Roman Catholic Theology:Is Peter the Rock Upon Which Jesus was Building His Church?

The claim from the RC church that Peter is the rock on which the Church is built is from Matthew 16:18. After Peter confesses: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," Jesus says to him: "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (NASB). On this verse the RC church bases her whole doctrine. How do we know if they are correct or in error? As good Bereans, we should do at least the following 2 things whenever we are offered an interpretation of scripture:

1. First and foremost, we must establish the local context in which the verse in question lies. Who is the speaker? Who is the audience and what understanding did they have of the things being spoken of? For the latter, reading relevant parts of the Talmud (or Jewish oral traditions) would help to understand the mindset of those Jews who joined the early church. What was being done or said before and after the verse? If it is a letter, re-read the entire letter in one sitting to get the greater context as well as tone.
2. Secondly, carefully examine key words within the verse in question. Then search the entire Bible for these key words to find out how the Bible uses these terms in the rest of scripture. Anyone is capable of doing this, and with modern computer technology and freely available Bible software (ie. http://www.e-sword.net/), it is quite easy. Without these, a concordance will help. In this case, we want to look at the term "Rock" and any variants, such as "stone," etc.

Of course, whenever approaching scripture, we must do so in prayer and in submission to the Holy Spirit's leading. It is very easy and natural for us to look for support for our current understanding. If scripture disagrees with our current understanding, we must be open to allow the Holy Spirit to teach us and to renew our minds and to correct us. One of the keys to reading the Bible is to never read a verse. Never ever read a verse in isolation; always read it in its contexts (both local and within the general context of scripture).

Local Context:

In the local context of Matt 16:18, we immediately see the following. Prior to the discussion in question, we read in verses 8-11 that Jesus is rebuking His disciples for their lack of comprehension. Jesus clarifies that He was not speaking about physical bread when warning them to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Matthew then writes that they then realized that Jesus was not speaking literally of the leaven of bread but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. [NOTE: make a mental note of this, as it will come into play when dealing with the physical properties of the bread and the wine].

Next, Jesus asks His disciples firstly who others think He is, and secondly who they think He is. When Peter replies correctly, that Jesus is the Christ - the Son of the living God, Jesus blesses him indicating the this information was revealed to him by the Father above. Jesus tells Peter his name and that upon "this" rock He will build His church. Then Jesus gives Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven and the power to bind and loose on earth.

The following context is often missed by those supporting the RC interpretation. First, Jesus charges His disciples to tell no one that He was the Christ. Second, He begins to show them how he must suffer and be killed to which Peter rebukes Jesus, telling Him that this shall never happen to Him. What is Jesus' response now? "Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man" (Mat 16:23, ESV). And this man, Peter, is the "rock" that the RC church leans so heavily upon? Not to mention that Peter was also the disciple who outright denied even knowing Christ three times -- and in fact, this specific example seems to serve precisely to demonstrate that Peter is not
THE rock. You should be asking yourself, "is Peter the rock being spoken of by Jesus, or am I missing something?". Next, let\'s look at the broad context of scripture in the word "rock."

Broad Context: scriptural references to "rock" --

In the scripture, there are more than 100 references with the word "rock." The following is a highlight of my findings:


• Rock is a term often used to refer to God as the author's salvation, refuge and deliverer (ie. 1 Sam 2:2-3; 2 Sam 22:1-4; 22:29-37; 22:47; Psalms 18:2-3; 18:46; 19:14; 31:2-3; 62:2; 71:3; 78:35; 89:26; Isaiah 26:4; etc.)
  
• Several times the statement "There is no other Rock; I know not one" is made of God (ie. Isaiah 44:8; Psalms 18:31).
  
• One of the few times rock is used to describe something other than God is in Isaiah 31:5-9 where the Assyrian's rock will pass away because of panic. Here, a different Hebrew word for rock is used (strong's H5553).
  
• One interesting verse that stuck out to me was Psalms 61:2b where David, the great Psalmist and a man after God's own heart says "Lead me to the rock that is higher than I".
  
• Isaiah 51:1-2 is a very interesting and powerful set of verses. Here, Isaiah refers to the people of God as pieces hewn from the rock. He reminds them to look to their father Abraham and Sarah who gave birth to them in pain. When he was but one, God called him, blessed him and multiplied him. This is very much an image forshadowing Christ, the only righteous one whom the Father blessed and multiplied in the church (us).
  
• Earlier in Matthew, (7:24-25), we get a clear picture of the imagery Jesus is calling upon in 16:18: "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock." So it is the wise man who builds his house on the rock.
  
• In Romans 9:30-33, Paul clarifies for us that the stumbling stone, the rock of offense is Christ -- that those who believe in Him will not be disappointed.
  
• In Ephesians 4:15, Paul identifies the head of the church as Christ.
  
• In 1 Cor 10:1-4, Paul identifies clearly who the rock is: "...and the rock was Christ."
  
• Peter himself explains that he was not "the unique cornerstone of the church" in 1 Peter 2:4-10:
  

  1 Peter 2:4-10 (NASB, capitalization used for OT quotations):
  (4) And coming to Him as to a living stone (G3037) which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, (5) you also, as living stones (G3037), are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (6) For this is contained in Scripture: "BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE (G3037), A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED." (7) This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, "THE STONE (G3037) WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone," (8) and, "A STONE (G3037) OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK (G4073) OF OFFENSE"; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed. (9) But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; (10) for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY."

Clearly then, all of scripture contradicts the view that Peter would be "The Rock" upon which the church is built. The scripture states that all believers are like little living stones hewn from the Rock, that is Christ. In fact, another scripture that seems to confirm this understanding further is Rev 2:17 where Jesus declares to those who overcome, "...I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it." Why give a stone? Because it reminds us that we are new creatures in Christ, that we are now in fact a piece of Christ and receive a our new identity in Him.

Finally, John 21:15-17 is often used to support the statement that Peter is the chief leader of the church. However, these verses do not state this! Jesus knows things about Peter that we don't and He knows His heart. He asks if Peter is more committed to Him than the fish. Then He commands him to "Tend My lambs," "Feed My sheep" and "Tend My sheep." Peter, in addition to being a fisher of men, was to be a shepherd -- a tender and feeder of the flock -- but nowhere does it state that Peter should be the chief shepherd of the flock. If Jesus was inferring that he was the chief shepherd, there would be much more said about Peter such as the prophecies about David or Abraham and their decendents. But nothing of the sort is said about Peter. In light of other scripture, we can clearly see that Peter being the chief shepherd/leader is an incorrect interpretation of this passage.