. Available at: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/edersheim/lifetimes.html (Accessed 28 January 2020).
Geisler, N & Howe, T 1992. When Critics Ask: A Popular Handbook on Bible Difficulties. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books.
MacArthur, J 1969. Does the Bible teach that Christians can bind Satan and demons? Grace to You (online). Available at: https://www.gty.org/library/questions/QA150/does-the-bible-teach-that-christians-can-bind-satan-and-demons (Accessed 28 January 2020).
Robertson, A T 1930. Word Pictures in the New Testament (vol. 1, Matthew and Mark). Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman Press.
Copyright Ā© 2020 Spencer D. Gear. This document last updated at Date: 05 January 2020.