[SIGN accountable to teach Gods word [/SIGN]
But what you said previoulsy is that the Holy Spirit leads us all in Truth. Which inferred that the Holy Spirit was telling you which verses should be read figuratively and which should be read literally.
Now you are saying you submit to your pastors interpretations of Scripture. And there in lies the problem.
Your pastor’s don’t follow the apostolic mission set forth by Jesus through Peter. You have verified this yourself by discounting Jesus creation of the Church upon Peter.
No matter how you decide to interpret Mat 16:18, it sitll stands that Jesus was clear about creating an apostolic mission through Peter. To re-interpret the evidence and come up with a contrary meaning is nothing short of putting yourself above God.
Why is it OK for you to submit to your pastor’s interpretation of Scripture, but its not Ok for Catholic’s to submit to the Church’s teachings on Scriptures?
It also seems to me that if you carry around your Bible in an effort not to be duped, why would you still submit to your pastor’s interpretations? It would seem as though he is duping you by giving you a falacious and disproven interpretation of Mat 16:18.
I believe the original text was written in Kione Greek which only had one interpretation for rock. And at the least, if Jesus was speaking in Aramaic, this language only had one interpretation for Rock.
Sounds to me like your pastors are teaching you straight out of Chick Tracts.
"It is very clear in Scripture that Jesus told Peter, whose name means “rock,” that “you are Peter [rock], and on this rock I will build my church” (Matt. 16:18). To undermine this, Chick makes the familiar claim that two different words are used here in Greek—petros and petra—and that the first means a small stone or pebble while the latter means a huge rock or boulder.[73]
This simply is not true. The difference in meaning can be found only in Attic Greek, but the New Testament was written in Koine Greek—a different dialect. In Koine, both petros and petra simply meant “rock.” The argument shows a faulty knowledge of Greek.[74] Further, Jesus’ native language was Aramaic, not Greek, and in the Aramaic underlying this passage, the same word—kepha—would have been used in both instances.
catholic.com/library/sr_chick_tracts_p5.asp