B
benedictus2
Guest
Now that I have had my dinner and have more time I will give a detailed answer to this post.
You are right Petros is a pebble, petra is a big rock. But that difference was in ancient, Attic Greek. By the1st century which is when the Gospel of Matthew was writen, what was in use was Koine Greek and petros and petra then were synonymous with “rock”.
But the thing is Jesus was not speaking in Greek but in Aramaic. In Aramaic there is only one word for rock , “kepha” which the greeks rendered as “Kephas’” which became “Cephas” in the Bible.
So what Jesus said was “Thou art Kepha and upon this kepha I will build my Church”. In straight English it reads “Thou art Rock and upon this rock I will build my Church”.
So why was it translated to petros and petra? Well, Greek grammar is different to Aramaic grammar. In Greek some nouns have gender. The greek word for rock, petr-a, is a feminine noun. But because Simon is male, they have to change the ending of the noun to to 'os" to make it male, so it becomes “petr-os” which was already used to mean rock during Matthew’s time.
First you say that the Church is the Body of Christ. That’s clear enough and I agree.
Then you said “it is on this statement and on his people that he will build hisChurch”. In this second phrase you are in effect saying that Christ “will build the Body of Christ upon the Body of Christ”.
Que?
Now, in Ceasaria Philippi there is this massive rock which stands over a cave. The pagans believed that this cave is a gateway to hades or to the underworld. Nearby is a temple which they used to make sacrifices to the greek god Pan, the god of the shepherds.
So here you have a cave which pagans believe to be the gateway to hades/hell. Christ guarantee therefore that the gates of hell will not prevail against his Church takes on a special meaning.
And saying this while they were standing next to the temple of Pan, the god of the shepherds, he is in effect transforming the idolatry of Pan to the true worship of Him, the Eternal Shepherd, under his shepherd here on earth, Peter, to whom in John 21:17 he will entrust his sheep.
If you go to this ( Stephen Ray Photos ) website you will see photos of this rock and the cave and the temple.
And you are saying that “you are those in their real meaning, Christ-like.” Well, just going by your earlier post, I and many will disagree with your claim of being Christ-like. You have just recently called the entire Catholic Church stupid just by the mere fact that we are Catholic.
Now do you think Christ would have done that?
Also, by saying that “you” are Christ-like is by itself the height of pride, that terrible sin of Adam, that got us into this terrible mess.
I believe though that you are Christian and sincere in your belief. Just totally misguided.

In Greek, the line would have read “You are Petros and upon this petra I will build my Church.”Im glad you brought this up, because Peter translates from greek to english as a small pebble while the rock that Jesus was talking about translates as a large substructure,
You are right Petros is a pebble, petra is a big rock. But that difference was in ancient, Attic Greek. By the1st century which is when the Gospel of Matthew was writen, what was in use was Koine Greek and petros and petra then were synonymous with “rock”.
But the thing is Jesus was not speaking in Greek but in Aramaic. In Aramaic there is only one word for rock , “kepha” which the greeks rendered as “Kephas’” which became “Cephas” in the Bible.
So what Jesus said was “Thou art Kepha and upon this kepha I will build my Church”. In straight English it reads “Thou art Rock and upon this rock I will build my Church”.
So why was it translated to petros and petra? Well, Greek grammar is different to Aramaic grammar. In Greek some nouns have gender. The greek word for rock, petr-a, is a feminine noun. But because Simon is male, they have to change the ending of the noun to to 'os" to make it male, so it becomes “petr-os” which was already used to mean rock during Matthew’s time.
You are not making sense here.and from our understanding that the church is the body of Christ as he told us, it is on this statement and his people he will build his church.
First you say that the Church is the Body of Christ. That’s clear enough and I agree.
Then you said “it is on this statement and on his people that he will build hisChurch”. In this second phrase you are in effect saying that Christ “will build the Body of Christ upon the Body of Christ”.
Que?
And what precisely is the context here? Where is the context you are talking about? How do you relate the gates of hades which is a river to your above statement?Also during where they were standing was on a boulder and the gates of hedes was believed to be a river. It is always the context that makes scripture so important.
Now, in Ceasaria Philippi there is this massive rock which stands over a cave. The pagans believed that this cave is a gateway to hades or to the underworld. Nearby is a temple which they used to make sacrifices to the greek god Pan, the god of the shepherds.
So here you have a cave which pagans believe to be the gateway to hades/hell. Christ guarantee therefore that the gates of hell will not prevail against his Church takes on a special meaning.
And saying this while they were standing next to the temple of Pan, the god of the shepherds, he is in effect transforming the idolatry of Pan to the true worship of Him, the Eternal Shepherd, under his shepherd here on earth, Peter, to whom in John 21:17 he will entrust his sheep.
If you go to this ( Stephen Ray Photos ) website you will see photos of this rock and the cave and the temple.
I am not saying you are not Christian. But by saying you do not have a religion, YOU are saying you are not Christian, because Christianity is a religion.You are right I do not have a religion, but that does not mean I am not christian or catholic, but I am those in their real meaning (Christ-like,part of the universal body of Christ)
And you are saying that “you are those in their real meaning, Christ-like.” Well, just going by your earlier post, I and many will disagree with your claim of being Christ-like. You have just recently called the entire Catholic Church stupid just by the mere fact that we are Catholic.
Now do you think Christ would have done that?
Also, by saying that “you” are Christ-like is by itself the height of pride, that terrible sin of Adam, that got us into this terrible mess.
I believe though that you are Christian and sincere in your belief. Just totally misguided.