In your opinion, what does the phrase "keys to the kingdom" refer to?

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The only time the phrase is used is in Matthew 16:19- “and I will give to thee the keys of the reign of the heavens, and whatever thou mayest bind upon the earth shall be having been bound in the heavens, and whatever thou mayest loose upon the earth shall be having been loosed in the heavens.” (The literal translation preserves the cool and rare use of the future perfect periphrastic for luo and deo- for helpful grammar charts, go to this link englishpage.com/verbpage/futureperfect.html and look at Use 2).

There is one other place in the New Testament outside of Revelation where the word “key” is used in a similar way. Luke 11:52- “Woe to you, the lawyers [experts of the law], because ye took away the key of the knowledge; yourselves ye did not enter; and those coming in, ye did hinder.”

So it’s a key of knowledge rather than a key to the kingdom. By taking it away they hindered people from coming in, and they did not enter themselves. But go into what, and enter where? Perhaps the kingdom, or something closely associated with the “reign of the heavens.”

Do you think the passage from Luke 11 is relevant to interpreting the phrase used in Matthew 16? Any other thoughts?
 
One passage of scripture doesn’t necessarily have to relate to another, nor does one necessarily take priority given number of times cited. The “keys to the kingdom of heaven” is clear enough and shouldn’t require any abstract interpretation. Christ made Peter his representative on earth to create and maintain his Church (singular).
 
mmmcounts said:
The only time the phrase is used is in Matthew 16:19- “and I will give to thee the keys of the reign of the heavens, and whatever thou mayest bind upon the earth shall be having been bound in the heavens, and whatever thou mayest loose upon the earth shall be having been loosed in the heavens.” (The literal translation preserves the cool and rare use of the future perfect periphrastic for luo and deo- for helpful grammar charts, go to this link englishpage.com/verbpage/futureperfect.html and look at Use 2).

There is one other place in the New Testament outside of Revelation where the word “key” is used in a similar way. Luke 11:52- “Woe to you, the lawyers [experts of the law], because ye took away the key of the knowledge; yourselves ye did not enter; and those coming in, ye did hinder.”

So it’s a key of knowledge rather than a key to the kingdom. By taking it away they hindered people from coming in, and they did not enter themselves. But go into what, and enter where? Perhaps the kingdom, or something closely associated with the “reign of the heavens.”

Do you think the passage from Luke 11 is relevant to interpreting the phrase used in Matthew 16? Any other thoughts?
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When Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom, he gave him the church. The keys of knowledge do tie into the keys to the kingdom because it is the gift of the Holy Spirit that the knowledge comes from. Without the keys of knowledge we could not know nor understand how to get to heaven. That is why Jesus left us the church. That is how we know that as long as the keys are guarded and passed down that the church will never fail to lead us to the truth.
 
mmmcounts said:
There is one other place in the New Testament outside of Revelation where the word “key” is used in a similar way. Luke 11:52- “Woe to you, the lawyers [experts of the law], because ye took away the key of the knowledge; yourselves ye did not enter; and those coming in, ye did hinder.”

So it’s a key of knowledge rather than a key to the kingdom
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Wow, triple m! Only a protestant would care what opinions are about scriptures. What good is someone’s opinion on the matter? I don’t base my faith on my opinions or anyone else’s. St. Peter seemed to know what Jesus meant. History shows that there were at least four early Popes before the canon of Scripture was even finished being written in the first few hundred years of the Church. Since the teachings of the Catholic Church and understanding of keys to the kingdom are older than the canon of scripture, instead of coming up with my own opinion, I can trust Scripture to be true, and trust the teaching authority of the Catholic Church to tell me what “keys to the kingdom” refer.

Either Christ said, “I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven” to Peter or He did not.

The Catholic Church is the one true Church, and it is Christ’s way that He pointed toward for the salvation of all believers.

I always find it amusing when someone believes they have happened upon something that centuries of faithful men of God seemed to have missed in their copying down of scripture texts and deciding what to put in the canon. If it was good for St. Peter and the early Church, it’s good enough for me.
 
graceandglory said:
I always find it amusing when someone believes they have happened upon something that centuries of faithful men of God seemed to have missed in their copying down of scripture texts and deciding what to put in the canon. If it was good for St. Peter and the early Church, it’s good enough for me.
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Exactly. A Bible-loner I know brags about how many hours a week he spends studying his Bible. I asked him once what he was looking for. Basically, private interpreters build their own church with its own beliefs and practices which is sadly against Scripture. That’s why there are thousands of protestant denominations. All those hours of bible study would be better spent doing charity rather than desperately seeking Christ when He is present in every Catholic Church.
 
Ockham said:
Basically, private interpreters build their own church with its own beliefs and practices which is sadly against Scripture.
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What does Scripture say about “private interpretation”?
 
mmmcounts said:
The only time the phrase is used is in Matthew 16:19- “and I will give to thee the keys of the reign of the heavens, and whatever thou mayest bind upon the earth shall be having been bound in the heavens, and whatever thou mayest loose upon the earth shall be having been loosed in the heavens.” (The literal translation preserves the cool and rare use of the future perfect periphrastic for luo and deo- for helpful grammar charts, go to this link englishpage.com/verbpage/futureperfect.html and look at Use 2).

There is one other place in the New Testament outside of Revelation where the word “key” is used in a similar way. Luke 11:52- “Woe to you, the lawyers [experts of the law], because ye took away the key of the knowledge; yourselves ye did not enter; and those coming in, ye did hinder.”

So it’s a key of knowledge rather than a key to the kingdom. By taking it away they hindered people from coming in, and they did not enter themselves. But go into what, and enter where? Perhaps the kingdom, or something closely associated with the “reign of the heavens.”

Do you think the passage from Luke 11 is relevant to interpreting the phrase used in Matthew 16? Any other thoughts?
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The key is a symbol of authority and it was given to Peter alone, instead of using Luke try what 1edyson said in his post (#5) but include verses 15-25
The power of the binding and loosing is also given to the Bishops and naturally through them to the Priests but excommunication is on the Pope’s authority alone.
From what I understand the New is prefigured in the Old, thats why I would suggest Isaiah.
 
2 Peter 1:20.

Any Sola Scripturist worth his salt would know that.

Are you seriously looking for guidance or are you just trolling for effect?
 
mmmcounts said:
The only time the phrase is used is in Matthew 16:19- “and I will give to thee the keys of the reign of the heavens, and whatever thou mayest bind upon the earth shall be having been bound in the heavens, and whatever thou mayest loose upon the earth shall be having been loosed in the heavens.”
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Does not Jesus tell us to say “yes” when you mean “yes” and “no” when you mean “no.” Would, could he do less?

Keep in Mind Jesus is an “all-knowing,” all-wise" God. He knew exactly what He was saying and to whom He was saying it, so as to be clearly understood by Him. And they did understand!

It was the norm, in Old Testament Times for major cities to actaully be “walled in,” and have a main front and rear GATE, that actually had a KEY. Look at Jerusalem today. It still does.

Here is the relevance

Jesus makes reference to keys to HIS KINGDOM… “Hail King of the Jews!” So he is specificaly speaking of access to heaven. Keep in mind that Christ had just appointed Peter the Head of His ONE Church!

Every walled city had “GATES” and required KEYS for access.

So Jesus is saying "I am the King, and I am talking about MY Kingdom (to come.)

But did the King carry the Key’s? No, does the President have a key to the Whitehouse. No! But he is the BOSS of the person who does.

So every kingdom had a “PRIME MINISTER” who carried the keys, and who had, complete atonomous cotrol of the day to day running of the city. The PM answered ONLY to the King!

Prime Minister is the role that Jesus, the King gave to Peter, His PERSONAL "prime minister!

How can one know this with certitude?

Here is the rest of the story… In the very same breath, Jesus tells Peter…"I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

The terms “bind” and “loose” were well know enforceable at law, Rabitical Trems of total and complete Governance. This is historically proveable FACT!

Summation:

Jesus = King

Kingdom = Heaven

Keys = access to “the Kingdom” heaven

Primeminister = keeper of the keys = St. Peter

“Bind” and “Loose” the power of TOTAL Governance, answers only to the King. Himself:yup: :clapping: :tiphat: :extrahappy: :love:

There ya have it folks!

Love and prayers,
 
mmmcounts said:
The only time the phrase is used is in Matthew 16:19- “and I will give to thee the keys of the reign of the heavens, and whatever thou mayest bind upon the earth shall be having been bound in the heavens, and whatever thou mayest loose upon the earth shall be having been loosed in the heavens.” (The literal translation preserves the cool and rare use of the future perfect periphrastic for luo and deo- for helpful grammar charts, go to this link englishpage.com/verbpage/futureperfect.html and look at Use 2).

There is one other place in the New Testament outside of Revelation where the word “key” is used in a similar way. Luke 11:52- “Woe to you, the lawyers [experts of the law], because ye took away the key of the knowledge; yourselves ye did not enter; and those coming in, ye did hinder.”

So it’s a key of knowledge rather than a key to the kingdom. By taking it away they hindered people from coming in, and they did not enter themselves. But go into what, and enter where? Perhaps the kingdom, or something closely associated with the “reign of the heavens.”

Do you think the passage from Luke 11 is relevant to interpreting the phrase used in Matthew 16? Any other thoughts?
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Before I entered into this thread I was thinking about the “keys” and I thought a “means to entering the Kingdom”…

Some Chatholics view the “Keys” as simply a “source of authority” but honestly I think it’s more than that. I agree with your apotheosis that the “Keys” are not only a “source of authority” but in a real sense they represent a “means to enter the Kingdom”… this could very well be “a Knowledge”.

Christ imparted this “Knowledge” to the Disciples on the Road to Emmaus and this same “Knowledge” was once thought to be passed from the Disciples to the Bishops and from the Bishops to the Priests… they are all to be 'spiritual fathers" to the flock and we should not only look at this as a ‘magic cookie’ but a real passing on of this “Knowledge” (i.e. gnosis) to the flock.

Interesting thread.
 
mmmcounts said:
What does Scripture say about “private interpretation”?
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3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths.

2 Timothy 4:3-4
 
The Keys to the Kindom are separate from the key of knowledge. That does not mean that the key of knowledge is not important, and the Holy Ghost did impart knowledge at Pentecost.

However, when Jesus promised the Keys to the Kingdom to Peter, it was only to Peter and not the rest. The other Apostles also received the authority to Bind and Loose, along with Peter, but not the Keys to the Kingdom.

The phrase was well known in that era, and was definitely and without question a symbol of authority. Those with knowledge do not necessarily have the authority to bind or loose anything. The one with the Keys to the Kingdom can, and so can his ministers. There is no prime minister (first minister) without ministers under him to aid in the running of a kingdom.

There could be one key or a set of four keys - granary (food), armory (weapons), treasury, and the main gate. These keys were often quite large and the first minister would carry them on his shoulder or hanging from his belt.

There are examples throughout the OT and history, and not just limited to the Jewish kingdoms. But Isaiah 22:22 is the example that comes to mind most often. Jesus is the heir to the Davidic Kingdom. If He is King, then Peter has those keys.
 
graceandglory said:
3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths.

2 Timothy 4:3-4
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As for you, the anointing that you received from him remains in you, so that you do not need anyone to teach you. But his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not false; just as it taught you, remain in him. ~ 1 John 2:27

You seem to deny this with you use of the Sacred Text.
 
chrisb said:
As for you, the anointing that you received from him remains in you, so that you do not need anyone to teach you. But his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not false; just as it taught you, remain in him. ~ 1 John 2:27

You seem to deny this with you use of the Sacred Text.
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:confused: :confused: :confused:
 
chrisb said:
You seem to assume that anyone guided by the Spirit apart from another is a false teacher.
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Well, things aren’t always as they seem, now are they? I was sharing a scripture. In fact, I shared no assumption at all, only a scripture. The scripture can stand alone.
Read my response in the context in which it was written. I was answering a question about “private interpretations.”
 
graceandglory said:
Well, things aren’t always as they seem, now are they? I was sharing a scripture. In fact, I shared no assumption at all, only a scripture. The scripture can stand alone.
Read my response in the context in which it was written. I was answering a question about “private interpretations.”
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Actually you voiced your assumption by the passage you chose to share.
 
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