The False Teaching
The Catholic View From Mt.16:18,19: And
I say to you that: You are Peter (petros), and upon this rock (petra) will I build my
assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will
give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens, and whatever you
bind on earth will have been bound in the heavens, and whatever you
loose on earth will have been loosed in the heavens.
By the word "rock" the Saviour cannot have meant
Himself, but only Peter, as is so much more apparent in Aramaic in which the
same word (Kipha) is used for "Peter" and "rock". His statement then admits of
but one explanation, namely, that He wishes to make Peter the head of the whole
community of those who believed in Him as the true Messias; that through this
foundation (Peter) the Kingdom of Christ would be unconquerable; that the
spiritual guidance of the faithful was placed in the hands of Peter, as the
special representative of Christ.
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Exposing the Error
The Lord absolutely forbids an hierarchy among disciples, therefore he does not assign primacy to any one of them.
Lk.22:24-27: So [a] dispute also came to pass among them, who of
them seems to be greater. But he said to them: The
kings of the nations lord over them, and those having authority over them are
called benefactors. But you [are] not thus, but the
[one] greater among you let him become as the least, and the [one] leading
as the [one] serving.
That is clear enough, but only a small part of the evidence. We also have this (Mt.23:8f):
But do not be called Rabbi, for one is your teacher, and all [of] you are
brothers. And do not call [anyone] your father on the
earth, for one is your father in the heavens. Neither be called
leaders, for your leader is one, the Christ. But the greater of you will be your servant. But whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and
whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. There are no Fathers, no teachers, and no leaders in the flock of Jesus!
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Declaring the Truth
In the Greek of the gospels,
Peter=petros (a small stone) and rock = petra (bedrock,
as in Mt.7:24,25 & Lk.6:48). The difference is massive! It is
to
the bedrock that the Lord entrusts the keys of the kingdom. Petra
(the bedrock) refers to the local assembly of disciples as we see from
below, where the Lord commits the same authority of the keys (to bind
and loose) to
the local assembly of two or three: (Mt.18:18f) Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on the earth
will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on the earth will have
been loosed in heaven. Again I truly say to you
that if two among you be in agreement on the earth concerning any matter that
they ask , it will come to
pass from my father in [the] heavens. For when two
or three are gathered in my name, I am there in their midst. How does this work? Because I am there in their midst.
The authority of the keys is that of the Lord himself, working through
his disciples that have received him as his Holy Word.
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